Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Quote:
Originally Posted by
LukeDaniel
Also, with respect to the high # of draft picks, particularly in late rounds, I'd really like to see the Ravens trade up big time this year. I think we already have like 35 or 36 of our 53 who are in their first three years in the league. A lot of these are so-so talents and decent depth guys and, given their team control for a few more years, are solid filler type guys for a while. We don't need more rookie fillers. We need impact rookies.
I'd rather see us package a few of these 11 picks and maybe try to move up to the point where we can either move up in the first or second round or maybe acquire an extra 3rd or extra 4th round picks. I'd rather see us walk away with 4-6 impact players than 3-4 impact players and a bunch of depth guys. We've had such insane success at finding solid depth in the undrafted FA market, that I'd rather us use that route to round out our roster than having a bunch of late-rounders.
Look at all the UFAs on our roster right now
Omar Brown
Laquan Williams (IR)
Adrian Hamilton
Jameel McClain (IR)
Dannell Ellerbe
Josh Bynes
Bobby Rainey (IR)
Emmanuel Cook (IR)
Michael McAdoo (IR)
Albert McClellan
Deonte Thompson
Bryan Hall
Justin Tucker
If you compare their production with our late round draft picks, I think you can argue the undrafted guys have actually contributed more.
I can see your point, trading up. The Ravens at will likely get a 4th for JJ and possibly a 4th for Grubbs or even 3rd. So a 1, 2, maybe 2 3rds, 2 4ths, and ??????. 6 selections in 4 rounds is pretty good. But, I am for trading your tradeable picks to target players you desire. Yes, 11 guys arent going to make the team and trading away 2-4 of those picks to improve your slotting makes good sense. The Ravens for sure have alot of good options come draft day. I have the feeling this draft will lay a good foundation for the next few years and is a very important reloading draft.
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Well all teams can do that, of course, but the problem is that at some point you have to pay the money against the cap. You can't keep pushing stuff into the future to create breathing room. I mean Pitt are hit their heads on that last off-season and I think they are going to do it again this season, they restructured to create space but that just means they are gonna be hard up next year.
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
I am still hoping the Ravens break tendency and get Joe's deal done before being forced to pull out the franchise tag. It is really best for everyone involved, even Joe. If Jason Cole is correct, firing Cam might make Flacco a little more willing to negotiate.
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Quote:
Originally Posted by
LukeDaniel
Also, with respect to the high # of draft picks, particularly in late rounds, I'd really like to see the Ravens trade up big time this year. I think we already have like 35 or 36 of our 53 who are in their first three years in the league. A lot of these are so-so talents and decent depth guys and, given their team control for a few more years, are solid filler type guys for a while. We don't need more rookie fillers. We need impact rookies.
I'd rather see us package a few of these 11 picks and maybe try to move up to the point where we can either move up in the first or second round or maybe acquire an extra 3rd or extra 4th round picks. I'd rather see us walk away with 4-6 impact players than 3-4 impact players and a bunch of depth guys. We've had such insane success at finding solid depth in the undrafted FA market, that I'd rather us use that route to round out our roster than having a bunch of late-rounders.
Look at all the UFAs on our roster right now
Omar Brown
Laquan Williams (IR)
Adrian Hamilton
Jameel McClain (IR)
Dannell Ellerbe
Josh Bynes
Bobby Rainey (IR)
Emmanuel Cook (IR)
Michael McAdoo (IR)
Albert McClellan
Deonte Thompson
Bryan Hall
Justin Tucker
If you compare their production with our late round draft picks, I think you can argue the undrafted guys have actually contributed more.
My only fear is that the Ravens have really struggled to find that big time impact player, really since drafting Ray Rice. Webb if healthy could be one and Torry has show flashes but we really haven't been able to find that Ed Reed or Todd Heap, corner stone guys since 2008. It's not like they haven't been out there and it's not like they have all been unavailable when we picked.
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Corey
My only fear is that the Ravens have really struggled to find that big time impact player, really since drafting Ray Rice. Webb if healthy could be one and Torry has show flashes but we really haven't been able to find that Ed Reed or Todd Heap, corner stone guys since 2008. It's not like they haven't been out there and it's not like they have all been unavailable when we picked.
We really need to hit one this year. Jimmy Smith was supposed to be one of them, but has totally under whelmed in his second season, after such a promising rookie year down the stretch.
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Corey
My only fear is that the Ravens have really struggled to find that big time impact player, really since drafting Ray Rice. Webb if healthy could be one and Torry has show flashes but we really haven't been able to find that Ed Reed or Todd Heap, corner stone guys since 2008. It's not like they haven't been out there and it's not like they have all been unavailable when we picked.
Your points are valid. I would argue that the reason for this is we always seem to be trading back. The Ravens have traditionally drated extremely, but since the 2009 draft, they've seemed more focused on value than hitting that one big player. In 2009, Oher slid a bit until we picked him up. 2010 was the draft where we "stole" Kindle, a projected top 15 pick, somewhere in the the 30s and got Cody, a projected top 35 pick, in the late 50s. Those seemed like great values at the time, but I think that was based more on the strategic factor of where a player was drafted with respect to where you thought they'd be drafted. I think we should have looked at WHY they were sliding a little more closely. Our Front Office is so enchanted with these sliding value type players, that I think it's hurt us in terms of obtaining true star quality. Yes, we've hit pretty well in the mid-to-late rounds with guys who slide---- who we bring in and give us instant depth.
At some point, you need to draft a player and announce him to your fanbase as a future star. It's harder to do that when you trade down out of your first round spot to eventually get a player (Kindle, Upshaw) or draft a sliding player (Oher, Cody, Jimmy Smith). It's hard to point out a lot of flaws with our drafts, but that is it right there.
With that in mind, if we do indeed get a 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 or even a 1,2,3,3,4,4 +5 other picks from rounds 5-7....I'd rather package a few of them and move up and get a first rounder and 2 seconds or even a first rounder and 3 second rounders, which isn't out of the question at all when you calculate all that built up draft-day trade equity. Heck, maybe we could even get a team like Jacksonville to give us a 4th or 5th rounder for Cody and we can turn that pick into someone useful.
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Also, one more thing...help me out here.
I know we have never been able to trade our 5th round compensatory picks. Does the same hold for any potential 3rd or 4th round compensatories this year?
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chicagoravensfan
The really fascinating issue, and the elephant in the room, is what happens to 52. All objective evidence and logic would lead to him getting cut but how do you cut the guy who's been the heart and soul of the franchise since day 1?
You gave the answer in the first part of what you said.
Click the ruby slippers together and say 3 times Heeeeep Heeeeep Heeeeeeep
And 52 leaves Oz and ends up in Kansas. It is business, sad....ugly...unpleasant....
I can't see him playing for the vet minimum plus incentives, but I can see Oz making team decisions... same basis you have for saying you see Boldin cut (as I also see)
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rxdoxx
You gave the answer in the first part of what you said.
Click the ruby slippers together and say 3 times Heeeeep Heeeeep Heeeeeeep
And 52 leaves Oz and ends up in Kansas. It is business, sad....ugly...unpleasant....
I can't see him playing for the vet minimum plus incentives, but I can see Oz making team decisions... same basis you have for saying you see Boldin cut (as I also see)
Heap and 52 are nowhere near same situation. Heap was a beloved figure in Baltimore, but barely HALF the presence Ray Lewis is. This type of move is akin to the Orioles releasing Cal Ripken had he not decided to retire in 2001. Can you imagine the BACKLASH the Orioles would get for letting Cal Ripken play for another baseball team?
I hate to say this, because it could be a huge jinx, but...I think all of us are just hoping that Ray decides he's done after this year and kind've gives us the easy out from this whole situation. The "thinking with your head" move says to cut Ray and move on. The "thinking with your heart" move says to find ANY way to keep him on the Ravens. Neither are right or wrong.
Re: The Ravens can restructure salaries to make room
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RavenScallywag
Heap and 52 are nowhere near same situation. Heap was a beloved figure in Baltimore, but barely HALF the presence Ray Lewis is. This type of move is akin to the Orioles releasing Cal Ripken had he not decided to retire in 2001. Can you imagine the BACKLASH the Orioles would get for letting Cal Ripken play for another baseball team?
I hate to say this, because it could be a huge jinx, but...I think all of us are just hoping that Ray decides he's done after this year and kind've gives us the easy out from this whole situation. The "thinking with your head" move says to cut Ray and move on. The "thinking with your heart" move says to find ANY way to keep him on the Ravens. Neither are right or wrong.
The Ravens shouldn't and I hope don't care about a backlash. And the Orioles never had any cap to deal with the Cal situation. I'm sure if Bisciotti could pay him what he wanted without a cap, Ray could be a member of this team forever.
They have to do what is best for the team. Period. And having a 38 year old Ray Lewis back with a $6-7+ million cap number (and having him out there on all 3 downs) is not what's best for the team anymore.