Ravens and Jimmy Smith agree to contract extension.

[BmoreBird22]

None of Jimmy's cap numbers are massive or anything that can't be handled, so hopefully he sticks around for a while

[GrimCoconut]

I just love the Jimmy deal. He's got top CB potential if he can remain on the field, and it's certainly a valid concern, but I don't see him going anywhere for at least two years, meaning that if he does continue this trend, then in two years he could be gone with not much of an impact to the cap--in fact, with a cap savings. I don't believe that will be the case, though, because he's a good player and I think these injuries are more flukes than the norm. I'm expecting big things from him. He's already an emerging/emerged leader. I think he will soon take over for Webb. We got him for a steal. Comparatively speaking, this is a great deal for the Ravens and I think Jimmy took a discount. 

[B-more Ravor]

He saves us $4M.  Here's the contract breakdown

 

Year     Salary     Bonus     Cap hit     Savings if cut  

2015    $1M       $2.6M      $3.6M      -$9.4M

2016    $7M       $2.6M      $9.6M      -$.8M

2017    $8.5M    $2.6M      $11.1M    $3.3M

2018    $9M       $2.6M      $11.6M    $6.4M

2019    $9.5M    $2.6M      $12.1M    $9.5M

 

These numbers don't account for the full $21M in guaranteed money.

 

Not that they are going to be cutting him anytime soon, but the Cap "savings" in those 1st two years is very much more negative than stated.  Since the $7M base salary in 2016 is guaranteed, cutting him in 2016 would be far more costly (-$7.8M).

 

[Maryland]

I hope fans appreciate Jimmy not making a huge stick-measuring contest with his contract, considering he could have looked at the contracts given to Revis, Sherman, Haden, and Peterson (whom I would rank below Jimmy) and wanted a similar deal. Even a vastly inferior and unproven CB like Byron Maxwell makes more per season and has a longer contract than Jimmy (although he has less guaranteed money per year). 

 

Jimmy could have refused an extension, made us use the franchise tag, and hurt the team severely down the line while probably getting a few more million out of it, but he opted to take a decent deal that helps the team. 

[allblackraven]

I hope fans appreciate Jimmy not making a huge stick-measuring contest with his contract, considering he could have looked at the contracts given to Revis, Sherman, Haden, and Peterson (whom I would rank below Jimmy) and wanted a similar deal. Even a vastly inferior and unproven CB like Byron Maxwell makes more per season and has a longer contract than Jimmy (although he has less guaranteed money per year). 

 

Jimmy could have refused an extension, made us use the franchise tag, and hurt the team severely down the line while probably getting a few more million out of it, but he opted to take a decent deal that helps the team. 

 

Just shows how level-headed and mature guy he became. When you make 20mil+ in couple years, there isn't really much difference between 21 and 25-26. At least not enough of a difference to make up for everything else playing for stable and winning organization like Ravens means.

[Gordo52]

Love the way it's structured....Definitely a steal if he remains healthy.

[Ravenseconbeast]

I hope fans appreciate Jimmy not making a huge stick-measuring contest with his contract, considering he could have looked at the contracts given to Revis, Sherman, Haden, and Peterson (whom I would rank below Jimmy) and wanted a similar deal. Even a vastly inferior and unproven CB like Byron Maxwell makes more per season and has a longer contract than Jimmy (although he has less guaranteed money per year). 

 

Jimmy could have refused an extension, made us use the franchise tag, and hurt the team severely down the line while probably getting a few more million out of it, but he opted to take a decent deal that helps the team. 

 

I wouldnt stretch it to say Jimmy is Revis/Sherman/Haden/Peterson,

 

Jimmy has alot to prove, and he has barely been on field compare to those guys.   We've seen some flashes but for most part on the sideline.   

Jimmy looked very appreciative for the contract extension, and I hope he can prove it to us that he can stay productive and be on the field.   Hopefully the next 4 years are more views of him making plays rather than another news of him getting injured.

[K-Dog]

Its Flaccos fault Jimmy is not getting paid more.

( kidding of course )

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

21 million guaranteed is too much for a corner who is injury prone . I'm gonna tell you right now he will never play the full upcoming season without missing games . Freakin guaranteed .

Well of course it's freakin guaranteed. How can you play a full season AND miss games?

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

I wouldnt stretch it to say Jimmy is Revis/Sherman/Haden/Peterson,

Jimmy has alot to prove, and he has barely been on field compare to those guys. We've seen some flashes but for most part on the sideline.

Jimmy looked very appreciative for the contract extension, and I hope he can prove it to us that he can stay productive and be on the field. Hopefully the next 4 years are more views of him making plays rather than another news of him getting injured.

I don't think it's a stretch to say he's one of the best 5 corners in the league.

Between the 2nd half of '13 and 1st half of '14 he ranks among the top 3-5 corners in most stats like QB rating when targeted, fewest yards per reception, total yards, TDs, etc...

In 2014 he was allowing a QB rating of only 50 when targeted, 7.5 yards per reception with a long of like 23 yds, 0 touchdowns and 1 INT, and around 165 yards total. That was far better than Peterson, Sherman and Revis.

Making it even more impressive is who he faced in those games. He faced AJ Green (twice), Antonio Brown, Kelvin Benjamin, TY Hilton, Mike Evans/Vincent Jackson and Julio Jones. Literally a Who's Who of elite and soon-to-be elite players.

And this level of play didn't just come out of nowhere... Starting with the goal line stand of the Super Bowl where the team put the championship in the hands of Jimmy Smith isolated against Crabtree. They tried to pick on him and as we know the rest is history.

It began there, and from that point on trended upward in his level of play. And that's really all that matters - he may have had a rough start to his career, but he hasn't been up and down. He's gotten gradually better and better to where he was literally shutting down his side of the field in the last 12-16 games he played in.

Playing at a pro bowl level over that stretch of time isn't a series of "flashes." It's a pretty clear indication of who he is and will continue to be as a player. At the very least it gives you confidence that he'll consistently be closer to his 2014 play than how he played his rookie and sophomore seasons.

As far as the injury prone label - I think it's completely unfounded. What exactly constitutes injury prone??

His rookie season he suffered a high ankle sprain on the 1st play and missed 4 games. And that was likely due to the team being overly cautious with his return and not wanting to risk further injury. This was nothing serious, and certainly not something to worry about.

Year 2 I think it was a nagging shoulder or something like that. Again he missed 4 games, and likewise was probably treated very cautiously since it was early in the season. Nothing serious or chronic, and there's hasn't been a reoccurrence since.

I think he played the final 8-10 games plus playoffs of 2012, all of 2013, and the first 8 games of 2014. Basically 2 full seasons+ without any injury.

So the only serious injury he's had is the most recent one. I don't think one injury is really enough to make you worry, especially since the team has been able to evaluate his recovery and rehab. The signing is an indication that there are no complications and he'll be good to go.

For some context, Jimmy's missed 16 games in 4 seasons or about 25%. Before 2014 he missed 8 of a possible 48 or about 17%. Darrell Revis has missed about 12%, Chris McAlister missed 16%, Ray Lewis missed 17% (44 games over 17 seasons, and had a 6 year stretch from 2002-2008 where he only played 16 games once... Was he injury prone? Shouldn't have committed that 3rd contract and let him leave for Dallas), and finally Deion Sanders who missed 17% of his games. He only played 16 games once in his first SEVEN seasons, and only 4x over his entire 14 year career! But I doubt anyone would shy away from signing an in-his-prime Deion over injury concerns...

Now before I get jumped on, I'm not in any way comparing the play of Jimmy Smith to Deion Sanders or suggesting he's on that level. I'm just aiding the argument that he hasn't missed games at a much greater rate than many HOF type players... And when you have the chance to lock up an elite talent at an increasingly valuable position for a relative bargain... You do it!! You don't look his injury and assume it's go

[bertopr]

I don't think it's a stretch to say he's one of the best 5 corners in the league.

Between the 2nd half of '13 and 1st half of '14 he ranks among the top 3-5 corners in most stats like QB rating when targeted, fewest yards per reception, total yards, TDs, etc...

In 2014 he was allowing a QB rating of only 50 when targeted, 7.5 yards per reception with a long of like 23 yds, 0 touchdowns and 1 INT, and around 165 yards total. That was far better than Peterson, Sherman and Revis.

Making it even more impressive is who he faced in those games. He faced AJ Green (twice), Antonio Brown, Kelvin Benjamin, TY Hilton, Mike Evans/Vincent Jackson and Julio Jones. Literally a Who's Who of elite and soon-to-be elite players.

And this level of play didn't just come out of nowhere... Starting with the goal line stand of the Super Bowl where the team put the championship in the hands of Jimmy Smith isolated against Crabtree. They tried to pick on him and as we know the rest is history.

It began there, and from that point on trended upward in his level of play. And that's really all that matters - he may have had a rough start to his career, but he hasn't been up and down. He's gotten gradually better and better to where he was literally shutting down his side of the field in the last 12-16 games he played in.

Playing at a pro bowl level over that stretch of time isn't a series of "flashes." It's a pretty clear indication of who he is and will continue to be as a player. At the very least it gives you confidence that he'll consistently be closer to his 2014 play than how he played his rookie and sophomore seasons.

As far as the injury prone label - I think it's completely unfounded. What exactly constitutes injury prone??

His rookie season he suffered a high ankle sprain on the 1st play and missed 4 games. And that was likely due to the team being overly cautious with his return and not wanting to risk further injury. This was nothing serious, and certainly not something to worry about.

Year 2 I think it was a nagging shoulder or something like that. Again he missed 4 games, and likewise was probably treated very cautiously since it was early in the season. Nothing serious or chronic, and there's hasn't been a reoccurrence since.

I think he played the final 8-10 games plus playoffs of 2012, all of 2013, and the first 8 games of 2014. Basically 2 full seasons+ without any injury.

So the only serious injury he's had is the most recent one. I don't think one injury is really enough to make you worry, especially since the team has been able to evaluate his recovery and rehab. The signing is an indication that there are no complications and he'll be good to go.

For some context, Jimmy's missed 16 games in 4 seasons or about 25%. Before 2014 he missed 8 of a possible 48 or about 17%. Darrell Revis has missed about 12%, Chris McAlister missed 16%, Ray Lewis missed 17% (44 games over 17 seasons, and had a 6 year stretch from 2002-2008 where he only played 16 games once... Was he injury prone? Shouldn't have committed that 3rd contract and let him leave for Dallas), and finally Deion Sanders who missed 17% of his games. He only played 16 games once in his first SEVEN seasons, and only 4x over his entire 14 year career! But I doubt anyone would shy away from signing an in-his-prime Deion over injury concerns...

Now before I get jumped on, I'm not in any way comparing the play of Jimmy Smith to Deion Sanders or suggesting he's on that level. I'm just aiding the argument that he hasn't missed games at a much greater rate than many HOF type players... And when you have the chance to lock up an elite talent at an increasingly valuable position for a relative bargain... You do it!! You don't look his injury and assume it's go

What he said.

[allblackraven]

I don't think it's a stretch to say he's one of the best 5 corners in the league. I think you're over-valuing the play of Sherman, Peterson and Haden. Smith has played on par or better than all of them for about a year and a half.

Between the 2nd half of '13 and 1st half of '14 he ranks among the top 3-5 corners in most stats like QB rating when targeted, fewest yards per reception, total yards, TDs, etc...

In 2014 through 8 games he was allowing a QB rating of only 50 when targeted, 7.5 yards per reception with a long of like 23 yds, 0 touchdowns and 1 INT, and around 165 yards total. That was far better than Peterson, Sherman and Revis.

Making it even more impressive is who he faced in those games. He faced AJ Green (twice), Antonio Brown, Kelvin Benjamin, TY Hilton, Mike Evans/Vincent Jackson and Julio Jones. Literally a Who's Who of elite and soon-to-be elite players.

And this level of play didn't just come out of nowhere... Starting with the goal line stand of the Super Bowl where the team put the championship in the hands of Jimmy Smith isolated against Crabtree. They tried to pick on him and as we know the rest is history.

It began there, and from that point on trended upward in his level of play. And that's really all that matters - he may have had a rough start to his career, but he hasn't been up and down. He's gotten gradually better and better to where he was literally shutting down his side of the field in the last 12-16 games he played in.

Playing at a pro bowl level over that stretch of time isn't a series of "flashes." It's a pretty clear indication of who he is and will continue to be as a player. At the very least it gives you confidence that he'll consistently be closer to his 2014 play than how he played his rookie and sophomore seasons.

As far as the injury prone label - I think it's completely unfounded. What exactly constitutes injury prone??

His rookie season he suffered a high ankle sprain on the 1st play and missed 4 games. And that was likely due to the team being overly cautious with his return and not wanting to risk further injury. This was nothing serious, and certainly not something to worry about.

Year 2 I think it was a nagging shoulder or something like that. Again he missed 4 games, and likewise was probably treated very cautiously since it was early in the season. Nothing serious or chronic, and there's hasn't been a reoccurrence since.

I think he played the final 8-10 games plus playoffs of 2012, all of 2013, and the first 8 games of 2014. Basically 2 full seasons+ without any injury.

So the only serious injury he's had is the most recent one. I don't think one injury is really enough to make you concerned, especially since the team has been able to evaluate his recovery and rehab. The signing is an indication that there are no complications, he's fully recovered and will be good to go.

For some context, Jimmy's missed 16 games in 4 seasons or about 25% (not including playoffs, it'd be lower if we did). Before 2014 he missed 8 of a possible 48 or about 17%. Darrell Revis has missed about 12%, Chris McAlister missed 16%, Ray Lewis missed 17% (44 games over 17 seasons, and had a 6 year stretch from 2002-2008 where he only played 16 games once... Was he injury prone? Shouldn't have committed that 3rd contract and let him leave for Dallas), and finally Deion Sanders who missed 17% of his games. He only played 16 games once in his first SEVEN seasons, and only 4x over his entire 14 year career! But I doubt anyone would shy away from signing an in-his-prime Deion over injury concerns...

Now before I get jumped on, I'm not in any way comparing the play of Jimmy Smith to Deion Sanders or suggesting he's on that level. I'm just aiding the argument that he hasn't missed games at a much greater rate than many HOF type players... And when you have the chance to lock up an elite talent at an increasingly valuable position for a relative bargain... You do it!! You don't look at his injury and assume it's going to be a chronic issue - that's ridiculous.

That's how you lose a player like Jimmy Smith. If you let him play out his deal he goes out and puts up an All Pro season and now you have to pay him Sherman/Peterson money. So we saved about $4mill per year in all likelihood.

It's a GREAT deal! We now have a young star locked up for 3-4 years at each level of our defense. He's trended upward for about 2 years straight - to a point where he was playing as good as Sherman/Peterson/Revis at their best. And it wasn't just a game here or there, he did it over a period of 12-16 games. That is showing consistency, and doing so while facing the most talented WR's in the league game after game.

And there's no good reason to think that he's an injury concern. He's had 1 real injury. All the other stuff from his first 2 seasons were just the bumps and nicks you get from playing football. It happens to a lot of players; even great ones. Missing 8 games was more the product of a cautious FO and medical staff wanting to protect their investment than the severity or limitations of the injuries themselves.

If you view this as anything other than a great move by Ozzie & Co I think you're completely missing the boat on this one. You're either taking high ankle sprains way too seriously, or you haven't been paying attention to the free agent market for cornerbacks lately.

 

Someone already said it - and it's the only bit missing here - the fact that Ravens safety play was in shambles for most part of 2013 and 2014 seasons makes Jimmy Smith's performance that more impressive.

[AsianRice]

I have to face palm when I see some of Ravens fans not happy about signing JM deal.....

 

 

I have nothing to discuss but self-pleasuring as smiling at nobody like a crazy man......

[Tru11]

I have to face palm when I see some of Ravens fans not happy about signing JM deal.....

 

 

I have nothing to discuss but self-pleasuring as smiling at nobody like a crazy man......

 

yup especially when people are already calling it a bad deal before the contract details are made public lol.

[jazz1988]

Its not that..but haven't we learnt with Webb and Pitta?

 

Jimmy smith isn't C-mac. Hes a good corner..a top 15 one. He hasn't shown that he can remain healthy and he has had his struggles up until last year where he was doing good…6 games is not enough to warrant a massive contract..im sorry but i said this even with webb ( and he actually showed more) that giving him such a big deal after 1 very good season is ridiculous.

 

Honestly last year was Jimmy Smith first time ever going to i.r and it's not like he's been going to i.r constantly . Jimmy Smith is clearly our best corner on the team and  no one can dispute that at all. If The Ravens had waited until next year to sign him to a  new contract then most likely he would have been getting more money and probably go to another team,.

 

Smith is literally taking less more and I think it's steal to get him at 46 million.

[AsianRice]

I don't think it's a stretch to say he's one of the best 5 corners in the league.

Between the 2nd half of '13 and 1st half of '14 he ranks among the top 3-5 corners in most stats like QB rating when targeted, fewest yards per reception, total yards, TDs, etc...

In 2014 he was allowing a QB rating of only 50 when targeted, 7.5 yards per reception with a long of like 23 yds, 0 touchdowns and 1 INT, and around 165 yards total. That was far better than Peterson, Sherman and Revis.

Making it even more impressive is who he faced in those games. He faced AJ Green (twice), Antonio Brown, Kelvin Benjamin, TY Hilton, Mike Evans/Vincent Jackson and Julio Jones. Literally a Who's Who of elite and soon-to-be elite players.

And this level of play didn't just come out of nowhere... Starting with the goal line stand of the Super Bowl where the team put the championship in the hands of Jimmy Smith isolated against Crabtree. They tried to pick on him and as we know the rest is history.

It began there, and from that point on trended upward in his level of play. And that's really all that matters - he may have had a rough start to his career, but he hasn't been up and down. He's gotten gradually better and better to where he was literally shutting down his side of the field in the last 12-16 games he played in.

Playing at a pro bowl level over that stretch of time isn't a series of "flashes." It's a pretty clear indication of who he is and will continue to be as a player. At the very least it gives you confidence that he'll consistently be closer to his 2014 play than how he played his rookie and sophomore seasons.

As far as the injury prone label - I think it's completely unfounded. What exactly constitutes injury prone??

His rookie season he suffered a high ankle sprain on the 1st play and missed 4 games. And that was likely due to the team being overly cautious with his return and not wanting to risk further injury. This was nothing serious, and certainly not something to worry about.

Year 2 I think it was a nagging shoulder or something like that. Again he missed 4 games, and likewise was probably treated very cautiously since it was early in the season. Nothing serious or chronic, and there's hasn't been a reoccurrence since.

I think he played the final 8-10 games plus playoffs of 2012, all of 2013, and the first 8 games of 2014. Basically 2 full seasons+ without any injury.

So the only serious injury he's had is the most recent one. I don't think one injury is really enough to make you worry, especially since the team has been able to evaluate his recovery and rehab. The signing is an indication that there are no complications and he'll be good to go.

For some context, Jimmy's missed 16 games in 4 seasons or about 25%. Before 2014 he missed 8 of a possible 48 or about 17%. Darrell Revis has missed about 12%, Chris McAlister missed 16%, Ray Lewis missed 17% (44 games over 17 seasons, and had a 6 year stretch from 2002-2008 where he only played 16 games once... Was he injury prone? Shouldn't have committed that 3rd contract and let him leave for Dallas), and finally Deion Sanders who missed 17% of his games. He only played 16 games once in his first SEVEN seasons, and only 4x over his entire 14 year career! But I doubt anyone would shy away from signing an in-his-prime Deion over injury concerns...

Now before I get jumped on, I'm not in any way comparing the play of Jimmy Smith to Deion Sanders or suggesting he's on that level. I'm just aiding the argument that he hasn't missed games at a much greater rate than many HOF type players... And when you have the chance to lock up an elite talent at an increasingly valuable position for a relative bargain... You do it!! You don't look his injury and assume it's go

very thoughtful and informative post...i like it....

[52N19]

i read an article that said to be patient with matt elam because jimmy smith started off slow as well. i don't see the comparison. smith always looked like he had potential. his problem was he couldn't find the ball in coverage. he covered great but he couldn't find the ball. the other issue he had was he was hurt a lot. he got hurt in the first week of his rookie year against steelers. smith could always tackle. i don't see any glimmer of hope in elam. he can't tackle, he can't cover he acts immature on the field.  i think ozzie crapped the bed on elam. 

[jazz1988]

i read an article that said to be patient with matt elam because jimmy smith started off slow as well. i don't see the comparison. smith always looked like he had potential. his problem was he couldn't find the ball in coverage. he covered great but he couldn't find the ball. the other issue he had was he was hurt a lot. he got hurt in the first week of his rookie year against steelers. smith could always tackle. i don't see any glimmer of hope in elam. he can't tackle, he can't cover he acts immature on the field.  i think ozzie crapped the bed on elam. 

 

I don't think it's that Elam can't tackle it's just that he trys to go for the big hit more than just wrapping up. His coverage skills weren't great but he shown flashes of solid coverage at times. I think Elam problem is all mental and in my opinion.  He was asked to do alot from playing free safety, strong safety , nickel corner,and etc to the point I don't think he ever got comfortable.

[beasy2487]

I don't think it's that Elam can't tackle it's just that he trys to go for the big hit more than just wrapping up. His coverage skills weren't great but he shown flashes of solid coverage at times. I think Elam problem is all mental and in my opinion.  He was asked to do alot from playing free safety, strong safety , nickel corner,and etc to the point I don't think he ever got comfortable.

 

I think the comparison of Elam to Jimmy is apt. I think Elam is worse than Jimmy was but categorically they both have/had awareness problems. There's a lot of talk about Jimmy not getting his head around but I recall his real demon being the double move. All you had to do was get a couple early completions underneath and by the 3rd quarter you could turn Jimmy completely around with a hitch and go. Hopefully Elam cleans it up the same way Jimmy did.

[rafahash]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I gotta ask:

 

We lowered Jimmy's cap hit for 2015, and I don't think we'll be signing many FAs. Could this mean another extension is in the works?

[allblackraven]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I gotta ask:

 

We lowered Jimmy's cap hit for 2015, and I don't think we'll be signing many FAs. Could this mean another extension is in the works?

 

I have a feeling we're waiting to sign some UFAs after the deadline (May 12), so it doesn't affect our comp picks.

[beasy2487]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I gotta ask:

 

We lowered Jimmy's cap hit for 2015, and I don't think we'll be signing many FAs. Could this mean another extension is in the works?

 

Not a dumb question at all. I imagine we'll play the UFA market first and then re-focus on getting Yanda and Tucker extended. Although I was positive we'd get both of them done before Jimmy so who knows.

[Tru11]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I gotta ask:

 

We lowered Jimmy's cap hit for 2015, and I don't think we'll be signing many FAs. Could this mean another extension is in the works?

 

id say they are saving it for ufa and potential roster cuts.

 

i think resigning yanda and tucker would actually save more cap at this point it they get contracts structured similiar to what smith got.

[Moderator 3]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I gotta ask:

 

We lowered Jimmy's cap hit for 2015, and I don't think we'll be signing many FAs. Could this mean another extension is in the works?

I think we'll hold on to the "excess" for now so Ozzie can scour the camp cuts in August. We also need $2-3 miilion in reserve in case of a need to sign injury replacements during the season.