[News] Ozzie Newsome: We're Not Done In Free Agency

[BR News]

The Ravens have already brought in safety Tony Jefferson, running back Danny Woodhead and re-signed defensive tackle Brandon Williams, quarterback Ryan Mallett and safety Anthony Levine.

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[b93333]

We could sure use a real center... Mangold?  We have a couple tight ends that we could cut and clear some more cap space!

Edited March 10 by b93333
Didn't finish thought

[billiejean]

13 minutes ago, b93333 said:

We could sure use a real center... Mangold?

The last two seasons Mangold has played pretty poorly. And last year he only played 8 games. But if he is willing to come in with a fair contract that takes those two blemishes into account I think we should pull the trigger. In all fairness it must get pretty discouraging playing for the Jets with all the QBs and regime changes hes gone through. I think a change of scenery would do him well.  There doesn't seem to be a huge market for his services.  The only thing that I've read about him in the last few days is that some teams have inquired about possibly moving him to guard.

Edited March 10 by billiejean

[The Greek]

cb, pass rush, ilb and o-line

[ravens4life86]

Nfl trade rumor...Pitta agrees to restructure contract. He was going to make 5.5mil next 2 years, so good job Pitta. Numbers arent out yet but good job

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Do they not remember last season when the team went out and signed Mike Wallace, Ben Watson, and Eric Weddle? That's not exactly a quiet off season.

[fusuymada]

It appears the seats are hot in Baltimore. Let's just hope we aren't mortgaging our future to keep the existing administration here for the future only to end up without the resources to sustain and maintain a winning record, again.

[fusuymada]

We could sure use a real center... Mangold?  We have a couple tight ends that we could cut and clear some more cap space!

Don't give up hope. He really isn't listed as one of the guys you have to snatch up in the first couple days but I heard that may yet be in the offing and both sides are showing interest. Where others disagree, before this injury he had only missed like 2 games through all his other seasons meaning that if healthy, and there is no reason to believe he is not, he could be very reliable and a great pickup for our line. He also won't be expensive because there is no real market for centers this offseason outside the Ravens and maybe another team or two. Actually, a number of teams have cut centers this off season so the market is actually flooded.

[rossihunter2]

1 hour ago, fusuymada said:

It appears the seats are hot in Baltimore. Let's just hope we aren't mortgaging our future to keep the existing administration here for the future only to end up without the resources to sustain and maintain a winning record, again.

impossible - even if they got rid of oz they'd only be handing the reigns over to eric and those two are best mates - oz would never want to hand decosta a ticking bomb

[hen826957]

Signing Mangold and Claiborne will finish our free agency.

Edited March 11 by hen826957

[Maurice0094]

Claiborne can't stay healthy haven't we had enough of that with Jimmy Smith? Leave him alone! This draft is too deep at cb not to get two studs at cb to build around on back end. I would say get some help on o-line mangold or fluker to sure up interior positions.

[Grapple Raven]

“We still build this team through the draft,” he said. “And we’re sitting on seven picks, four in the top three rounds, so that’s going to play a big part in how this team looks when we get to September.”

Interesting quote by Ozzie.  I know what he meant by "sitting" on the picks, but I hope he really does sit on them this year, lol.

[Crusader]

All these moves need to be based on beating New England. NE just add some big time players and got better than last year.

[Crusader]

Nfl trade rumor...Pitta agrees to restructure contract. He was going to make 5.5mil next 2 years, so good job Pitta. Numbers arent out yet but good job

Now his kids can't go to Harvard but Yale

[axisofeeble]

Right tackle? Outside Linebacker? W/R? Decent pass rush to let Jefferson-Weedle tackle the receivers that get by our wounded CBs..................oops our one CB.

[axisofeeble]

Trade a tight end,use Waller as a BIG WR?

[cobrajet]

All these moves need to be based on beating New England. NE just add some big time players and got better than last year.

That is true but if Ozzie can keep working some magic, we can beat them. After picking up Jefferson and retaining Williams, if we can get a top ranked CB or edge rusher in this draft our defense looks to be pretty stout if some of our picks last year can step up and we can stay healthy. We have been so unlucky with injuries the last few years and unfortunately our depth has been subpar, especially in the secondary.

[designermaryland]

Even though i like Williams as a player, i do not think he was worth investing 10 mil+ into. I would rather find a slightly less "marquee" name, and pay them well but not break the bank. They are not getting a return on investment on any of these high dollar contracts. Ngata, Suggs, Dumervile, Webb, Pitta, J Smith. None of them have turned into better players than they were. Although Suggs and Doom have had some strong years here and there in their careers, I find both of them disappearing for games or chunks of entire seasons with little impact. J Smith plays about 3 strong games a season. And Flacco has been terrible. To me, this team is a hot mess with no chemistry or cohesiveness.

[CaliRavenFan]

On 3/10/2017 at 6:17 PM, rossihunter2 said:

impossible - even if they got rid of oz they'd only be handing the reigns over to eric and those two are best mates - oz would never want to hand decosta a ticking bomb

Pretty sure he is talking about new coaches, everyone knows Ozzie isn't going anywhere.

[CaliRavenFan]

6 hours ago, designermaryland said:

Even though i like Williams as a player, i do not think he was worth investing 10 mil+ into. I would rather find a slightly less "marquee" name, and pay them well but not break the bank. They are not getting a return on investment on any of these high dollar contracts. Ngata, Suggs, Dumervile, Webb, Pitta, J Smith. None of them have turned into better players than they were. Although Suggs and Doom have had some strong years here and there in their careers, I find both of them disappearing for games or chunks of entire seasons with little impact. J Smith plays about 3 strong games a season. And Flacco has been terrible. To me, this team is a hot mess with no chemistry or cohesiveness.

I love keeping Brandon even at 10 mil a year, not only is he a run stopping beast but he pulls double teams every play. I laughed when I read about Ngata, Sizzle, Doom, Webb, Pitta and Jimmy because If you take out Pitta then everyone else played good enough to earn their contracts. Jimmy had a hard time coming back from his injury but we all know he is a shut down corner and our team is trash when he is out.

[bigcatfrank1]

Even though i like Williams as a player, i do not think he was worth investing 10 mil+ into. I would rather find a slightly less "marquee" name, and pay them well but not break the bank. They are not getting a return on investment on any of these high dollar contracts. Ngata, Suggs, Dumervile, Webb, Pitta, J Smith. None of them have turned into better players than they were. Although Suggs and Doom have had some strong years here and there in their careers, I find both of them disappearing for games or chunks of entire seasons with little impact. J Smith plays about 3 strong games a season. And Flacco has been terrible. To me, this team is a hot mess with no chemistry or cohesiveness.

In a market where the franchise tag for DT/NT is 14.2 million, retaining the #1 FA overall in the NFL at just over 10 million a year is a great bargain. Brandon probably could have gotten more however I believe he chose to stay a Raven. Good for both parties.

Also the contract is 27 million guaranteed which is an advantage for the Ravens to restructure within the 5 year term.

As for Suggs, Pitta (last year) and Doom they did have better years in the second contract round.
Joe Flacco played out his entire rookie contract ( 5 years) deservedly he earned the "big contract" the Ravens made huge money off the back of a rookie contract and they knew it, sometimes contracts are rewards though many in the industry would disagree. QB is the unique position that is often rewarded by contract.

The jury is still out on Flacco and Smith. If the Ravens win another Super Bowl with Joe, his contract makes the entire payday worth it to the Ravens organization. If not they will need 3 years of playoffs to recoup some of the money, considering the team bonuses, that is the risk with a big QB contract. Look at many that haven't paid off and there are very many that didn't. Joe carries much of the weight.

I just cannot agree that signing Williams is at a all big financial problem at this time in his career or an overpayment for his caliber of player for the Ravens.

[bigcatfrank1]

All these moves need to be based on beating New England. NE just add some big time players and got better than last year.

so you say, NE is a balanced team so "big time players" may or may not mean "better". Just like all NFL teams they will lose some players as well.
The Ravens have one of the best records in the NFL vs New England.
They have lost to Indy, Cinci and Pitsburgh in the playoffs, these have cost them much more severely.

[bigcatfrank1]

Oz get us a 1000yd ground game running back!
A Downhill runner who can sustain punishment, who can achieve first downs with a large percentage of success and who can carry the ball in consecutive running plays causing deception is what the Ravens need very badly. The benefit that this player brings is critical to the Ravens style of football and winning success against high level offenses.
A defense that hands the ball back to its offense -only benefits- if its offense can burn clock, gain field position and score mountable points (aka Tucker) both TD and FG; otherwise an opposing, strong, offense will triumph in most games.

This was evident last year, I just cannot see ignoring it again. Woodhead hopefully is a good addition however at 32 years old is NOT a #1 downhill Running Back.
To hand this responsibility to West, I believe, could again make for a difficult season when facing the "top tier" teams with strong offenses and better run defenses.
While Dixon has shot himself in the foot, he should bounce back, though he may be more of a Woodhead type RB than a Jamal Lewis/Ray RIce type who proved to bring the winning solution to the offense.

[Fastynart]

The problem with the Ravens has been their poor drafting. Look at all the high pick busts over the last 7 or 8 years. They have pretty much allowed the defense to hit the bottom, spending high picks on mediocre talent at wide receiver. I sure hope the Ravens sign some more free agents. Their draft track record really stinks.

[OUravensfan]

16 hours ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

so you say, NE is a balanced team so "big time players" may or may not mean "better". Just like all NFL teams they will lose some players as well.
The Ravens have one of the best records in the NFL vs New England.
They have lost to Indy, Cinci and Pitsburgh in the playoffs, these have cost them much more severely.

Well definitely not Cincy, they haven't won a playoff game since 1990, and we haven't lost to Indy since 2009 in the playoffs, Pittsburgh finally beat us last year after a long draught and they were super bowl favorites while we were mediocre, they got lucky.

Edited March 13 by OUravensfan