Trade Ray Rice?

**bmorecareful** · 12-22-2012, 12:44 PM

Been some discussions on Twitter about the Ravens potentially trading Ray Rice in the offseason.

Sounds crazy, I know, since he's our only blue-chip player on offense. But we've seen this year (and in 2010) that he's not the kind of back who can run with a bad OL, he will go the way of the line, and defenses have been shutting him down in the passing game. They have a very promising backup in Bernard Pierce who has actually been running better than Rice over the last few games. And they have a younger Ray Rice-esque player in Bobby Rainey, currently on IR, who showed in the preseason that he can play well in the passing game. They also like Damien Berry and Anthony Allen.

So what do you think? Is Ray Rice tradeable, or is he totally off the table? If he's a tradeable commodity, what kind of package would you need to let him go? For me, I'd call it around a 1st and 2nd this year or a 1st this year and 1st next year. Imagine how this team could rebuild their pathetic depth with a few extra high picks.

Potential trade targets: St. Louis Rams - they will not be bringing Steven Jackson back next year and they're loaded with picks from the RGIII trade. Jeff Fisher loves workhorse RBs and they need to upgrade around Sam Bradford to stay competitive in the NFC West. Atlanta Falcons - Michael Turner is on his last legs and Jacquizz Rogers is strictly a change of pace back. With better play at RB they could potentially be the best offense in the NFL, and they've shown their willingness to make a huge move to add one critical piece in the past. Miami Dolphins - Reggie Bush is a FA next year, they have extra picks from the Brandon Marshall trade, and Rice is a great fit for their young offense. Green Bay Packers - they have probably the worst RB corps in the NFL, but this seems like the least likely spot as Ted Thompson rarely trades at all, much less blockbuster trades.

**HoustonRaven** · 12-22-2012, 12:47 PM

Who has been saying he should be traded besides odd ball fans?

And no, he shouldn't be traded. That's patently absurd.

**Tyrian** · 12-22-2012, 12:51 PM

Stopped reading at 'twitter'. No.

**PGCountyRaven85** · 12-22-2012, 12:52 PM

Trading Ray Rice would take Flacco from being a Tier 2 QB/game mananger to...something well below that. How about getting a real center and moving K.O. to LG? I think that'd help Ray Rice run between the tackles better.

**Paintballguy** · 12-22-2012, 12:53 PM

Yea right not gonna happen

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**bmorecareful** · 12-22-2012, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

Who has been saying he should be traded besides odd ball fans?

And no, he shouldn't be traded. That's patently absurd.

No credible sources, just random musings from Weekend Warriors on Twitter. WNST has been picking it up, and I know the opinion of them is generally not high around here but as sports radio goes I prefer them to the pile of excrement known as 105.7 The Fan.

But yeah, I agree it's a very unlikely scenario, and the wisdom of such a decision is uncertain, but I'm just trying to stimulate discussion. This is a team with a ton of holes everywhere, they don't even have a QB under contract next year, so how could they go about fixing their depth problem?

I don't WANT to see Ray Rice gone, he's our best offensive player, but next year is going to be a rebuilding year IMO and sometimes you have to take 1 step backward in order to take 10 steps forward long-term. Drastic measures may be in order.

**GOTA** · 12-22-2012, 01:08 PM

If you thought Ngata would be impossible to trade because of the cap can you imagine the hit for Rice? It's probably over $20 million and therefore could never happen this year

iggyman555 · 12-22-2012, 01:10 PM

trade him for andrew luck

**JohnBKistler** · 12-22-2012, 01:11 PM

Package him with Dylan Bundy.

**Ravenswintitle** · 12-22-2012, 01:13 PM

trade him for Ricky Proehl and a brain for Caldwell

**bmorecareful** · 12-22-2012, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

If you thought Ngata would be impossible to trade because of the cap can you imagine the hit for Rice? It's probably over $20 million and therefore could never happen this year

Good point, I didn't think of that. I believe he got a 15m signing bonus that was fully guaranteed, and he's due an option bonus later that I don't think is going to kick in this year since it requires the Ravens to finish in the top 5 or something in total offense in any of the first 3 years.

If they trade him, I assume a lot of the 15m bonus is accelerated and goes into dead money on the cap, but I'm not sure about how that all works. Somebody more knowledgeable should advise. If the dead money is a real factor then it's 100% definitely not happening.