Next up: Pro-bowl, Free Agency, Draft and the Salary Cap

[The Raven]

I think I heard it's this Thursday or Friday. That tells me that the team and front office already know what they want to do and where we must improve.

Thursday at 2pm I believe. There's a bulletin on the homepage of this website about it.

 

That says End of Season press conference, not State of the Ravens Press Conference. Usually they have an end of season press conference the week after the season ends that just includes Harbaugh and one other, and then a State of the Ravens press conference in late January with all four of the executives. This might actually be the State of the Ravens but I'm not sure.

Edited January 4, 2016 by The Raven

[rmcjacket23]

That says End of Season press conference, not State of the Ravens Press Conference. Usually they have an end of season press conference the week after the season ends that just includes Harbaugh and one other, and then a State of the Ravens press conference in late January with all four of the executives. This might actually be the State of the Ravens but I'm not sure.

I assume they'd group them both together, but could be wrong. Did seem a bit early for the State of the Union speech.

[The Raven]

I assume they'd group them both together, but could be wrong. Did seem a bit early for the State of the Union speech.

 

I remember last year's end of season press conference was pretty hasty and Harbs did it alone. He said during that conference that they'd have more to share after the annual golf trip at Steve's place in Florida. They also tend to specify it as the "State of the Ravens Press Conference," not the "End of Season Press Conference."

[Deflated Football]

Pitta wants to continue playing according to Jamison Hensley on Twitter. We won't bring him back at $5 million and he could really hinder our younger TE's scary potential. I think it's time to move on.

[GrimCoconut]

I remember last year's end of season press conference was pretty hasty and Harbs did it alone. He said during that conference that they'd have more to share after the annual golf trip at Steve's place in Florida. They also tend to specify it as the "State of the Ravens Press Conference," not the "End of Season Press Conference."

I heard it on the radio. Maybe they confused the two. It's certainly possible.

[B-more Ravor]

Theres a article by Brian over on RSR about our cap situation. You guys really need to read it before tossing out wild assumptions. Basically even without resigning KO and assuming they tag Tucker, give Aiken a 2nd rd tender while not tendering anyone else, resigning our erfa and given a assumed cost of our rookie pool than even with a guessed increase in the cap to 153m we will be several M OVER the cap.

Now of course thats assuming Joes contract drags into the spring and no other releases.

Interesting releases:

Arrington 1.43m

Canty 2.15m

Forsett 2.3m, some will argue this

Levine 1m

Pitta 5m if hes a post june 1

DSmith 2.6m

Lewis 933k

Now Elam would save 1.328m, what do we do here? Keep in mind we usually carry 4-5 safeties, and assuming Levine and Lewis go were down to 3.

Monroe is a 2.1M savings or 6.5m given a post june 1 release. However keep in mind after June 1 youre not gettong the cream of the crop of FAs. So with everyone above being released that saves us 15.38m, add in another 8-10 if they can get Joes contract redone prior to FA and well be looking at MAYBE 19m in wiggle room. Thats best case scenario. Someone double check my math lol

 

 

Here's the article:

 

http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/01/04/baltimore-ravens-salary-cap/2016-salary-cap-preview-v2-0/

 

But, keep in mind that for every player released there is a player added to the Rule of 51 Cap calculation, so for all of those release figures, there'd be a corresponding addition to the Cap of $525K. 

[B-more Ravor]

 

 

$19M in spending is on the high side, since I don't think Flacco's extension frees up more than about $6-8M in cap space. 

 

 

Certainly not saying that it's going to happen, but they could get it there.  However, it would mean releasing about 8-9 players, many of whom would be considered leaders on the team.

 

The benefit - along with create the Cap space - would be to clear the unwanted contracts off the books in 2016, so that they would have a relatively clean Cap (sans bloated contracts) heading into 2017. 

[DomMcRaven]

Shareece Wright on AJ in the red zone wth was that all about?

I know right! I had my hands up and I'm like "Seriously, bruh?"

[rmcjacket23]

Certainly not saying that it's going to happen, but they could get it there.  However, it would mean releasing about 8-9 players, many of whom would be considered leaders on the team.

 

The benefit - along with create the Cap space - would be to clear the unwanted contracts off the books in 2016, so that they would have a relatively clean Cap (sans bloated contracts) heading into 2017. 

Agreed, and I just don't see them cutting that many guys. You'd have to think guys like Webb/Monroe/Dumervil could be part of that group to get to that number, since they have the biggest cap savings impact for the most part.

 

I think they can easily create $10-12M in space by just cutting some obvious names, like Arrington/Canty/possibly Pitta Post-June 1, etc.

 

Then it just all depends on how much space we create from Joe's extension and when that will occur. The sooner the better, obviously.

[allblackraven]

Is anyone else surprised that we're already doing our State of the Ravens conference?

I'm not. After 5-11 season I'm glad there is some urgency.

[codizzle]

I think I heard it's this Thursday or Friday. That tells me that the team and front office already know what they want to do and where we must improve.

you knowteams operate years in advance and then have plans for each year as well and adjust accordingly throughout season.

That particular news conference shouldn't be hard when they've had plans for offseason long in the works.. Just a lot of fluff talk with a few hints to different directions they'd like to go

[rmcjacket23]

you knowteams operate years in advance and then have plans for each year as well and adjust accordingly throughout season.

That particular news conference shouldn't be hard when they've had plans for offseason long in the works.. Just a lot of fluff talk with a few hints to different directions they'd like to go

I mean, kind of, though there's zero doubt that the plans change annually, and the plan is vastly different for a 5-11 team than it is for an 11-5 team.

[DenverRaven]

I would like to believe that Flacco/Linta feel a sense of urgency as well. Getting that extension done before FA would be a huge deal for the coming season. 

[RavensFanInCA]

Flacco on contract:“You know this day is going to come.No matter what you do, there's no way of getting around having big cap # at some pt,"

 

https://twitter.com/jeffzrebiecsun/status/684124560418029568

 

Such a weird statement by Flacco. Based on straight text, it almost sounds like he's saying "not my fault, you knew this was coming", which seems out of character for him. Wondering if there's any meaning to draw out of it.

[rmcjacket23]

Flacco on contract:“You know this day is going to come.No matter what you do, there's no way of getting around having big cap # at some pt,"

 

https://twitter.com/jeffzrebiecsun/status/684124560418029568

 

Such a weird statement by Flacco. Based on straight text, it almost sounds like he's saying "not my fault, you knew this was coming", which seems out of character for him. Wondering if there's any meaning to draw out of it.

Probably nothing, other than the fact that he's 100% accurate.

 

Even when he signs an extension, he's still going to have a big cap hit now and in basically all future years. Its inevitable.

[GrimCoconut]

Flacco on contract:“You know this day is going to come.No matter what you do, there's no way of getting around having big cap # at some pt,"

https://twitter.com/jeffzrebiecsun/status/684124560418029568

Such a weird statement by Flacco. Based on straight text, it almost sounds like he's saying "not my fault, you knew this was coming", which seems out of character for him. Wondering if there's any meaning to draw out of it.

I know we all like to be interpreters of hidden meaning but sometimes we need to realize there is none. It's hard to guess what he meant by that comment without the context, question, preceding and succeeding statements.

Just like Mallett and his comment that he isn't Joe, we shouldn't attempt to put words in his mouth without further details. It certainly sounds strange, out of character, and almost "deal with it," as you imply. Let's see how it plays out.

[DenverRaven]

I know we all like to be interpreters of hidden meaning but sometimes we need to realize there is none. It's hard to guess what he meant by that comment without the context, question, preceding and succeeding statements.

Just like Mallett and his comment that he isn't Joe, we shouldn't attempt to put words in his mouth without further details. It certainly sounds strange, out of character, and almost "deal with it," as you imply. Let's see how it plays out.

 

This was posted right before;

 

Flacco said that he hasn't talked to anybody about contract. But with a 28.5 mill cap hit next year, he knows it likely will be addressed

 

https://twitter.com/jeffzrebiecsun/status/684102242144776196

 

 

I wouldn't put much thought into the other comment. It's out of context.

[Cillmatic]

Seems like anything a Ravens QB says is bad nowadays.

[BmoreBird22]

With free agency pending, two players I'd love to consider for free safety (assuming Webb is still able to play NCB) would be George Illoka and Reggie Nelson. They may love to be in the AFC North to show the Bengals what they're missing if they're allowed to walk.

[GrimCoconut]

Been doing some thinking here and I think we should focus on building a bully on offense. After watching the recent games, I think it's clear to me that's why we struggle against the Bengals. How do we lose to them? Turnovers, man. They have a great secondary year in and year out but we lose to them. Why? Turnovers, which primarily occur on offense, seem to be our undoing. I think if we re-sign KO, then that reduces the need for a LT even more. While I wasn't a big fan of the idea initially, after thinking some, I think we should take Treadwell with our first pick. 

 

If Perriman busts, you have an insurance policy. If Perriman booms, you have a potentially another great player across from him & could have two #1 WRs, which would be ridiculous. We will keep Aiken as well, and I wouldn't mind him at all as a #3 or #4 in that scenario. Having those two WR with Steve Smith? Wow, that is a lethal offense. That's not including the TEs. I would also inject more young talent into the OL. I'd love a high draft pick at LT, but if we re-sign KO, we need an insurance policy. This is a strong draft for LT, so we could get one on the 2nd or 3rd or maybe the 4th round. They could be a reserve LG or LT, which would be great since we can kick Hurst to the curb. 

 

This would also allow us to control the ball more. I don't like the defense and I think it can be better, but I like the potential we have already on offense & I think it may be easier to improve on the offense than the defense. Also, we've seen Ozzie pull rabbits out of his hat on defense before, especially pass rusher. 

 

This isn't to say I want us to ignore the defense. I'd be fine taking a defensive player. We need turnovers, but I think we could get that guy later. While I also think WRs are available later, I think getting a guy close to Treadwell would be harder to get. Boyd & Fuller (Notre Dame WR) are the closest to him, IMO, but I do like Treadwell's catching radius better. Coleman is also a good WR, but the Baylor thing is a concern of mine, legitimate or not. 

[Ravenseconbeast]

I mean, that's great and all, except the problem is timing. If you are waiting until the draft to decide if Webb will be on the roster and/or what position he will play, that means two full months of FA have already been completed. The FS market will be completely dead by then (certainly of playmakers) and I'm never a fan of draft a secondary player in the first round and throwing him to the wolves in year 1.... typically doesn't pan out well.

 

So even if you draft a playmaking secondary player at #6, I don't even see what the value in cutting Webb would be? You're either losing a possible FS or an above average corner (and yes, he's an above average corner by just about any possible evaluation standard) and having very little shot of replacing him in May, a good two months after FA has opened.

 

In my opinion, if Webb is on the roster by the time the draft occurs, he's likely locked onto this team for 2016.

That could be true and not true.   But i will say that if you draft a calibur player like Ramsey or Hargreaves @ that high of a pick and don't start?   That is saying something to me.   Ramsey or Hargreaves can't afford to 'mature' as time goes on.   They have to be thrust in and show their stuff.

[allblackraven]

With free agency pending, two players I'd love to consider for free safety (assuming Webb is still able to play NCB) would be George Illoka and Reggie Nelson. They may love to be in the AFC North to show the Bengals what they're missing if they're allowed to walk.

I'm with you on that one. Three years without true FS is enough. BTW, Goerge Iloka's younger brother Kenny (TCU) is pretty talented safety as well. Should be available later in the draft since he missed most of the season due to knee injury.

[DomMcRaven]

So speaking of salary cap, does the dead money of Rice and/or Ngata affect our cap space for this offseason or is it off the books?

[The Raven]

Certainly not saying that it's going to happen, but they could get it there.  However, it would mean releasing about 8-9 players, many of whom would be considered leaders on the team.

 

The benefit - along with create the Cap space - would be to clear the unwanted contracts off the books in 2016, so that they would have a relatively clean Cap (sans bloated contracts) heading into 2017. 

 

Do you know if Rice's and Ngata's dead money are off the books now? I'm pretty sure they are but want to confirm.

[allblackraven]

So speaking of salary cap, does the dead money of Rice and/or Ngata affect our cap space for this offseason or is it off the books?

We carry no dead money at the moment:

 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/cap/2016/

[rmcjacket23]

That could be true and not true.   But i will say that if you draft a calibur player like Ramsey or Hargreaves @ that high of a pick and don't start?   That is saying something to me.   Ramsey or Hargreaves can't afford to 'mature' as time goes on.   They have to be thrust in and show their stuff.

Not really that unheard of though, especially at that position.

[DomMcRaven]

We carry no dead money at the moment:

 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/cap/2016/

Ah got it. 

[codizzle]

I mean, kind of, though there's zero doubt that the plans change annually, and the plan is vastly different for a 5-11 team than it is for an 11-5 team.

Yea definitely but I would assume Ozzie and front office took this approach awhile ago is my point based on the way the season was going

[Guest]

Wasn't he a free agent after that season?  Perhaps that is why Jacksonville trade him as they knew they would lose him anyway and only end up with a single fourth round pick for him.  

 

Also talking about tackles.  Oher is starting for the 15-1 Panthers and leads all tackles in games played the year Monroe/Oher were drafted.  

 

Oher drew a lot of catcalls here. None from me though.

 

The blog rule of thumb is that anyone we allow to walk was not productive and anyone we signed in their place was a potential All Pro or more.  It's really amusing to watch. 

 

I think we'll be a better team next year if we stay relatively healthy, draft well and sign legitimate players. But we are currently nowhere near the team we were in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

[Daft Classic]

What are people's opinions on Zuttah? Do we hold onto him and move Urshel to LG and hunt for a LT? Or do we let him go and give the job to Urshel and need a LG and a LT? A new C, LG, and LT if we think Urshel's not ready? 

 

According to OTC, Cutting Zuttah and his $4.6 million hit would save us:

1.2 million Pre-June 1st

3.5 million Post-June 1st