Free Agents To Consider: Offense

[BmoreBird22]

I don't think any part of that scenario is likely, no offense.

It's not just me proposing it, but it's a possibility. Did I say it will happen? No. But I doubt Ozzie goes with Gino again after he listed the interior of the offensive line as a priority

Shouldn't have said just thought of this. I just just saw that. Trying to focus on stats and this

[The Raven]

It's not just me proposing it, but it's a possibility. Did I say it will happen? No. But I doubt Ozzie goes with Gino again after he listed the interior of the offensive line as a priority

 

Yeah, he said that, but at this point I'm starting to think it was just to stop the bleeding and whining. Coach speak, basically. He hasn't done anything to address the interior of the line and there isn't a single center in the draft that will be an upgrade over Gino in his first year.

[BmoreBird22]

Yeah, he said that, but at this point I'm starting to think it was just to stop the bleeding and whining. Coach speak, basically. He hasn't done anything to address the interior of the line and there isn't a single center in the draft that will be an upgrade over Gino in his first year.

I don't think he has any reason to lie. I really think he's making it a priority. He addressed the receiver position, which I guess was priority one. He's starting to look at safeties, which I think we'll go with a one year stop gap for. I doubt he says he wants to upgrade the interior but does zero for it

[JoeyFlex5]

Since we have a different tight end coach we could see a different Dickson. 

i dont think a coach can fix stone hands. it sucks because dickson has so much incredible potential but he will never put it together because he cant consistently hold on to the ball everytime its thrown his way. hes got the TO curse, he drops the easy balls but then when its time to make a mind blowing catch, he makes it look effortless.

[JoeyFlex5]

as for center, maybe the reason we havent brought in BDLP or spoke to him at all, is because he wasnt cut? ozzie seems to be REAL strict about the comp pick formula, though i think signing him would be a no brainer to us, he will come cheap and allow us to focus on taking advantage of the deep WR class, instead of taking a interior lineman in the 2nd, we could be taking a jordan matthews or brandin cooks or allen robinson, because we know there wont be any first round talent at center in the first, we could go BPA in the first and get a absolute steal at WR in the 2nd. 

 

this being said, i honestly feel that gino deserves one more shot, and if he shows no improvement a few games into the season, well then he blew it, but im not quite ready to write him off yet, i just have a feeling about him. 

 

but back to my original statement, sign BDLP, and we have a ton of flexibility in all round of the draft, we could find that gem 3rd-4th round FS that surprises everyone, we could find that BIG BOY tight end in the 2nd or 3rd to come in and be joes jumpball guy like ASJ or fiedorowicz or niklas, we could find that 3-4 DE that will make us forget about art jones, we could find the surprise pass rusher that sizzle grooms to be his replacement one day. \

 

every draft we take "swing" guys and project lineman, who was a tackle in college, has the size/str to play guard in the nfl, but doesnt have the footwork or mental capacity and needs training and bla bla bla, we ALWAYS take one or 2 of these guys, and they rarely pan out, signing a center will FINALLY let us avoid wasting a pick on those kinds of guys, and let us take the guys who have real potential in the mid rounds

[Ravenslifer]

I don't think he has any reason to lie. I really think he's making it a priority. He addressed the receiver position, which I guess was priority one. He's starting to look at safeties, which I think we'll go with a one year stop gap for. I doubt he says he wants to upgrade the interior but does zero for it

 

Also, interior doesn't mean center specifically.  We all think some form of competition should be brought in for Gino, but what if the FO doesn't - what if they meant backups in case KO isn't healthy and Marshall needs a break - Marshall will be 30 this year and has played a lot over the last 7 years.

[BmoreBird22]

Also, interior doesn't mean center specifically.  We all think some form of competition should be brought in for Gino, but what if the FO doesn't - what if they meant backups in case KO isn't healthy and Marshall needs a break - Marshall will be 30 this year and has played a lot over the last 7 years.

Marshall was the one that Harbaugh said is guaranteed a starting position. I could see them wanting to do something with left guard due to Kelechi's back, but left guard isn't the immediate need that center is. Plus, there are starting quality guards in the draft if they want to kick Kelechi outside. No starting quality centers for day one

[Mt. Crushmore]

I can see the Ravens being interested in C Will Montgomery. 

[rafahash]

I can see the Ravens being interested in C Will Montgomery. 

 

I don't know. Maybe if he stays in the open market for a long time, but I don't think Ozzie is gonna make a move soon.

[Mt. Crushmore]

I don't know. Maybe if he stays in the open market for a long time, but I don't think Ozzie is gonna make a move soon.

 

He won't cost much, won't count against comp picks as he was cut by the Redskins, and is a ZBS guy.  There is a lot to like about him.

[BMORE21]

we need more than fa and draft to get our stuff right. we not winning nor going to sb this season any how 

[SecretAgentMan]

He won't cost much, won't count against comp picks as he was cut by the Redskins, and is a ZBS guy.  There is a lot to like about him.

My money is we get him...

[Ravenslifer]

Marshall was the one that Harbaugh said is guaranteed a starting position. I could see them wanting to do something with left guard due to Kelechi's back, but left guard isn't the immediate need that center is. Plus, there are starting quality guards in the draft if they want to kick Kelechi outside. No starting quality centers for day one

 

Yeah if we're talking about the draft, there are no centers I'd really consider taking.  I like several guard prospects, but no centers, and I don't think any of them will be any better in 2014 than Gino will be with a year under his belt.  This is a poor center draft class and I don't think anyone from this class will ever be an upgrade over Gino (who IMO is physically talented enough to play, just not mentally ready yet) so the best route IMO, and the way we'll probably end up, is to bring in a veteran starting center - and by veteran I don't mean an AQ Shipley type; De La Puente is still out there, but so is a guy like Fernando Velasco or Ryan Wendell.

[Underdogsontop!]

Ozzie says they want a bigger RB.....

How about laggarrette Blount?? 6-1 245lbs big enough?

I think he's came a long way since his college trouble. He had a pretty impressive season last season with the patriots! Avg 5.0 yards a carry and I think he had 4 td's in the playoffs against the colts. He's been sitting on that FA list for a while so I'd think he'd could come be a raven for a good deal??

[balfan23]

I don't think he has any reason to lie. I really think he's making it a priority. He addressed the receiver position, which I guess was priority one. He's starting to look at safeties, which I think we'll go with a one year stop gap for. I doubt he says he wants to upgrade the interior but does zero for it

I'm not sure that WR was really priority #1, it just so happened that a special WR hit the market that was not expected to be there and we moved on it. There is no way that I believe that we'll sit still and let the center position be determined by a battle between Gino and Jensen. I will be stunned if we don't end up with a vet coming in this year ... it is just who and at what cost. 

 

When I heard we expressed interest in Mack, I thought that was a sign that we had no faith in Gino in the future. Now, I'm not so sure where that rumor came from and it may just be noise. We may not ultimately be as high on BDLP as I thought we would be and may still have hope for Gino. If that's the case, we may just wait and pick up an available cut, which will not cost us in the draft and will cost less on our cap. 

[balfan23]

I know there has been a great deal of talk about getting Eric Winston to come in and be our RT. Just saw the news that he has been elected as the NFLPA union president. 

 

I don't know about you, but to me that's a red flag. I really think that the job is extremely demanding and takes away a players ability to focus on his game and generally helps wear them down. I don't think Foxworth did himself any favors as a player being in the position just as our team rep. Of course, for him it was especially bad, because they were in the middle of negotiating a new CBA and he was coming off a season where he needed to be rehabbing his knee. 

 

Not sure what our FO will think of that, but I think it would raise questions. 

[BloodRaven]

Our interior could be a serious issue over the next few years, Gino is the worst centre in football, Yanda is 30 and is starting to slow down and there's absolutely no guarantee that KO will get back to where he was.

[RavensNation14]

Ozzie says they want a bigger RB.....

How about laggarrette Blount?? 6-1 245lbs big enough?

I think he's came a long way since his college trouble. He had a pretty impressive season last season with the patriots! Avg 5.0 yards a carry and I think he had 4 td's in the playoffs against the colts. He's been sitting on that FA list for a while so I'd think he'd could come be a raven for a good deal??

He's going to be looking for a starting job or at least the majority of carries. The Ravens want a goaline guy and Blount will want to be paid as a starter. 

[RavensNation14]

Our interior could be a serious issue over the next few years, Gino is the worst centre in football, Yanda is 30 and is starting to slow down and there's absolutely no guarantee that KO will get back to where he was.

That's why taking Zach Martin at 17 makes the most sense at this point. It gives us a guy that is similar to Yanda and has less tread on his tires. 

[Underdogsontop!]

He's going to be looking for a starting job or at least the majority of carries. The Ravens want a goaline guy and Blount will want to be paid as a starter.

I think every back wants that. The fact of the matter is his size limits that, so it's not a surprise to him if he is not a starter. He wasn't a starter last year. He was in the rotation though, and played more when riddley had fumbling issues.

[GrimCoconut]

I think Wade Smith is still a very realistic option and a good one. That's just me. Good veteran depth who can push for the LG or center job. KO could move to RT or even play LG with Smith at center. We have so many Smiths as it is. Ozzie probably wants to add another. Kubiak knows him as well. He knows Kubiak and his system. It works.

[BloodRaven]

That's why taking Zach Martin at 17 makes the most sense at this point. It gives us a guy that is similar to Yanda and has less tread on his tires.

I don't think hes a sure fire stud, Joel Bitonio and Antonio Richardson have similar upside and position versatility but in the 2nd.

Right now (since this is the free agency thread) there are still a few decent stopgaps who are far better than Shipley.

[kassaiscool]

Ozzie says they want a bigger RB.....

How about laggarrette Blount?? 6-1 245lbs big enough?

I think he's came a long way since his college trouble. He had a pretty impressive season last season with the patriots! Avg 5.0 yards a carry and I think he had 4 td's in the playoffs against the colts. He's been sitting on that FA list for a while so I'd think he'd could come be a raven for a good deal??

 

you stole my pic!!

[Underdogsontop!]

He's going to be looking for a starting job or at least the majority of carries. The Ravens want a goaline guy and Blount will want to be paid as a starter.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=baltimore-ravens&id=7620&src=desktop

I think they are thinking what I was thinking....lol

[BmoreBird22]

I used to really want Eric Winston on a cheap deal, but I just saw a breakdown of his play from the past two years and he'd essentially be another Michael Oher, penalties and all

[ravensdan]

I think what Montgomery could do for out team as an option is being vastly underrated. He is one year removed from a 2012 season where he Finnished as the number 5 overall center and number 4 rated run blocker. Something we were drastically lacking in. He still Finnished in the top half of the league in 2013. Still held his own. He did suffer a late season knee injury which could be the reason for his release and slow market. The longer he sits the bigger the steal he could be

At 31 he could give us at least 3 years and allow Gino to be a backup. Another option would be to move Gino to guard and ko to rt if he still has back concerns. Or play Wagner at rt. Gino a swing inside backup and draft a rt prospect.

[BmoreBird22]

I have a question maybe some of you on here can answer. It's about Alex Mack.

To franchise tag Mack would cost about $11.6M with the transition tag costing about $10.6M. That's a difference of $1M for a team that had over $40M in cap space. Why in the world did they place just the transition tag when it provides nothing as compensation and costs nearly the same. I have no answer, but I'm curious as to why they didn't just put the franchise tag.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

I have a question maybe some of you on here can answer. It's about Alex Mack.

To franchise tag Mack would cost about $11.6M with the transition tag costing about $10.6M. That's a difference of $1M for a team that had over $40M in cap space. Why in the world did they place just the transition tag when it provides nothing as compensation and costs nearly the same. I have no answer, but I'm curious as to why they didn't just put the franchise tag.

Just from hearing certain things from Mack and his agent, Mack wants out of Cleveland if the money is right. The franchise tag wouldn't allow for him to make visits with other teams, so even though Cleveland would have locked him up they would have had an unhappy player with the chance of a hold out situation going into training camp and I don't think either side wanted that.

The transition saves them a little bit, gives Mack the freedom to hear other offers and have some control in his future, and if he doesn't get an offer that he's happy with he'll stay with Cleveland - under his own control and by his own decision - and get paid very well for doing so. Cleveland has the opportunity to match any offer, but this gives Mack some leverage to set his market value and decide whether the money, or the chance to win is more important. If Mack stays in Cleveland it's because both sides choose to do so, so Cleveland isn't just retaining Mack in that instance theyre retaining an Alex Mack who is motivated and happy to be there.

I don't have any sources to back this up, it's just me putting together bits and pieces from articles and connecting dots. But it seems to make pretty good sense at least from my perspective.

[BmoreBird22]

Just from hearing certain things from Mack and his agent, Mack wants out of Cleveland if the money is right. The franchise tag wouldn't allow for him to make visits with other teams, so even though Cleveland would have locked him up they would have had an unhappy player with the chance of a hold out situation going into training camp and I don't think either side wanted that.The transition saves them a little bit, gives Mack the freedom to hear other offers and have some control in his future, and if he doesn't get an offer that he's happy with he'll stay with Cleveland - under his own control and by his own decision - and get paid very well for doing so. Cleveland has the opportunity to match any offer, but this gives Mack some leverage to set his market value and decide whether the money, or the chance to win is more important. If Mack stays in Cleveland it's because both sides choose to do so, so Cleveland isn't just retaining Mack in that instance theyre retaining an Alex Mack who is motivated and happy to be there.I don't have any sources to back this up, it's just me putting together bits and pieces from articles and connecting dots. But it seems to make pretty good sense at least from my perspective.

I would agree with this except for the fact that with the tag, Mack gets no money upfront. It's all paid through game checks, so if he held out he not only gets fined but runs the risk of losing out on game checks.

I have a feeling Mack wants out of Cleveland, and maybe Cleveland is willing to give him the chance or maybe they want to show Mack that no one will pay like Cleveland. It's a solid train of thought

[BmoreBird22]

Ravens are allegedly interested in LaGarrette Blount, but nothing is scheduled to happen at this point. So, I will not get my hopes up.