[News] Late For Work 3/6: Free Agency Predictions. Who Stays? Who Goes? Who Arrives?

[BR News]

A free-agent cornerback the Ravens could add. Ravens face difficult decision on when to find Joe Flacco's successor. Ravens players shocked by John Ross' 4.22 40-yard dash, but do they have someone just as fast?

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[fusuymada]

Amoukamora is another J Smith and we can't afford to have two CBs who can't stay on the field.

We might sign Wagner but my guess is we lose all our free agents but we will get 3 comp picks for them next year. My guess is two third rounders and a fourth for Juszczyk.

We should understand what we have in Perriman with all the hype about Ross running 4.22. Perriman did the same carrying almost 30 more pounds. Perriman can be a dominant receiver if we can just keep him on the field and improve his hands.

In my opinion the time to find Flaccos successor was last year. This year there is no doubt we need to grab a qb in the draft and sooner not later. I know it sounds like jumping the gun, but second or third round we need to grab someone who can compete with Flacco. If you look at Flacco since 2012, he isn't even a good starter much less a franchise QB. He needs competition to motivate him to spend the time to get better. What we have is not going to motivate him to do anything.

[cobrajet]

If we could find a upgrade for Zuttah, sign Pierre Garcon, and possibly keep Brandon Williams and Wagner, I would be extremely happy. You possibly throw in Amoukamora and I would be jumping for joy, but in reality we do not have that kind of cap room. I just hope Ozzie works a little magic for us.

[TheRavengers]

The more I think about it, the more I'm not gonna be too upset if Brandon Williams goes elsewhere, it's been stressed that Willie Henry, Michael Pierce and Carl Davis can fill in for him adequately. I'm more concerned about Wagner and Juice staying now.

[budman]

Amoukamora is another J Smith and we can't afford to have two CBs who can't stay on the field.

We might sign Wagner but my guess is we lose all our free agents but we will get 3 comp picks for them next year. My guess is two third rounders and a fourth for Juszczyk.

We should understand what we have in Perriman with all the hype about Ross running 4.22. Perriman did the same carrying almost 30 more pounds. Perriman can be a dominant receiver if we can just keep him on the field and improve his hands.

In my opinion the time to find Flaccos successor was last year. This year there is no doubt we need to grab a qb in the draft and sooner not later. I know it sounds like jumping the gun, but second or third round we need to grab someone who can compete with Flacco. If you look at Flacco since 2012, he isn't even a good starter much less a franchise QB. He needs competition to motivate him to spend the time to get better. What we have is not going to motivate him to do anything.

No way we use a 2nd or 3rd on a Qb. Too many other holes to fill. We can always get a veteran back-up Qb if needed.

[The Greek]

i do not see us retaining wagner or williams. years of crappy contracts and extensions have caught up to us. hoping we can keep one of them

[Space11jams]

I think B. Will is going to stay. Wagner might bail out and Juice will stay since the market for FB is somewhat absent. Prince will not be sign because of injury concerns (we're dealing with that in Jimmy...imagine both going down!!), I think we can grab either marshall or garçon even though garçon might be priced out of our range, the center is possible depending on health and i don't think we'll get jefferson. We need a mixer of vets and young guys but I don't want us continually to fill holes through FA. Lock the vets up to a point where we're able to draft guys to take their spots later on

[Bob21043]

How is next year's QB draft class? I can't see drafting one this year, but I've been wrong plenty before on draft weekend. Maybe we just resign Mallett for another year.

[Ravenous_Ravens]

Hensley is clueless and simply filling dead air time. Why is the world would any team or agent rely on what ESPN thinks about any sport? Because they film sports they are suddenly experts? Notice how the underlying message and tone is that Baltimore is all washed up without hope. Time to stop with posting outside content and kick them to the curb.

[757RavensFan]

With zero deals done so far, it looks like Williams, Wagner and Aiken will all go somewhere else. 

[bioLarzen]

One cannot help wondering how and why the average football fan's memory span is so short... Every single season, fans of cap-strapped teams play the same old "will our key UFA's be retained" game - totally forgetting that thay have played the same game the last time, and before that, and before that... only to see said key UFA's leave just about every time - because UFA's almost invariably follow the money trail... and it never leads to cap strapped organizations. So, for the 21st edition of the annual "Which Key Ravens UFA's Will Be Back In Baltimore Next Season" show, the answer is... what it has almost always been: none of them. It was clear as day all along, so nobody with a good grip on the notion of the cap system is surprised to see Brandon Williams, Rick Wagner and Juszczyk leave - JUST LIKE ALMOST EVERY SINGLE KEY UFA LEAVES CAP-STRAPPED TEAMS.

Let's not play like it's surprising... we, football fans, know better.

[ByTheBay]

Thoughts on using Reynolds as Joe's backup? Seems more plausable than him actually becoming a starting WR doesn't it?

[bioLarzen]

I still see Garcon as a pipe dream - if he receives an offer from ozzie at all, he'll be offered much more money elswhere, of that I'm, sure. I'm afraid the same applies to Brandon Marshall.
The only free agent linked to the Ravens I think is really worth reaching deep into the pocket for, is Nick Mangold. Without a quality C the best we can hope for from, the O is something similar to what we saw last season...So, unless a cap-happy organization throws fool's money at him, I think Ozzie should make signing Mangold our free agent priority.

Edited March 6 by bioLarzen

[bioLarzen]

1 hour ago, cobrajet said:

If we could find a upgrade for Zuttah, sign Pierre Garcon, and possibly keep Brandon Williams and Wagner, I would be extremely happy. You possibly throw in Amoukamora and I would be jumping for joy

... and fit all that under the cap limit? Yep, in Ozzie we trust - but finding a quality upgrade over Zuttah (essentailly meaning sign Nick Mangold), sign Garcon AND keep BOTH Brandon Williams and Rick Wagner - and even get Amukamara would take two Gandalfs (or Gandalves? :D), I'm afraid

Edited March 6 by bioLarzen

[stuckonaboat13]

Brad Kaaya -2nd Round
Look what the Patriots did with Jimmy G ... the Ravens need to follow suit as Flacco is no spring chicken. Why not start grooming a guy now? Don't talk to me about other needs, without a reliable backup your season is over when the starter goes down. I'd rather not wait until round 7 to draft ball state college of technology keith Wenning

[TheRavengers]

30 minutes ago, stuckonaboat13 said:

Brad Kaaya -2nd Round
Look what the Patriots did with Jimmy G ... the Ravens need to follow suit as Flacco is no spring chicken. Why not start grooming a guy now? Don't talk to me about other needs, without a reliable backup your season is over when the starter goes down. I'd rather not wait until round 7 to draft ball state college of technology keith Wenning

I hate to break it to you but we desperately NEED another WR on the roster, and a pass rusher and a CB or two. Those need to come first, particularly the latter two. I don't think I need to bring up the 2014 season where we kept rotating cornerbacks day in and day out and eventually that did us in during the divisional round of the playoffs.

[cobrajet]

49 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

... and fit all that under the cap limit? Yep, in Ozzie we trust - but finding a quality upgrade over Zuttah (essentailly meaning sign Nick Mangold), sign Garcon AND keep BOTH Brandon Williams and Rick Wagner - and even get Amukamara would take two Gandalfs (or Gandalves? :D), I'm afraid

Yeah it is not going to happen. I am not sure if we resigned Williams and Wagner that we would even have enough money to sign anyone else. I am kind of hoping we sign a top CB with our #1 pick to play along side Jimmy and move Young into the slot. I know they say that the CB is pretty deep this year and if we went with a CB with our #1 we may be missing out on an edge rusher, but I am tired of getting beat by Antonio Brown and AJ Green if a healthy Jimmy is not lined up on them.

[crazyboutravens]

It is way too early to talk about this stuff. You know the Ravens never ever make
moves until April, May or even June. We have had Wagner, Williams and Juice
for 3 years and we still can not get them signed. This makes the players feel unwanted. So write a column in June.

[crazyboutravens]

Thoughts on using Reynolds as Joe's backup? Seems more plausable than him actually becoming a starting WR doesn't it?

We do not need another running QB.

[cobrajet]

1 hour ago, bioLarzen said:

I still see Garcon as a pipe dream - if he receives an offer from ozzie at all, he'll be offered much more money elswhere, of that I'm, sure. I'm afraid the same applies to Brandon Marshall.
The only free agent linked to the Ravens I think is really worth reaching deep into the pocket for, is Nick Mangold. Without a quality C the best we can hope for from, the O is something similar to what we saw last season...So, unless a cap-happy organization throws fool's money at him, I think Ozzie should make signing Mangold our free agent priority.

I agree that we need a better Center and that is a position that you need veteran experience. Mangold if healthy would really help solidify our line but I just worry about that ankle. He missed 8 games was placed on IR and said he needed surgery and now he is saying that he does not need the surgery because rehab went well. That concerns me.

[stuckonaboat13]

1 hour ago, ByTheBay said:

Thoughts on using Reynolds as Joe's backup? Seems more plausable than him actually becoming a starting WR doesn't it?

Reynolds was a publicity signing , unless the Ravens move towards the option offense things will get ugly. Amazing kid and I enjoyed watching him play at Navy but he is a below average passer. 

[stuckonaboat13]

48 minutes ago, TheRavengers said:

I hate to break it to you but we desperately NEED another WR on the roster, and a pass rusher and a CB or two. Those need to come first, particularly the latter two. I don't think I need to bring up the 2014 season where we kept rotating cornerbacks day in and day out and eventually that did us in during the divisional round of the playoffs.

You just proved my point with your own silly argument. With sub standard players at certain positions we were a divisional round team because you can scheme around weakness. 

You can't scheme around a bad Qb. You complain about 2014?? Take a look at 2015....

we need an insurance policy more 

[budman]

1 hour ago, stuckonaboat13 said:

Brad Kaaya -2nd Round
Look what the Patriots did with Jimmy G ... the Ravens need to follow suit as Flacco is no spring chicken. Why not start grooming a guy now? Don't talk to me about other needs, without a reliable backup your season is over when the starter goes down. I'd rather not wait until round 7 to draft ball state college of technology keith Wenning

Never gonna happen

[ryananth]

Considering all of the charity work and donations Ben Watson tells us about it may a blessing in disguise when the Ravens release him so that he can spend more time on his philanthropy.

[steelcityraven]

Considering all of the charity work and donations Ben Watson tells us about it may a blessing in disguise when the Ravens release him so that he can spend more time on his philanthropy.

Why would we relapse Watson?:
1. He is super talented with a track record better then Pittas
2. He is a great leader and role model on and off of the field
3. He comes way cheaper then Pitta
4. He is a sure handed veteran who can help aid in the development of some very good young WR prospects that we currently have.
5. He is good in both the passing game and the run game and that versatility can go a long way in what we are trying to establish
6. While his injury was significant both Suggs and SSS showed us that even an aging veteran can come back from this.... while Pittas injuries are way more scarier then Watsons
7. He could be our NFLPA player rep.

[steelcityraven]

  1 hour ago, stuckonaboat13 said:

Brad Kaaya -2nd Round
Look what the Patriots did with Jimmy G ... the Ravens need to follow suit as Flacco is no spring chicken. Why not start grooming a guy now? Don't talk to me about other needs, without a reliable backup your season is over when the starter goes down. I'd rather not wait until round 7 to draft ball state college of technology keith Wenning

Never gonna happen

BC a second round pick on a guy who will sit the bench for 3 years makes little sense when we have as many legitimate holes as we currently do. We expect a 2nd rounder to contribute now.

Plus the Ravens have had more success with veteran FA QBs then drafted QBs... Too many holes right now to spend a 2nd round pick on a guys who will not contribute (for some time)

[The Greek]

  1 hour ago, bioLarzen said:

I still see Garcon as a pipe dream - if he receives an offer from ozzie at all, he'll be offered much more money elswhere, of that I'm, sure. I'm afraid the same applies to Brandon Marshall.
The only free agent linked to the Ravens I think is really worth reaching deep into the pocket for, is Nick Mangold. Without a quality C the best we can hope for from, the O is something similar to what we saw last season...So, unless a cap-happy organization throws fool's money at him, I think Ozzie should make signing Mangold our free agent priority.

I agree that we need a better Center and that is a position that you need veteran experience. Mangold if healthy would really help solidify our line but I just worry about that ankle. He missed 8 games was placed on IR and said he needed surgery and now he is saying that he does not need the surgery because rehab went well. That concerns me.

i am all for signing mangold but if that happens the fo really needs to draft a center to learn from him for a year or 2. they blew it when birk was here and they drafted an undersized gradkowski that got man handled on every play

[steelcityraven]

I like Marshall better then Garcon. I think he is more of the protypical Ravens move. Mason, Boldin, SSS these were splash guys at the end of their careers who made a great impact for us. I see Marshall more along the same lines that Garcon and would rather see us land him but I also like Garcon. Just think Marshall is that more sure handed, chain moving WR that we are looking for.

[steelcityraven]

If we walked out of FA with Mangold, Marshall and Prince Anukamara - I would feel like the off season was a smashing success (regardless of who we lost)

[steelcityraven]

  1 hour ago, stuckonaboat13 said:

Brad Kaaya -2nd Round
Look what the Patriots did with Jimmy G ... the Ravens need to follow suit as Flacco is no spring chicken. Why not start grooming a guy now? Don't talk to me about other needs, without a reliable backup your season is over when the starter goes down. I'd rather not wait until round 7 to draft ball state college of technology keith Wenning

I hate to break it to you but we desperately NEED another WR on the roster, and a pass rusher and a CB or two. Those need to come first, particularly the latter two. I don't think I need to bring up the 2014 season where we kept rotating cornerbacks day in and day out and eventually that did us in during the divisional round of the playoffs.

I agree and maybe even two more WRs... I think we sing Marshal or Garcon and still draft a 3rd round WR - to go along with Wallace, Perriman and Moore.