[News] Late For Work 2/28: How Eight NFL Free-Agent Moves Immediately Affect Ravens

[BR News]

Antonio Brown hopes to be a ‘Steeler for life’ after blockbuster deal. Pittsburgh tags Le’Veon Bell. Bears will not use franchise tag on Alshon Jeffery. Thinned pass-rusher market may force Ravens to address position in draft. Marc Trestman reportedly heading back to CFL. Ravens have fewest picks in seven years.

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[ellicottraven]

Wow how are the Steelers able to keep Ben, Brown and now Bell at top dollar? I thought they are typically up against the cap? So how are they managing their cap space so well and we are struggling?

[The Greek]

because we only have 7 picks it would not surprise me if ozzie trades back in either the 1st or 2nd to hoard more picks.

[TheRavengers]

I'd rather we use one of those picks to get another pass rusher, I feel more comfortable in getting a new face than spending more money on a free agent pass rusher, instead putting that money to some other position like WR or something.

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

because we only have 7 picks it would not surprise me if ozzie trades back in either the 1st or 2nd to hoard more picks.

he needs to make the pick stop with the stupid trade backs and loosing out on quality players

[raven9090]

With recent draft failures in mind, quality matters than quantity.. I like we trade away picks to move few spots ahead to get targeted players.

[ngatathroughstreet]

Wow how are the Steelers able to keep Ben, Brown and now Bell at top dollar? I thought they are typically up against the cap? So how are they managing their cap space so well and we are struggling?

They aren't, next year will be tough for them. $120mil spoken for and only 26 players under contract. Also Shazier UFA in 2018. They are trying to win now which is understandable because Ben is getting more and more fragile.

[GENE2407]

Giving up that 3rd rounder to move up and take Jalen Ramsey seems like a no-brainer now. Too late.

[GENE2407]

With recent draft failures in mind, quality matters than quantity.. I like we trade away picks to move few spots ahead to get targeted players.

Yes, I've been saying this for 2 years. We went into last draft with what, four fourth-rounders and five fifth-rounders? I thought for sure they would be used to package up and move up a few spots in rounds 1, 2 and 3. Instead, we traded DOWN and picked up .......yes, more 4th and 5th rounders. We've got a whole roster full of 4th and 5th rounders now and completely bare of any top shelf talent.

[steelcityraven]

Okkk... I know it is really early but here is a really early draft projection.

1. Jabrill Peppers- S- MIch (ball hawking athlete who changes our defense)

2. TreDavious White- CB- LSU (insert and play)

3. Isaiah Ford- WR- VTech (as much raw talent as anyone in draft. needs some work with his ball skills but he is a great playmaker - what we need in our offense)

3. Joe Mixon-RB- Okla- He a Ray Rice type of player... explosive all purpose type of play maker

4. Devonte Fields- OLB- Louisville- A steal in round 4 and can get after the QB

5. Marques White- CB- FSU- more speed and athleticism in our DBackfield. with Peppers, TreDavious and Marques... our defense gets younger, faster, more athletic and more versatile right now.

6. Zach Banner-OG- USC. the guys is huge and can move fluidly for his size. 6'7 335 pounds and is a mauler. perfect for Greg Romans system... he is the type of OL we are looking to re-vamp our OL. BIg, fast and nasty. He played T in college but the move to G will protect his slower 1st step and not allow people around his outside. With Alex Lewis, Yanda, Mangold and Banner (along with Ronnie Stanley) we will have big and nasty OL!

[sticks999]

With Steelers big contracts for WR, RB and QB . .how can they have much more money to throw around?

[TheRavengers]

27 minutes ago, GENE2407 said:

Giving up that 3rd rounder to move up and take Jalen Ramsey seems like a no-brainer now. Too late.

But we got Ronnie Stanley, who seems to be doing just fine with us now.

[ZCSlugo]

Giving up that 3rd rounder to move up and take Jalen Ramsey seems like a no-brainer now. Too late.

Hardly, they make that trade who plays LT? Monroe? The OL needs upgrading as it is, without Stanley the line needs a LT, RT and upgrade at C. Without Stanley who knows if Joe would have made it through the season unhurt. Do the Ravens win more games making that trade?

[rmcjacket23]

Wow how are the Steelers able to keep Ben, Brown and now Bell at top dollar? I thought they are typically up against the cap? So how are they managing their cap space so well and we are struggling?

Extremely thin on defense and not much spending being done on that side of the ball. They have two players on their roster going into 2017 with cap hits greater than $4M on defense (Heyward and Mitchell).

And it also shows on the field.

[rmcjacket23]

  1 hour ago, The Greek said:

because we only have 7 picks it would not surprise me if ozzie trades back in either the 1st or 2nd to hoard more picks.

he needs to make the pick stop with the stupid trade backs and loosing out on quality players

He doesn't trade out of the first round that often. That's a myth.

[rmcjacket23]

Giving up that 3rd rounder to move up and take Jalen Ramsey seems like a no-brainer now. Too late.

Why? Who's the good LT for the Ravens then?

[rmcjacket23]

19 hours ago, GENE2407 said:

19 hours ago, raven9090 said:

With recent draft failures in mind, quality matters than quantity.. I like we trade away picks to move few spots ahead to get targeted players.

Yes, I've been saying this for 2 years. We went into last draft with what, four fourth-rounders and five fifth-rounders? I thought for sure they would be used to package up and move up a few spots in rounds 1, 2 and 3. Instead, we traded DOWN and picked up .......yes, more 4th and 5th rounders. We've got a whole roster full of 4th and 5th rounders now and completely bare of any top shelf talent.

A lot of the quality players on the team last season were 4th or 5th rounders...

Even more ironic given that the 3 key UFAs  (two of which are going to get max-market value contracts) were drafted in the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds.

 

[nj_ravens]

  51 minutes ago, raven9090 said:

With recent draft failures in mind, quality matters than quantity.. I like we trade away picks to move few spots ahead to get targeted players.

Yes, I've been saying this for 2 years. We went into last draft with what, four fourth-rounders and five fifth-rounders? I thought for sure they would be used to package up and move up a few spots in rounds 1, 2 and 3. Instead, we traded DOWN and picked up .......yes, more 4th and 5th rounders. We've got a whole roster full of 4th and 5th rounders now and completely bare of any top shelf talent.

Well I wouldn't complain about those 4th rounders because they actually are all contributors. Your point may have been valid if all of those 4th and 5th rounders didn't kick butt. Or if you were talking about any year besides last year. Moore had ST tds, Lewis started at guard and tackle, Dixon and Judon are the future, Tavon Young is a starter. We cleaned house .

[Tdot.to.Bmore]

Okkk... I know it is really early but here is a really early draft projection.

1. Jabrill Peppers- S- MIch (ball hawking athlete who changes our defense)

2. TreDavious White- CB- LSU (insert and play)

3. Isaiah Ford- WR- VTech (as much raw talent as anyone in draft. needs some work with his ball skills but he is a great playmaker - what we need in our offense)

3. Joe Mixon-RB- Okla- He a Ray Rice type of player... explosive all purpose type of play maker

4. Devonte Fields- OLB- Louisville- A steal in round 4 and can get after the QB

5. Marques White- CB- FSU- more speed and athleticism in our DBackfield. with Peppers, TreDavious and Marques... our defense gets younger, faster, more athletic and more versatile right now.

6. Zach Banner-OG- USC. the guys is huge and can move fluidly for his size. 6'7 335 pounds and is a mauler. perfect for Greg Romans system... he is the type of OL we are looking to re-vamp our OL. BIg, fast and nasty. He played T in college but the move to G will protect his slower 1st step and not allow people around his outside. With Alex Lewis, Yanda, Mangold and Banner (along with Ronnie Stanley) we will have big and nasty OL!

I like all those picks but i highly doubt we pick up Joe Mixon due to the Domestic Abuse charges. Especially because of Ray Rice incident years back.

[rmcjacket23]

  51 minutes ago, steelcityraven said:

Okkk... I know it is really early but here is a really early draft projection.

1. Jabrill Peppers- S- MIch (ball hawking athlete who changes our defense)

2. TreDavious White- CB- LSU (insert and play)

3. Isaiah Ford- WR- VTech (as much raw talent as anyone in draft. needs some work with his ball skills but he is a great playmaker - what we need in our offense)

3. Joe Mixon-RB- Okla- He a Ray Rice type of player... explosive all purpose type of play maker

4. Devonte Fields- OLB- Louisville- A steal in round 4 and can get after the QB

5. Marques White- CB- FSU- more speed and athleticism in our DBackfield. with Peppers, TreDavious and Marques... our defense gets younger, faster, more athletic and more versatile right now.

6. Zach Banner-OG- USC. the guys is huge and can move fluidly for his size. 6'7 335 pounds and is a mauler. perfect for Greg Romans system... he is the type of OL we are looking to re-vamp our OL. BIg, fast and nasty. He played T in college but the move to G will protect his slower 1st step and not allow people around his outside. With Alex Lewis, Yanda, Mangold and Banner (along with Ronnie Stanley) we will have big and nasty OL!

I like all those picks but i highly doubt we pick up Joe Mixon due to the Domestic Abuse charges. Especially because of Ray Rice incident years back.

Correct. Zero percent chance that Mixon is even on our draft board, due to the fact that he's on-camera punching a woman.

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

antonio got Way overpaid I like it Thanks squeelers

[fusuymada]

The Steelers can pay Ben, Brown and Bell. What do we have? we have the 2nd highest cap hit Qb, a division II running back and another who has been cut loose by a number of teams, a lame WR corps, and a TE group that has more holes than Swiss cheese; two broken hips, a PED suspension, two guys who can't stay healthy not counting the Achilles tear that didn't take a snap last year.

Plain poor cap management. Too much dead money, a horribly overpaid qb, and virtually any moves we make just generate more dead money. It will take a decade of austerity and 6-10 or 5-11 seasons to climb out of this hole so we can afford players like that. It will take that much time to get out from under Flacco's contract. You can't run a team with poor drafts and chasing old free agents. Bite the bullet, get straight, draft early several years and rebuild this hodge podge pieced together, mish mash of a team.  Not to mention that here recently our coaches can't develop a instant Polaroid picture.

Edited February 28 by fusuymada

[bigcatfrank1]

who is going to be the first (of their own) UFA signed by the Ravens?
my guess,
Lawrence Guy-

my 4 other bring backs are- Juice, Ducasse, Levine and
Williams ( big wish, but I hope)

Thats it though no others UFA-
I expect the return of all (almost) RFA and ERFA,
not that all will.

[Ravens8383]

Sure the Steelers gave Brown all that money but did they forget that their QB is talking about retirement and they don't have anyone on the team that can get the job done? Now everyone knows Ben isn't going to retire this year but he is not playing until 2021 with Brown.

[RavensDieHard21]

14 hours ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

he needs to make the pick stop with the stupid trade backs and loosing out on quality players

I mean it depends on who is there. A lot of this will come down to how many offensive players go. 

If 3 QBs go, both RBs, and at least 1-2 offensive lineman, we will be in great shape for top defensive talent. If not, the blue chip, immediate impact guys will dwindle and we will be best off trading back 4-8 spots and getting a other 2nd or third. 

 

[RavensDieHard21]

14 hours ago, GENE2407 said:

Giving up that 3rd rounder to move up and take Jalen Ramsey seems like a no-brainer now. Too late.

I mean yes and no. It would have been worth it because he is a really good player and would have been exactly what we needed. 

While CB is a super valuable position, how many elite/very good LTs are there in the league currently? The answer is not very many. Stanley whether you want to believe it or not, had a great rookie year. He is not getting praise because he missed some time with a foot injury and had one bad game v Harrison which ultimately didn't matter as we won that game. He was the highest rated LT in the final stretch.

Rookies typically don't have great years at LT, so if he excelled that well in year one, imagine what a full year of coaching and pro strength training could do for him?  

 

[RavensDieHard21]

6 hours ago, fusuymada said:

The Steelers can pay Ben, Brown and Bell. What do we have? we have the 2nd highest cap hit Qb, a division II running back and another who has been cut loose by a number of teams, a lame WR corps, and a TE group that has more holes than Swiss cheese; two broken hips, a PED suspension, two guys who can't stay healthy not counting the Achilles tear that didn't take a snap last year.

Plain poor cap management. Too much dead money, a horribly overpaid qb, and virtually any moves we make just generate more dead money. It will take a decade of austerity and 6-10 or 5-11 seasons to climb out of this hole so we can afford players like that. It will take that much time to get out from under Flacco's contract. You can't run a team with poor drafts and chasing old free agents. Bite the bullet, get straight, draft early several years and rebuild this hodge podge pieced together, mish mash of a team.  Not to mention that here recently our coaches can't develop a instant Polaroid picture.

As cynical as this is, I do agree. Fans can go back and justify things all they want and say "oh hindsight helps you see these things now, blah, blah, blah." Obviously drafts can't always be home runs, but we literally combined that with two horrible approaches. We signed some decent FAs, but mostly they were fossils that contributed for one year, except SSS who was amazing. 

The one irrefutable fact was that Ozzie consistently structured the contracts in a horrendous fashion. He kept going for the immediate cap relief now approach, but we will just kick the can down the road and back load these deals like crazy. This then led to massive cap hits in the later years of the contracts and the players wanting to get paid the money they signed for, therefore pay cuts were not really options. We then either had underperforming players having massive cap hits or we had a ton of dead money. Hello 2017, we are still in cap hell and have a decent roster that is no where near a semi-contender.

[usmccharles]

34 minutes ago, RavensDieHard21 said:

As cynical as this is, I do agree. Fans can go back and justify things all they want and say "oh hindsight helps you see these things now, blah, blah, blah." Obviously drafts can't always be home runs, but we literally combined that with two horrible approaches. We signed some decent FAs, but mostly they were fossils that contributed for one year, except SSS who was amazing.

I think your underestimating the veteran signings through the years, going way back.  Siragusa, Rod Woodson, Shannon Sharpe, Orlando Brown, Mason, Samari Rolle, Trevor Pryce, Mcgahee, Birk, Boldin, SSr, Cory Redding, Mckinnie, Vonta Leach, Ricky Williams, Pollard, Jacoby Jones, Corey graham, Doom, Daryl Smith, Forsett, Wallace, Weddle, and im sure there is plenty more.  We have made great FA signings through the years and of course some bad ones, kind of how it goes.   I'll never understand the people that say they are sick of us bringing in these old fossils when we have had some great players here that we didnt draft.  Must really suck bringing in some 35 year old WR name SSr or some pothead, or Boldin, etc..

Edited March 1 by usmccharles

[sizzlingdoom]

  15 hours ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

  16 hours ago, The Greek said:

because we only have 7 picks it would not surprise me if ozzie trades back in either the 1st or 2nd to hoard more picks.

he needs to make the pick stop with the stupid trade backs and loosing out on quality players

He doesn't trade out of the first round that often. That's a myth.

He didn't say trade out of the first. he said trade back. And I agree with him

[sizzlingdoom]

Okkk... I know it is really early but here is a really early draft projection.

1. Jabrill Peppers- S- MIch (ball hawking athlete who changes our defense)

2. TreDavious White- CB- LSU (insert and play)

3. Isaiah Ford- WR- VTech (as much raw talent as anyone in draft. needs some work with his ball skills but he is a great playmaker - what we need in our offense)

3. Joe Mixon-RB- Okla- He a Ray Rice type of player... explosive all purpose type of play maker

4. Devonte Fields- OLB- Louisville- A steal in round 4 and can get after the QB

5. Marques White- CB- FSU- more speed and athleticism in our DBackfield. with Peppers, TreDavious and Marques... our defense gets younger, faster, more athletic and more versatile right now.

6. Zach Banner-OG- USC. the guys is huge and can move fluidly for his size. 6'7 335 pounds and is a mauler. perfect for Greg Romans system... he is the type of OL we are looking to re-vamp our OL. BIg, fast and nasty. He played T in college but the move to G will protect his slower 1st step and not allow people around his outside. With Alex Lewis, Yanda, Mangold and Banner (along with Ronnie Stanley) we will have big and nasty OL!

That would be sweet if we could get White in the 2nd!
But honestly, what is the deal with people and Peppers?!?
The guy is a great athlete and college player, not a GREAT NFL Pro. Ball hawking athlete??? What? Where did you come up with that? The guy has 1 interception and Zero FF in his career. He's claiming to run a sub 4.4 I'd be surprised if he breaks 4.5 Not to mention regardless none of this means he can all the sudden become an NFL safety and covers pros. I sincerely hope the Steelers take him in the first and pair him with Mitchell at safety. Even Flacco could torch those 2. Just my opinion, but if we pick Peppers at 16, or anywhere really, I think we'll be set back for years, once more.
I'm lookin for SIDNEY JONES all the way