[News] Late For Work 2/14: Interest In Tony Jefferson. Rick Wagner Rebuffed Offer. How About Victor Cruz?

[BR News]

Would the Ravens sign a top-notch free agent safety for the second consecutive year? The Ravens’ initial offer to Rick Wagner was reportedly rejected. Brandon Williams would be fine playing under the franchise tag. Should Victor Cruz’s injury history be a concern?

View the full article

[The Greek]

to pay wagner 8-10 per year will be tough on us fixing other issues. b. williams going rate will be bad enough. we will only sign 1 of them imo.

[Space11jams]

to pay wagner 8-10 per year will be tough on us fixing other issues. b. williams going rate will be bad enough. we will only sign 1 of them imo.

i believe we do as well

[ByTheBay]

Man I hope Wagner gets signed. If he leaves and Flacco has another bad year this will be the excuse we hear all season. Of course if he stays and flacco has a bad year it will be Marty's fault so pick your poison. 

[Bruce_Almty]

20 minutes ago, ByTheBay said:

Man I hope Wagner gets signed. If he leaves and Flacco has another bad year this will be the excuse we hear all season. Of course if he stays and flacco has a bad year it will be Marty's fault so pick your poison. 

Is there any scenario where Flacco and the Ravens have a good year? Just wondering.

[nj_ravens]

  23 minutes ago, ByTheBay said:

Man I hope Wagner gets signed. If he leaves and Flacco has another bad year this will be the excuse we hear all season. Of course if he stays and flacco has a bad year it will be Marty's fault so pick your poison. 

Is there any scenario where Flacco and the Ravens have a good year? Just wondering.

Asking this question is pointless snark. Yes. There is a scenario. We've already won a superbowl with this QB. It's not impossible.

[bioLarzen]

"Should Victor Cruz’s injury history be a concern?"

If pundits deeply familiar with the Giants say in more or less unison that Cruz's athleticism is basically gone, I guess we should believe them...

Edited February 14 by bioLarzen

[KidNme]

I think Loque is wrong. I don't believe Cruz would be our best option. Although FA's like Weddle, Jacoby, Sharpe ect, have worked out for us in the past, I'd rather invest in our younger WR core and spend our money on Defense. Good CB's are expensive as are good pass rushers and we need both. Oft injured 30 somethings just worry me when you have to count on these guys for a whole season.
I think we'll use Perriman a whole lot more next season. He looks the part and after a year under his belt and another off season with Joe, I see him as our go to guy and it looks like we might see a few 2 TE sets to play with too so spending that money on a WR, just doesn't seem like the right way to go for us but it's just my opinion.

[bioLarzen]

  26 minutes ago, ByTheBay said:

Man I hope Wagner gets signed. If he leaves and Flacco has another bad year this will be the excuse we hear all season. Of course if he stays and flacco has a bad year it will be Marty's fault so pick your poison. 

Is there any scenario where Flacco and the Ravens have a good year? Just wondering.

In 2012 there pretty much was...

[Chuckx999]

No to Cruz. To may injuries. He could breakdown just like Pitta does. We need young, fast WR's that can play like the guys Brady has in New England. They must be able to go over the middle, take a hit.
First draft a CB, a TE ( Howard from Ala. ), then let all but one of our TE's go.
Get a center, LB, then someone to take Wagners place, another CB, then a BIG RB.

[mendii]

33 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

In 2012 there pretty much was...

[cobrajet]

Cruz is not the same, we should pass.

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

No Cruze Let wagner walk if any body gives him anywhere near 10 mill a year they should get fired and as for B.Williams I guess you would play for 14 mill ayear Dude your actually worth about half that

[eze17]

My opinion? No on Jefferson, no on Cruz, and no on overspending to keep Wagner. The draft is deep with talented safeties, and if we decide to spend money on FA's there are more pressing positions to spend cash on than safety. While Cruz could be an interesting fit, his health issues are a huge red flag. We need dependable WR's, not someone who may or may not be able to give us a consistent presence on the field. And while I appreciate what Wagner brings to the table, I don't consider him as a top tier tackle, which it seems like him and his agent expect to be paid as. The Raven's need to spend their money wisely, and overpaying Wagner wouldn't be very smart. If we overpay anyone, give it to Williams, although I really don't see that happening either considering that we have a lot of talent at his position.

[ByTheBay]

19 minutes ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

No Cruze Let wagner walk if any body gives him anywhere near 10 mill a year they should get fired and as for B.Williams I guess you would play for 14 mill ayear Dude your actually worth about half that

The problem is it is a bad year for OL in the draft and FA isn't going to be much better. Without options we are limited as to what we can do without signing Wagner. In other words, we will get what we pay for. 

[omar586]

no on cruz
let wagner test his value
the ravens i think will end up plugging lewis in at RT, if wagner leaves.
which means 2 holes on the OL has to be filled, C, G.

[omar586]

y the heck would the ravens draft a TE? that would be waste of pick. go CB Passrushers and OL.

[Corvus]

This is supposed to be a good corner and safety draft class. I say pass on Jefferson, use that money to get Williams and Juszczyk resigned, and draft a couple of safeties and start grooming them to replace Webb for the 2018 season.

[rmcjacket23]

  39 minutes ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

No Cruze Let wagner walk if any body gives him anywhere near 10 mill a year they should get fired and as for B.Williams I guess you would play for 14 mill ayear Dude your actually worth about half that

The problem is it is a bad year for OL in the draft and FA isn't going to be much better. Without options we are limited as to what we can do without signing Wagner. In other words, we will get what we pay for. 

As is the case every year, there will be positions and classes of positions that are merely "projected" as weak, and turn out to be quite strong, and vice versa.

When most people look at classes and label them as "strong" or "weak", in most cases, they're looking at the first round exclusively.

Given what I've seen this team do historically in prior drafts, I see no reason why they wouldn't come out of the draft with a quality Tackle or Guard, and can probably do so with a day 2 or 3 pick.

[RavenRampage]

As far as Wagner, the first offer was always going to be rejected. He would be great to keep, but I highly doubt we'll be able to keep him if other teams pay that much for him. Hopefully we can find a good run blocking right tackle.

Jefferson be a huge move. With him, Weddle, Smith and Young, we'd have 4 great pieces and one of the best secondaries in football. They should make an effort to get him. If we could release Webb and get Jefferson for less than 2 million more a year than Webb's cap hit, we'd have solved one of the safety positions for the next 3-5 years.

Williams has to be our #1 effort though. Football is won in the trenches. Any secondary addition, Jefferson or through the draft, wouldn't mean much if we don't stop the run and get pressure on the quarterback.

[whobilly]

Bottom line, when a player is fortunate to get to their second contract it always comes down to the bottom line. Wagner will go to whatever team pays him the most and it's NOT going to be the Ravens.

[whobilly]

Victor Cruz. No Thank You.

[RavensDieHard21]

I guarantee that Ozzie came in with a realistic price that matches his value, somewhere around 6-7 million a year on a 5 year deal. This would give him the chance to sign Williams too if it worked. 

 Prob was a deal in the $33 million ball park, just to feel it out. Wagner is not worth $10 million a year, no chance we should even think that would be worth it. The next and final offer should be 5-Yr, $42 million with escalators if he makes the Pro Bowl or we make the playoffs. 

[RavensDieHard21]

To be honest though, I know everyone believes we are a defensive lineman factory, but I think I'd much rather have Williams. 

His attitude in FA has just been so positive and he really is an asset to the community. He is also a really hard working player that anchors that line. Take him away from the equation and I guarantee the next man up solutions will plop us outside the top 10 in run defense. If we retain Williams and get an edge guy that can defend the run as well as they rush the passer, such as Barnett, then we will have a great year on defense. 

[RavensDieHard21]

I'd definitely inquire on Jefferson though. If Wagner walks and we cut Webb then we would have the money and would be getting younger and faster at the position. 

Weddle is a very similar safety, but he is also very capable in being a center fielder as well. Jefferson would help make our secondary a lot better. All I can think of is the jets game where a simple slant route when around 70 yards and our secondary looked like it was in slow motion 

[ByTheBay]

44 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

As is the case every year, there will be positions and classes of positions that are merely "projected" as weak, and turn out to be quite strong, and vice versa.

When most people look at classes and label them as "strong" or "weak", in most cases, they're looking at the first round exclusively.

Given what I've seen this team do historically in prior drafts, I see no reason why they wouldn't come out of the draft with a quality Tackle or Guard, and can probably do so with a day 2 or 3 pick.

I hope you are right because I can see some other team overpaying Wagner and Alex Lewis moving to RT. That might leave us looking for 2 OLineman in the draft. Also FA but whoever is available may not be as good as what we are letting go if Zuttah and Wagner are gone. Why does it feel like we have major needs at every possition but QB, RB and TE? Ozzie has some work to do this year. 

[J.O.14]

I think it would be silly if Wagner didn't at least test the waters to find out what his value is out on the market. Hes going to get offers, bring that price back to Ozzie and see if he is willing to match or go higher. If we didn't give KO 10 million a year, there is absolutely no chance Wagner gets it from us. If we lose him, I'm sure we will have a plan in place.

I'd love to have Tony Jefferson, and if we could land him for relatively the same price we are paying Webb, its a no brainer really. He is younger and in his prime. Signing Victor Cruz would be pointless, we want to get better, not worse. Kamar Aiken is better than Cruz at this point in his career.

I'm not expecting or getting excited over anything with the Ravens. Its hard to tell what they are going to do and who is going to be resigned or not. I do hope we can resign B. Williams and Juszczyk. Id be upset if they sign elsewhere.

[Tenacious Faulker]

Why would Tony Jefferson make a good acquisition? He's a strong safety which is already taken care of last year in Weddle. Putting him at free safety would be riskier than keeping Webb who we know can play adequately and has more INTs that Jefferson. And if they wanted to plug in a SS in at FS wouldn't Elam be your guy? I mean, if you're going seeking a square peg for a round hole you already have him. Not the best choice fro a free agent unless Weddle decides to unexpectedly retire.

[Tenacious Faulker]

Regarding Victor Cruz: No thanks. We already had Lee Evans and I'm not interested in seeing another "value vet" that is a high risk and low reward prospect. Let Cleveland sign him.

[bigcatfrank1]

  1 hour ago, rmcjacket23 said:

As is the case every year, there will be positions and classes of positions that are merely "projected" as weak, and turn out to be quite strong, and vice versa.

When most people look at classes and label them as "strong" or "weak", in most cases, they're looking at the first round exclusively.

Given what I've seen this team do historically in prior drafts, I see no reason why they wouldn't come out of the draft with a quality Tackle or Guard, and can probably do so with a day 2 or 3 pick.

I hope you are right because I can see some other team overpaying Wagner and Alex Lewis moving to RT. That might leave us looking for 2 OLineman in the draft. Also FA but whoever is available may not be as good as what we are letting go if Zuttah and Wagner are gone. Why does it feel like we have major needs at every possition but QB, RB and TE? Ozzie has some work to do this year. 

I think you are stretching things about every position, its a match game when you are facing FA with the talent the Ravens have.
I find it amazing how its said there is so much to need, yet, we value every player we have?
Lets look at it just a little more in detail instead of generalizing- Jacket is correct;

Tackle or a Guard in the draft - added to Stanley, Lewis, Yanda, Jenson, Urshel, newbies- Nembot, Skura, Pughsley, De Ondre with an option at Ducasse.

QB, TE, strong RB and WR good but could use some strengthening

The D line is solid, just need to decide on Williams.
The LB corp is well above average.
Safeties corp finished well last year, solid for the most part.

CB is the position of big need for the Ravens .

The Ravens are in better shape than many NFL teams, They need to tweek things and maybe be a little more risky in my opinion.