[News] The Competition 2015: Offensive Tackle

[RavenSwag]

Rick Wagner could be due for a Pro Bowl if he have another year like last year. Monroe has to stay healthy or he won't be here for the entire length of his contract.

[hen826957]

@rmcjacket23 I get what your saying about keeping depth and your right but it's not about that it's about keeping the two guards in Baltimore. Look I like Monroe a he's a good LT, but if he's not playing in his potential that we hope for him to be than it would be better trading him putting a cheaper Hurst in, save money, and use it to try to keep K.0. and Yanda here just my opinion okay rmcjacket. By the way Ozzie is one of the best in the business to find depth in the offensive line during the draft or in free agency. So if this happened, Ozzie will find depth at that position. Another I want to apply is when you said about Hurst not being cheap in 4 to 5 years well Marshal Yanda probably will be retire than so we could afford Hurst if he playing well anyway. But my point is if necessary have to free space to keep the guards here and Monroe not playing his full potential then I could see Ozzie trading him. Just remember this has nothing to do with this season. I hope you not thinking I talking about trading Monroe this year. LOL

[rmcjacket23]

@rmcjacket23 I get what your saying about keeping depth and your right but it's not about that it's about keeping the two guards in Baltimore. Look I like Monroe a he's a good LT, but if he's not playing in his potential that we hope for him to be than it would be better trading him putting a cheaper Hurst in, save money, and use it to try to keep K.0. and Yanda here just my opinion okay rmcjacket. By the way Ozzie is one of the best in the business to find depth in the offensive line during the draft or in free agency. So if this happened, Ozzie will find depth at that position. Another I want to apply is when you said about Hurst not being cheap in 4 to 5 years well Marshal Yanda probably will be retire than so we could afford Hurst if he playing well anyway. But my point is if necessary have to free space to keep the guards here and Monroe not playing his full potential then I could see Ozzie trading him. Just remember this has nothing to do with this season. I hope you not thinking I talking about trading Monroe this year. LOL

Cool, but my point is... I don't think trading Monroe even remotely guarantees you keep both guards. We've had cap space to sign players in previous years (we had enough cap space to sign Torrey this year) and we didn't. Its not just about having the cap space, and its certainly not just about having the cap space in ONE season. We might be able to afford both in 2015, but there's no guarantee we could afford both in 2016, 2017, 2018, etc.

Sure, Yanda might retire by then. But I doubt he's retiring by the end of 2017, which is when Hurst contract would be done. If he is, then we shouldn't be having this discussion anyway, because we should just let him go. Not interested in retaining a high priced guard for only two years, and I doubt the FO is either. Additionally, 2016-2017 will also be the time that a guy like Wagner is coming due for a deal, and if he's healthy and playing at the level he did last season, that'll cost you something significant from a cap perspective. Signing both guards or not could be the difference in retaining a player like him, but we can't possibly know that right now.

Sure, Ozzie is great at finding SOME OL depth. At LT, not so much. Ogden retired in 2007, and many Ravens fans would argue we're still looking for a solid replacement for him (I think Monroe is that). Its been 8 years, and Ozzie has burned a first round pick and trading mid-round picks just trying to find a starting LT, let alone depth. Our depth in previous seasons typically meant shifting a guard or tackle out to that spot.

I can't hammer home this point enough...some people are notorious for not considering salary cap implications beyond the season in front of them. Affording both guards in 2015 isn't relevant if we can't afford both guards in 2016 and 2017 and potentially longer than that, because once you sign those guys, its difficult or impossible to cut them in the first three years without major salary cap ramifications. That means that if you only plan for the current year, you typically end up having to cut a bunch of players you don't want to cut in future years, or worse, not retaining players you want to retain.

By typical NFL theory, if I have to trade a decently priced LT (which are incredibly hard to find) basically 2-3 years after I traded for him and gave him a large contract just so I can keep a SECOND high priced guard, I probably can't afford the guard in either situation.

By your own admission, finding interior OL is a specialty of Ozzie, particularly in the draft. Doesn't make much sense to commit large money to TWO guards when you can probably find a similarly talented one in the draft for probably 10% the cost.

[hen826957]

@rmcjacket23 Well, you made great points but for the first paragraph you wrote yes we could've afford Torrey but didn't want to because Ozzie doesn't believe he earn 8 or 9 million a year. They will want K.O. and Yanda if they had the money. Monroe doesn't guarantees the keep both you right but it helps along with other movies as well. Another thing is that Ozzie is the best in the business to do future contracts as well look at what he did to Forsett. Ozzie can probably can lower cap numbers in the 2016. 2017, 2018, and so forth. So let see what happens next year if we could sign K.O. and Yanda great if not so be it we do got depth at those positions let us just leave it at that alright rmcjacket.