In Ozzie We Trust (2014 Edition) The Ravens Free Agency Thread

[wizard1]

How much dead money does Ray Rice have in his pocket anyways?

[52520Andrew]

How much dead money does Ray Rice have in his pocket anyways?

 

Rice has a cap number of 8.75 mil and has 14.25 mil that would be dead money if the Ravens cut him. Essentially, cutting Rice would take away 5.5 mil of our cap space. It makes more sense to keep Rice on the roster at this point than it does to cut/trade him. 

[wizard1]

I feel like we got pick-pocketed. The whole thing is simply shady. At least through the whole Ray Lewis affair we continued to get a pro bowl LB. With Ray Rice it's more like we have a smurf on the roster.

[Purple_ICE 81]

I feel like we got pick-pocketed. The whole thing is simply shady. At least through the whole Ray Lewis affair we continued to get a pro bowl LB. With Ray Rice it's more like we have a smurf on the roster.

Ray Rice has been a beast for us...what are you smokin? 1 bad year and your ready to throw in the towel and call him a smurf? He put up 3 consecutive all pro seasons before inking the fair contract he got... then had another big year when we won the super bowl before having his first terrible season as a starter in the NFL. I guess fans just have the rifle pointed at any player regardless of talent with their finger on the trigger ready to pull it at the first possible chance. 

[juanman7]

How possible would it be for us to get DeSean Jackson either through a trade, or if the Eagles cut him? What about Avant? Or Danny Amendola? Kenny Britt? or Hakeem Nicks? The fact that Ozzie mentioned how wide receivers are hit or miss when being drafted makes me think it's more likely we'll get a good receiver in FA and a WR in the second or third round of the draft. Who do you see as possible guys we can add on March 11? Do you agree with what I think?

[rmw10]

How possible would it be for us to get DeSean Jackson either through a trade, or if the Eagles cut him? What about Avant? Or Danny Amendola? Kenny Britt? or Hakeem Nicks? The fact that Ozzie mentioned how wide receivers are hit or miss when being drafted makes me think it's more likely we'll get a good receiver in FA and a WR in the second or third round of the draft. Who do you see as possible guys we can add on March 11? Do you agree with what I think?

 

Avant is exactly the type of guy we usually go after.  He's a solid, classy vet that fits what we were missing last year.  I fully expect us to make a play for him.  I don't really see us going with any other FA since the draft class is so strong.  I'd expect a WR picked somewhere in rounds 1-3, with a guy like Avant or Burleson as well.

[Ravenslifer]

How possible would it be for us to get DeSean Jackson either through a trade, or if the Eagles cut him? What about Avant? Or Danny Amendola? Kenny Britt? or Hakeem Nicks? The fact that Ozzie mentioned how wide receivers are hit or miss when being drafted makes me think it's more likely we'll get a good receiver in FA and a WR in the second or third round of the draft. Who do you see as possible guys we can add on March 11? Do you agree with what I think?

 

Jackson and Nicks I'd forget about - too much money.  The other 3 we'd probably have a good shot at getting because of various issues that would keep teams from paying them a lot.  But Amendola I wouldn't want because of injury concerns - Avant would be a solid signing, Britt would be riskier but we could probably pay him less than we would have to pay Avant.

[wizard1]

His first 3 years were awesome-which opened the door for his huge contract with guaranteed money. Since then however his efforts have gone downhill.

 

2011 Baltimore Ravens 16 291 18.2 1,364 4.7 85.2 12 70T 52 17.9 9 5 2  

2010 Baltimore Ravens 16 307 19.2 1,220 4.0 76.2 5 50 51 16.6 4 1 0  

2009 Baltimore Ravens 16 254 15.9 1,339 5.3 83.7 7 59T 54 21.3 11 3 2

 

In 2012 he inked his big deal and since then we have got this-

 

2013 Baltimore Ravens 15 214 14.3 660 3.1 44.0 4 47 28 13.1 1 1 2  

2012 Baltimore Ravens 16 257 16.1 1,143 4.4 71.4 9 46 51 19.8 5 2 1

 

Not to mention his on-field demeanor which speaks for itself. It is very similar to the Shaun Alexander fiasco in Seattle a few years back. The numbers don't lie which unfortunately cannot be said for Mr. Rice.

[Purple_ICE 81]

Avant is exactly the type of guy we usually go after.  He's a solid, classy vet that fits what we were missing last year.  I fully expect us to make a play for him.  I don't really see us going with any other FA since the draft class is so strong.  I'd expect a WR picked somewhere in rounds 1-3, with a guy like Avant or Burleson as well.

Ehhh...we could do better. He has great character but is 31 and never really developed into a play maker considering he has had only 12 TDs throughout his career.  He is a sort of better version of Brandon Stokley and Im not sure we want to go down that road again.

[Purple_ICE 81]

Jackson and Nicks I'd forget about - too much money.  The other 3 we'd probably have a good shot at getting because of various issues that would keep teams from paying them a lot.  But Amendola I wouldn't want because of injury concerns - Avant would be a solid signing, Britt would be riskier but we could probably pay him less than we would have to pay Avant.

I really wouldn't rule out us making a play for Hakeem Nicks. He is looking for a multiyear deal apparently 2 years at 5 Mill per year. At the absolute most he could get a contract similar to Danny Amendola's last year (5/$28M) and that is really quite a steal for a player of Hakeem's talent, he would be far and away the best WR on our roster if we got him.

[rmw10]

Ehhh...we could do better. He has great character but is 31 and never really developed into a play maker considering he has had only 12 TDs throughout his career.  He is a sort of better version of Brandon Stokley and Im not sure we want to go down that road again.

 

He's not a full time player.  I don't have the numbers in front of me right now, but I believe something like 27 of 29 of his 3rd down catches last season went for 1st downs.  That would be huge for us as a role player.  He wouldn't be brought in to be a playmaker, and he'd be a 4th receiver.  We could use a veteran considering Torrey is our most experienced guy right now.

[Ravenslifer]

Ehhh...we could do better. He has great character but is 31 and never really developed into a play maker considering he has had only 12 TDs throughout his career.  He is a sort of better version of Brandon Stokley and Im not sure we want to go down that road again.

 

Where I think he might be of use though, is if we wanted to target a less pro-ready, more upside guy in the draft (lets just say Mike Evans for example), signing Avant to a short deal would give us at least a capable player should the young receiver turn out not to be ready this year.  At this point, I'm not really that comfortable with taking a less pro-ready more upside guy like Evans or Benjamin because I think we need immediate production from the first game, but I think Avant could help with that and allow us to take any receiver we want.

[Ravenslifer]

I really wouldn't rule out us making a play for Hakeem Nicks. He is looking for a multiyear deal apparently 2 years at 5 Mill per year. At the absolute most he could get a contract similar to Danny Amendola's last year (5/$28M) and that is really quite a steal for a player of Hakeem's talent, he would be far and away the best WR on our roster if we got him.

 

I didn't know he was looking for so little.  I'd love to have him at that price, but my big concern is we'd need a backup plan for the games that he'll no doubt miss during the season.  Although I think Marlon could spot start if that was the case.

[Purple_ICE 81]

Where I think he might be of use though, is if we wanted to target a less pro-ready, more upside guy in the draft (lets just say Mike Evans for example), signing Avant to a short deal would give us at least a capable player should the young receiver turn out not to be ready this year.  At this point, I'm not really that comfortable with taking a less pro-ready more upside guy like Evans or Benjamin because I think we need immediate production from the first game, but I think Avant could help with that and allow us to take any receiver we want.

Yea he is definitely a cheap option the Ravens could consider, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if we looked at him.

[rmw10]

I don't know if this is good or bad...

 

Baltimore Ravens ‏@Ravens

Harbaugh said the Ravens have "aggressive offers" out to their free agents. "We want to keep our guys."

[Purple_ICE 81]

I didn't know he was looking for so little.  I'd love to have him at that price, but my big concern is we'd need a backup plan for the games that he'll no doubt miss during the season.  Although I think Marlon could spot start if that was the case.

Well it's mostly wishful thinking coming from the media outlets around the league. Some say he could get a contract at 1-2 years $4-$5M...and other think he will get upwards of $10M per year. More likely than not his deal will be no more than 3 years, and I truly think we could get him for a discount coming off of his worst season compared to what he really deserves. As far as his injury concerns I think we would have a rookie in place to help suffice for the loss of him should he go down...if we inked Nicks as our big free agent this year we could grab a playmaker like Martavis Bryant or Donte Moncrief later on in the draft and use them along with Torrey and Marlon and possibly another free agent or rookie WR.

[wizard1]

Since we let Boldin go we now have to pay similar money to an unknown entity who is riding his past record. What sense does that make? Hindsight is always 20.20 but somethings defy explanation. Avant is unproven in a different offensive scheme, Nicks has definitely lost a step and the Pats are shopping Amendola because he has just taken to many big hits. If we are letting Jacoby Jones go his own way then at best we can hope for with Kubiak is a couple of years down the road for anything to fit together. I say lets work with what we got and draft really good.

[Purple_ICE 81]

I don't know if this is good or bad...

 

Baltimore Ravens ‏@Ravens

Harbaugh said the Ravens have "aggressive offers" out to their free agents. "We want to keep our guys."

Considering Harbaugh's post game attitude where he constantly likes to mask our woe's, seems like he could be bluffin on this one.

 

We have the money to pay for Eugene Monroe, so hopefully we can real him in...not sure if we would want to if he is crying for more than $9M per year.

[Purple_ICE 81]

Since we let Boldin go we now have to pay similar money to an unknown entity who is riding his past record. What sense does that make? Hindsight is always 20.20 but somethings defy explanation. Avant is unproven in a different offensive scheme, Nicks has definitely lost a step and the Pats are shopping Amendola because he has just taken to many big hits. If we are letting Jacoby Jones go his own way then at best we can hope for with Kubiak is a couple of years down the road for anything to fit together. I say lets work with what we got and draft really good.

We acquired Boldin when he was "an unknown entity" coming from the Cardinals. 

[wizard1]

We have Pitta. Smith and Marlon Brown not bad building blocks-is we draft a talented WR we have a long term nucleus-which Flacco needs because he is more of a rhythm type QB. We should be more concerned with interior lineman than anything else at this point. 

[wizard1]

We acquired Boldin when he was "an unknown entity" coming from the Cardinals. 

Not sure Boldin was ever " an unknown entity" but even if he was he fit with everything perfectly. He should still be with us and it is quite impossible to fill his shoes. Would kidnapping and forcing him to play in Baltimore be considered a felony?

[Purple_ICE 81]

Not sure Boldin was ever " an unknown entity" but even if he was he fit with everything perfectly. He should still be with us and it is quite impossible to fill his shoes. Would kidnapping and forcing him to play in Baltimore be considered a felony?

I thought you were speaking in terms of not fitting into our offense.

[arnie_uk]

I thought you were speaking in terms of not fitting into our offense.

cam Cameron

[Purple_ICE 81]

cam Cameron

Terrible offensive coordinator...

[wizard1]

Cam Cameron almost single hand-idly kept us out of 2 superbowls, Is anyone seriously considering bringing him back in the NFL? HaHa maybe Cleveland!

[wizard1]

cam Cameron

 

I thought you were speaking in terms of not fitting into our offense.

Kind of just random Anquan Boldin lamentations actually. I still can't believe we let him go. Best Ravens WR ever IMO but a hard choice next to Derrick Mason.

[FerrariFan87]

I can't figure out why we haven't gotten anything done with Ngata in terms of a restructuring or extension a la the Steelers with Polamalu and Miller...

[Purple_ICE 81]

Courtland Finnegan just got cut by the Rams...

[Purple_ICE 81]

Kind of just random Anquan Boldin lamentations actually. I still can't believe we let him go. Best Ravens WR ever IMO but a hard choice next to Derrick Mason.

But if you think about it...we could get another Boldin or even better  with someone like Hakeem Nicks or  a rookie in the draft.

[BmoreBird22]

 

I can't figure out why we haven't gotten anything done with Ngata in terms of a restructuring or extension a la the Steelers with Polamalu and Miller...

Maybe because he has all the leverage, signed the deal and is entitled to what he signed, and is contemplating retirement after it ends.