[News] Late For Work 3/13: Ravens Monitor As WR Market Heats Up

[J.O.14]

I wouldn't mind us having Steve Smith, but the fact that he will be 35 is what I don't like. I would almost rather invest in a long term solution. But Smith should come cheap, since Carolina owes him 3 million this year.

[TDOGG01]

Although I like Steve Smith and Julian Eldelman and what they bring to the table I think they need to focus on resigning Daryl Smith and focus on getting a wr in the draft. That would save money on the cap for other needs like center and OT and invest in our future with another Top Flight wr for at least 4 years (rookie contract).

[Guest Jamere23]

I say sign Steve Smith for the right price of course, stick him in the Slot. Sign Owen Daniels, instant upgrade over Dickson. 1st round draft Zach Martin OT/G, if we cant get Alex Mack 2nd round pick should be Marcus Martin Center.

[balfan23]

Too many here with a Ravens-centric view are counting Smith as a Raven the second his release was announced. He will draw attention elsewhere and here's the comment out of rotoworld: 

 

He'd fit as an Eric Decker replacement in Denver, or as a No. 2 option in Baltimore. The Bucs, Patriots, Cowboys and Chargers are also thought to be on Smiff's list.

 

That's 6 teams listed as potential suitors. His release isn't the end of the story, it is only the start. 

[balfan23]

A follow up to my previous post ... "Baltimore has emerged as a favorite to land former Panther Steve Smith". (Adam Schefter tweet)

[axisofeeble]

Sign a RT--------------Oher will do!...................if we stop the Castillo "dream" of finesse stretch running but I fear that Kubiak is from the same school.

[ravens92]

lets continue to make the right moves and not over pay. great job ozzie

[verified]

if we sign steve smith and get a WR in 1 of the first 2 rounds in the draft id actually have some hope for this season. We would still need a future WR guys dont think that steve smith fixes that

[trevorsteadman]

My point is if you get Steve Smith this point in his career your saying we will win a Super Bowl this year and or next year.. because at that point he will be gone.. Lets be real here.. we are all ravens fans and have the right to dream but realistically speaking we will not go from 8-8 to Super Bowl with a 35 year old Steve Smith.. We need to think young talent and get some longetivity..not 1-2 year experiments

 

 

I said play off contenders not superbowl winners.... But who knows Steve Smith plays tough like AnQuan Boldin if you get another tight end in there and add Smith and then draft a young receiver who knows what may happen. All I can say is we will be better with Steve Smith than we were last year. 

[The Mom Gene]

Let's just go get a WR, a TE, and draft a young WR......  really?????  And pray tell how you gonna fix a screwed up O-Line.  Everybody complained the entire season about our O-Line...  Problem is Joe will still be running for his life.  Think about it...  Now we are begging for big name receivers and people to catch a ball that our $120M QB won't have time to throw to... 

[edreed2o]

I rather leave Marlon Brown in the slot then sifn an old washed up steve smith. If not Marlon Brown, then Edelman. Please dont sign steve smith!

[rmcjacket23]

Your points you think your making make no sense. If thats what he averaged show me a WR on there them that made more plays for them the whole season. He was 1 of only 2 WR  in the superbowl who had a TD catch for them (the other was harvin but he was gone the whole season). also Pats let welker walk even tho he was their #1 Jets just let Santonio walk their #1 Panthers just let theres walk with steve smith Steelers let theres walk in wallace we let ours walk in boldin so because he wasent resigned means nothing and it doesnt matter what he signed for boldin didnt sign for much even tho he was our #1 so what does that mean that tate only signed for 6mil a year.He was still their best WR #1 by production alone...

So your basis for a #1 receiver then has how many yards, TDs, etc. he gets? Interesting.

Are you aware of what the word "subjective" means?

[riseNConquer81]

My point is if you get Steve Smith this point in his career your saying we will win a Super Bowl this year and or next year.. because at that point he will be gone.. Lets be real here.. we are all ravens fans and have the right to dream but realistically speaking we will not go from 8-8 to Super Bowl with a 35 year old Steve Smith.. We need to think young talent and get some longetivity..not 1-2 year experiments

no...if you get Steve Smith this year, youre just saying that you dont want to go 8-8 until you finally find good new talent to stick around long term. I dont understand why bridging the gap between the present and the future is such a foreign concept for the majority of this fan base.

[rmcjacket23]

no...if you get Steve Smith this year, youre just saying that you dont want to go 8-8 until you finally find good new talent to stick around long term. I dont understand why bridging the gap between the present and the future is such a foreign concept for the majority of this fan base.

Agreed. I don't think this concept is difficult to grasp at all. You bring in Steve Smith, and you make him compete with a likely top 3 round draft pick for playing time.

The reality is... short of drafting somebody like Sammy Watkins or maybe a Mike Evans (who both seem unlikely), almost any WR we bring in is going to need time to adapt to the speed of the NFL, and in general, not many WRs walk onto an NFL team and dominate.

[rmcjacket23]

And by the way... for all the people that think this team is pretty good at WR currently... the FO doesn't seem to agree with you. I expect the Ravens to add two pass catchers this offseason, one in FA and one in the draft. To me... thats a pretty good indication of what the franchise thinks about guys like Marlon Brown and Aaron Mellette.

[BrianRandolph011]

no...if you get Steve Smith this year, youre just saying that you dont want to go 8-8 until you finally find good new talent to stick around long term. I dont understand why bridging the gap between the present and the future is such a foreign concept for the majority of this fan base.

There is finally good talent out there now to get that is younger instead of getting smith for a year or two.. kill two birds with one stones or else your re visiting the same issues every off season..

[asham27]

Antonio Cromartie. Make it happen

[RavenManiac20]

And by the way... for all the people that think this team is pretty good at WR currently... the FO doesn't seem to agree with you. I expect the Ravens to add two pass catchers this offseason, one in FA and one in the draft. To me... thats a pretty good indication of what the franchise thinks about guys like Marlon Brown and Aaron Mellette.

They probably think about Marlon Brown as "Jesus, we signed this guy as an undrafted free agent and he score 7 TDs and had 600 yards on one of the worst offenses in the NFL. We love him".

[footballhead]

We need to play MATT FURSTENBURG the TE. Love the one your with. Kubiak Please use Furstenburg as one of your TE

[ravensykoh]

If we cant resign Daryl Smith, what about signing Brandon Spikes as his replacement?

[Rants N Ravens]

And by the way... for all the people that think this team is pretty good at WR currently... the FO doesn't seem to agree with you. I expect the Ravens to add two pass catchers this offseason, one in FA and one in the draft. To me... thats a pretty good indication of what the franchise thinks about guys like Marlon Brown and Aaron Mellette.

 

While I agree the Ravens are looking to bring in both a veteran WR and draft one fairly high, I do not agree that either move is an indictment of Marlon and Aaron.  On the contrary, I believe it's just smart football.  Much like cover corners and pass rushers, you can never have enough good receivers.  Iron sharpens iron, as Harbs would say.  Thus the more competition the better, and let the best players play.  We recognize Mellette was a 7th rounder and Brown wasn't even drafted, so adding higher quality talent to the mix certainly is appropriate, but at the same time does not rule out the chances of one or both of those young men developing into solid players too.

[Pharaoh]

look steve smith isnt the answer but we need a slot WR i still think we should go for that in the draft and worry about the Oline however it seems (going off of what has been reported so far) like we will be getting steve smith i just hope its no longer than a one year deal we spent all last offseason letting people go trying to get younger why would we just change that whit a old steve smith... if we do pick up a WR in FA i would go with Julian Edelman he's a lot younger

[rmcjacket23]

They probably think about Marlon Brown as "Jesus, we signed this guy as an undrafted free agent and he score 7 TDs and had 600 yards on one of the worst offenses in the NFL. We love him".

They might also be thinking... "jesus, we feel so great about his skills that we are bringing in at least two people to compete for the exact role that he had last season".

[rmcjacket23]

While I agree the Ravens are looking to bring in both a veteran WR and draft one fairly high, I do not agree that either move is an indictment of Marlon and Aaron.  On the contrary, I believe it's just smart football.  Much like cover corners and pass rushers, you can never have enough good receivers.  Iron sharpens iron, as Harbs would say.  Thus the more competition the better, and let the best players play.  We recognize Mellette was a 7th rounder and Brown wasn't even drafted, so adding higher quality talent to the mix certainly is appropriate, but at the same time does not rule out the chances of one or both of those young men developing into solid players too.

Yes, but keep in mind... the mantra from their supporters on this team is that they should basically be handed a job, just like they couldn't understand why Tommy Streeter wasn't given a starting job two years ago.

Competition brings out the best in everybody... with one caveat. The loser of the competition doesn't get to play on Sunday's, which is the goal of the whole thing. There is no minor league baseball system in the NFL. If Mellette gets beat out by a rookie and/or a veteran for a spot on this roster, he doesn't play. He practices on the practice squad, and he competes at a high level during training camp.

Mellette and Brown could turn out to be very good players... but if they can't beat out the person in front of them, we will never have any idea of whether they are very good players or not, because they won't be playing.

You bring in somebody like Steve Smith and then use a first or second round pick on a WR, they are essentially handed gigs on this team, while guys like Brown and Mellette aren't. There's a big difference there.

[Halshayeji]

Come on Steve smith! Less than 4 mil and no more than 2 years please! And let's win a S. While were at it

[Ice Kriem]

golden tate. Boldin...

Golden Tate?......really? Lol

[RavenManiac20]

They might also be thinking... "jesus, we feel so great about his skills that we are bringing in at least two people to compete for the exact role that he had last season".

What are you even talking about who are these 2 people you speak of? Steve Smith and who? Another rookie WR? You really think we would draft a WR high if Steve Smith is signed? No. It would be Torrey and Steve on the outsides with Marlon in the slot. Period.

 

Yes, but keep in mind... the mantra from their supporters on this team is that they should basically be handed a job, just like they couldn't understand why Tommy Streeter wasn't given a starting job two years ago.

Competition brings out the best in everybody... with one caveat. The loser of the competition doesn't get to play on Sunday's, which is the goal of the whole thing. There is no minor league baseball system in the NFL. If Mellette gets beat out by a rookie and/or a veteran for a spot on this roster, he doesn't play. He practices on the practice squad, and he competes at a high level during training camp.

Mellette and Brown could turn out to be very good players... but if they can't beat out the person in front of them, we will never have any idea of whether they are very good players or not, because they won't be playing.

You bring in somebody like Steve Smith and then use a first or second round pick on a WR, they are essentially handed gigs on this team, while guys like Brown and Mellette aren't. There's a big difference there.

You keep talking about Mellette like he has proven something and deserves to be handed a spot on the roster. And you keep putting Mellette and Browns name together like Marlon didn't have a 600 yard and 7 TD rookie year. You are acting like he has to prove he can play. We already know he can and he will only get better. He dropped 2 or 3 potential TD's last year so he could have had around 10. And he also missed a few games with the hamstring injury. Not to mention our offense completely sucked and he and Torrey were the lone bright spots at skill positions.

[donmccauley]

Just out of curiousity... what is your basis for thinking Boldin is worth a 3rd or 4th rounder? Are you aware of what we traded to get him 4 years ago? Why would his value of have gone up since then?

Also, since you are certain that he could have fetched that price, can you please provide me the name of the team that offered that price? I'd be very interested to know this, since nobody else seems to know. If nobody offered that price... wouldn't that tell you something? I mean I know its cool for fans to pretend like they have a clue what a players value is, but rarely are they ever even in the ballpark.

I'll give you a hint... the Vikings were the first one to come calling. The best receiver on their roster at the time was Jerome Simpson. They offered a 7th rounder.

Sometimes facts just get in the way of a good fantasy...

not aware of what we gave for him but i am extremely aware of the performance he gave in baltimore, i know i may be off the mark on what he was worth but based on the performance he gave in baltimore to me was at-least a 5 and 6 or a 4th alone. look at the quality of receiver he is, he doesnt catch every single ball that comes his way but i rank him up there with likes of megatron when it comes to contested catches in traffic and balls thrown off the mark, big, physical Wr. whom will make the play in the most clutch situations,it's hard to find good wide outs like that. That you could keep around. granted im not in the nfl as player or front office and know nothing about the economics of the business but as a fan i would have rather seen the ravens keep him for 1-2 yrs longer then trade for even a 3rd rounder had it been offered

[xxDarby]

What are you even talking about who are these 2 people you speak of? Steve Smith and who? Another rookie WR? You really think we would draft a WR high if Steve Smith is signed? No. It would be Torrey and Steve on the outsides with Marlon in the slot. Period.

 

You keep talking about Mellette like he has proven something and deserves to be handed a spot on the roster. And you keep putting Mellette and Browns name together like Marlon didn't have a 600 yard and 7 TD rookie year. You are acting like he has to prove he can play. We already know he can and he will only get better. He dropped 2 or 3 potential TD's last year so he could have had around 10. And he also missed a few games with the hamstring injury. Not to mention our offense completely sucked and he and Torrey were the lone bright spots at skill positions.

^^^this wins comment of the year for me

[ReginaldColeman1]

Seahawks, Jets, Bucs, Browns, Eagles, Saints, Gints and Pats playing musical chairs. Sounds like a melodrama written by a group of GMs and signed off by the media. All too convenient.