Cap 2015 - Reality vs. Fantasy

[redlobster]

Another thing going against ngata is the fact that Brandon williams, jernigan, Tyson, KLM, urban will all be on the d line next year + I'd add in another late round pick ala Arthur Jones,mcphee, Tyson in the draft.

Edit* it now is being reported that canty will retire and that creates $2.66 million in cap space.

[Sizzlebshu]

Ngata should be extended, not cut. People really underestimate how much of a factor he is and how much offensive attention he commands (i'd argue the threat of him commands more than any single player on the d) 

[balfan23]

The biggest question/concern to me is Pitta. Of course, I hope he can comeback, but I am a bit skeptical about the possibility of that. 

 

If he knew that he had no real chance of making a comeback and he retired for health reasons, we may be able to recoup some of that money off the cap, but I don't know if he'll do that. Taking that approach could cost him a lot of money, so he may hope against hope and continue to try and make a comeback. If that is the case, we'll be paying pretty big money on someone we cannot use.

 

Anyway you slice it, it is a sad situation. 

[GrimCoconut]

Ngata should be extended, not cut. People really underestimate how much of a factor he is and how much offensive attention he commands (i'd argue the threat of him commands more than any single player on the d) 

I don't disagree. I just think that he could be another Anquan Boldin. He's in a very similar scenario. I understand that Ozzie didn't draft Anquan but there are striking similarities. I can absolutely see Ozzie think he can move on from Ngata, as painful as it may be, with the depth he added there in the draft in recent years and use some of that money on another veteran who will come cheaper. I use Redding because I like him, but maybe Ozzie has a better option. 

 

I think if we can work out a cheaper deal for Ngata he stays. I just don't feel good about the likelihood of that. Hopefully it happens. 

[tolucaraven]

I also felt like, even though Jernigan played well in Ngata's absence, that the run defense took a pretty big hit without Ngata in there.

Actually the rushing numbers were better with Jernigan vs the pass and run.  Ngata is gone and Mcphee will stay. Mcphee can play inside and ouside and Allows other lineman and OLBers to be more versatile and creates scheme flexibility.

[balfan23]

I don't disagree. I just think that he could be another Anquan Boldin. He's in a very similar scenario. I understand that Ozzie didn't draft Anquan but there are striking similarities. I can absolutely see Ozzie think he can move on from Ngata, as painful as it may be, with the depth he added there in the draft in recent years and use some of that money on another veteran who will come cheaper. I use Redding because I like him, but maybe Ozzie has a better option. 

 

I think if we can work out a cheaper deal for Ngata he stays. I just don't feel good about the likelihood of that. Hopefully it happens. 

Indeed ... and we're all hoping he could be another Suggs. 

 

I think the situation is the same if, like Boldin, Ngata gives no indication of budging off of his current contract, I think it will be another case of Ozzie saying, my way or the highway. 

[tolucaraven]

Plus, Ngata was awful yesterday. How many times this year did Ngata go against 2nd or 3rd or 4th string centers and do basically nothing. Ngata is old and washed up, he looks almost as bad as Wilfork yesterday( who was dominated)

[balfan23]

Actually the rushing numbers were better with Jernigan vs the pass and run.  Ngata is gone and Mcphee will stay. Mcphee can play inside and ouside and Allows other lineman and OLBers to be more versatile and creates scheme flexibility.

I think that is a good point. People are saying they don't want to see Ngata go (of course we don't), but if it came down to the choices of 1) extend Ngata or 2) retain McPhee, which would we choose? 

[GrimCoconut]

Indeed ... and we're all hoping he could be another Suggs. 

 

I think the situation is the same if, like Boldin, Ngata gives no indication of budging off of his current contract, I think it will be another case of Ozzie saying, my way or the highway. 

Yeah. I really think Ozzie holds a lot of the cards on this one. Don't get me wrong, Ngata certainly has some nice cards himself; it's just that I find Ozzie with more leverage. He has DL depth. He has shown he can develop DL prospects, mainly due to Brooks and his efficient scouting. He has shown he can find quality FA DL prospects, such as Redding. He's shown he can find late-round DL prospects as well, returning to the previous point, in Jones and McPhee as well as even Tyson to an extent. 

 

Granted, none of those guys are Haloti Ngata. He's a special kind of player. I just think that this is a decision that Ozzie could make based off of what we have here and the history we've shown. I just don't like the idea of trying to assume he'll stay and then he's released and there's outcry. It furthers the point that Jernigan was a pretty nice fill-in for Ngata while he was out, too. 

[tolucaraven]

Mcphee IS priority number 1, players who are in their prime who can both play interioror or exterior DL and OLB who can create pressure and sacks is rare... He is basically 3 players and enables you to be flexible and expand options for other players on the current team and widens the pool of players you can fill in vis Draft or Free agency. Plus, Ozzie loves him, he is a swiss army knife guy. If he were 4-5 years older he might let him walk or one dimensional like Kruger was.

[rmw10]

Mcphee IS priority number 1, players who are in their prime who can both play interioror or exterior DL and OLB who can create pressure and sacks is rare... He is basically 3 players and enables you to be flexible and expand options for other players on the current team and widens the pool of players you can fill in vis Draft or Free agency. Plus, Ozzie loves him, he is a swiss army knife guy. If he were 4-5 years older he might let him walk or one dimensional like Kruger was.

 

He's definitely the top of our FA class, and while I think we'd absolutely love to keep him, the question is cost.  I've seen many people predict $6-8M per year if he hits the open market, and I'm not sure we can afford that.  I want him badly but I think he's the classic case of a guy we let walk.

[GrimCoconut]

He's definitely the top of our FA class, and while I think we'd absolutely love to keep him, the question is cost.  I've seen many people predict $6-8M per year if he hits the open market, and I'm not sure we can afford that.  I want him badly but I think he's the classic case of a guy we let walk.

I remember when people called me crazy when I was predicting he would get paid in that range in the off-season. We'll see if it actually happens, but I do think it's possible he goes. He's certainly earned it this year. He's been Pernell McPheenom for sure. 

[rmw10]

I remember when people called me crazy when I was predicting he would get paid in that range in the off-season. We'll see if it actually happens, but I do think it's possible he goes. He's certainly earned it this year. He's been Pernell McPheenom for sure. 

 

I really do not want to see him go but he'd be crazy not to bet on himself on the open market unless we pony up the big bucks beforehand.  There are a lot of teams out there that are devoid of pass rush and I'm sure they'd love to have McPhee.

[I AM LEGEND]

Release Canty.

Release Pitta.

Release Jones.

Restructure Ngata.

Release Koch.

Release the other LB on the list.

See if Webb would be interested in restructuring...

[pep_meister]

would be incredible if they said "hey Joe, free up x ammount and we will get you any free agent WR you'd like to throw to this year " and he said ok oz... that'd be magic. or stevie b drops a stuffed bear off full of $100 bills and with a post it note that says " take a pay cut "

[Tru11]

Based on what do people think we have d-line depth if both canty and ngata are gone?

[Tank 92]

I trust Oz and Co. will make the correct decisions. While those decisions are not usually flashy or attention grabbing, they know how to manage the cap and keep the Team competitive. Can't argue with success.  

[rmcjacket23]

Release Canty.

Release Pitta.

Release Jones.

Restructure Ngata.

Release Koch.

Release the other LB on the list.

See if Webb would be interested in restructuring...

Releasing Pitta isn't an option... would cost more to cut him than to keep him.

[RobFuseRaven]

Do we really need ngata? I think we have a lot of depth here..jernigan will only get better

 

The truth is we don't have any idea who we'll need until the season goes underway. You think you're set at one position and then there are a slew of injuries time and time again.

[balfan23]

I trust Oz and Co. will make the correct decisions. While those decisions are not usually flashy or attention grabbing, they know how to manage the cap and keep the Team competitive. Can't argue with success.  

No doubt .. they make life difficult for themselves by having success and then have to be created to maintain success. The NFL is not set up for teams to excel for an extended period, so those teams that do (we are in that group) certainly do a fantastic job of managing their rosters and payrolls. 

 

The main reason I initiated this tread was in response to what I was seeing cropping up in terms of Free Agent threads ... just trying to get the group who year after year call for us to bring in the biggest name free agents to try and get a little perspective and see what the FO is up against. 

[H8R]

Mcphee IS priority number 1, players who are in their prime who can both play interioror or exterior DL and OLB who can create pressure and sacks is rare... He is basically 3 players and enables you to be flexible and expand options for other players on the current team and widens the pool of players you can fill in vis Draft or Free agency. Plus, Ozzie loves him, he is a swiss army knife guy. If he were 4-5 years older he might let him walk or one dimensional like Kruger was.

I don't think he's a priority because I don't think we have the cap space. I love Pernell, and he had a great season (contract year). I just question his longterm health.

Tucker should be a priority, as that guy is one of the best in the league and SHOULD be somewhat affordable!

[Bryden88]

Getting rid of Koch is dumb. We don't split up the Wolf Pack!

[B-more Ravor]

Full offseason Free Agency preview:

 

http://russellstreetreport.com/2015/01/12/baltimore-ravens-salary-cap/ravens-cap-issues-set-busy-offseason/

 

They got a lot of work to do.

[B-more Ravor]

Getting rid of Koch is dumb. We don't split up the Wolf Pack!

 

 

Extending Yanda and Koch probably makes the most sense, that way they keep them and lessen their present Cap hits.  These are probably no brainers, IMO, especially Yanda.

 

Same with Ngata, but that's going to be more a question of the cost to get done.

[B-more Ravor]

Mcphee IS priority number 1, players who are in their prime who can both play interioror or exterior DL and OLB who can create pressure and sacks is rare... He is basically 3 players and enables you to be flexible and expand options for other players on the current team and widens the pool of players you can fill in vis Draft or Free agency. Plus, Ozzie loves him, he is a swiss army knife guy. If he were 4-5 years older he might let him walk or one dimensional like Kruger was.

 

As much as I'm sure they'd like to keep him around, the cost is likely to be too much for them, given their Cap constrains.

 

Barring something totally unforeseen, he's the next in line to leave for more money than the Ravens can afford.

[balfan23]

Full offseason Free Agency preview:

 

http://russellstreetreport.com/2015/01/12/baltimore-ravens-salary-cap/ravens-cap-issues-set-busy-offseason/

 

They got a lot of work to do.

Thanks for the post ... there is no better resource than McFarland for Ravens cap conversations and that article is his latest. People screaming for high profile acquisitions need to read (but of course they won't). 

[balfan23]

Extending Yanda and Koch probably makes the most sense, that way they keep them and lessen their present Cap hits.  These are probably no brainers, IMO, especially Yanda.

 

Some with Ngata, but that's going to be more a question of the cost to get done.

Extending Koch should be easy ... if that is something the team is interested in.

 

The desire to extend Yanda may be a no-brainer, but the reality of it might be tricky. He may be more than willing to play out his contract year with the expectation he'll be able to command more money next year in FA if he hits the open market, then trying to negotiate an extension. Still something I'd expect we'll explore. 

[rmw10]

Full offseason Free Agency preview:

 

http://russellstreetreport.com/2015/01/12/baltimore-ravens-salary-cap/ravens-cap-issues-set-busy-offseason/

 

They got a lot of work to do.

 

^^^ This is the man you should listen to for all Ravens cap related questions.  No one better, in my opinion.

[B-more Ravor]

^^^ This is the man you should listen to for all Ravens cap related questions.  No one better, in my opinion.

 

Thanks! 

[balfan23]

Ugh .. a new thread titled "Demaryus Thomas" has cropped up. 

 

Please!