Free Agent & Other Player Moves from Around the NFL

**rlh445** · 03-14-2013, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by Bigfish

Somebody help me here, but I don't ever recall a lot of buzz with using our owners private jet to fly out prospective free agents for a tour of the castle and a crab cake dinner. These things come out of left field. Did anyone see the Canty signing coming?

canty visiting us was a headline.

https://twitter.com/RavensInsider/st...04247038570497

**stevez51** · 03-14-2013, 06:15 PM

So Philly is picking up players to restock from the Dream Team carnage. So then Andy Reid takes this philosophy to KC. If you want a good read, Grantland on ESPN gives a good write up on the 1st & 2nd day signings. Breaks them down in a better way than the drama of every team is a new SB contender.

**alien bird** · 03-14-2013, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by StingerNLG

I guess whatever you guys gotta do to sleep better at night about losing 7 starters while watching the Denver Broncos simply add a piece to improve their offense, watching the San Francisco 49ers include a big piece to their already Super Bowl caliber team.

How many more of our starter and star players have to retire or leave for other teams before even the most ardent "trust in Ozzie" folks start to think maybe something may not be right?

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

Miami added players, too. That doesn't add up to anything in itself (see Washington Redskins). San Francisco also lost a few players to the ones they gained, and their main rival, Seattle, greatly improved themselves. It won't surprise me when the 49ers don't even win their division.

Something not right? That's a bit much. With the exception of Pollard, there are clear reasons those guys are no longer on the Ravens - and those reasons have more to do with NFL economics: other teams paying more than the Ravens were willing to pay. It may be a perfect storm of circumstances, but it's not the end of the world, and I don't need to convince myself of anything to sleep at night. While there are holes where holes did not once exist, many of those holes are going to be filled from within, and replacements are on the roster already. Maybe not at linebacker and safety, but just about everywhere else. And there is still a draft, where I'm guessing 3-4 impact players end up wearing Raven jerseys next fall.

I'm not writing off the season, and I don't think the Ravens' front office is either.

**Iscull** · 03-14-2013, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by bmorecareful

Eagles sign Connor Barwin. Odd move as they have Trent Cole and Brandon Graham ahead of him at OLB, with 2012 2nd round pick Vinny Curry waiting in the wings as well...

No financials yet, but if he got starter-type money (which I assume he did) I would not be surprised to see the Eagles try to trade Trent Cole, who isn't a good fit for their 3-4 anyway.

Trent Cole probably won't make the team. Barwin is a great pick-up for the Eagles. Graham will absolutely kill it in a 3-4 and Curry should add some solid depth. I really wanted Graham in that draft. I always thought he'd be a better fit as an OLB/DE.

**OhThePossibilities** · 03-14-2013, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by bmorecareful

I don't disagree with a single thing you've said, but the real leap of faith required of the fans right now is to accept that Ozzie can fill all of these immediate holes with nothing other than rookies and dumpster-diving for the dregs of free agency that will be left over in a month. And to do all that despite having a ton of flexibility in terms of cap space and draft picks for trades.

We all know he has a plan and it's far smarter than anything I can come up with. But we haven't brought anybody but Canty in for a visit, we haven't made real offers to ANY of the guys we're losing, and yet we have plenty of cap space to make a move or two. Again, I'm not panicking but I'm squirming a bit as guys I thought would be realistic targets sign cheap deals without even being considered.

Any moves made this off season will be fairly small unless they plan on dropping Suggs or Ngata next season. The cap space for 2014 is pretty tight with the escalations in Flacco, Ngata, Webb & Rice's contracts.

**Ravenous1** · 03-14-2013, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by bmorecareful

I don't disagree with a single thing you've said, but the real leap of faith required of the fans right now is to accept that Ozzie can fill all of these immediate holes with nothing other than rookies and dumpster-diving for the dregs of free agency that will be left over in a month. And to do all that despite having a ton of flexibility in terms of cap space and draft picks for trades.

We all know he has a plan and it's far smarter than anything I can come up with. But we haven't brought anybody but Canty in for a visit, we haven't made real offers to ANY of the guys we're losing, and yet we have plenty of cap space to make a move or two. Again, I'm not panicking but I'm squirming a bit as guys I thought would be realistic targets sign cheap deals without even being considered.

It may well turn out that he cannot do that effectively.

Ozzie more than likely wants to remain GM for more than next season and as such he is planning for 2,3 and 4 years down the road.

Thank god we have a GM who does that. I saw many people who talked about how we should have restructured instead of losing Heap and Mason. Same last off season.

If we bring in guys who have clear talent but its a down season as they learn I can live with that

**Bigfish** · 03-14-2013, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by rlh445

canty visiting us was a headline.

https://twitter.com/RavensInsider/st...04247038570497

Thanks, I stand corrected. In my mind it seemed unspectacular compared to the big names being tossed around.

**Ravenswintitle** · 03-14-2013, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

The Packers kept low balling him thinking there wasn't another team out there. I guess there was.

I was sure they'd get him. Got too cheap

**rlh445** · 03-14-2013, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by Bigfish

Thanks, I stand corrected. In my mind it seemed unspectacular compared to the big names being tossed around.

lol no probs, wasn't being an ass or anything i just remember the tweet because i've been stalking wilson all week.

**StingerNLG** · 03-14-2013, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by Ravenous1

If things are "not right" what is your theory on the cause?

I wish I knew.

Lets see we traded a slot receiver making to much money and got a draft pick back and cap savings. We let a guy who took 4 yrs to be a starter sign with Browns for 40 million? We let a proficient but hardly allpro ILB walk instead of giving him 7 mill per year. We released a guy who had a big mouth and cant cover but is excellent against the run in Pollard after upgrading our interior run defense. We are letting a CB go we don't need and safety go who is older and frankly cant tackle anymore....did i miss anything?

Ozzie will pick up guys, it may be a struggle but the team defense will get younger, faster and within a couple years will compliment the offense very well.

Again, all of a sudden Boldin is a washed up bum, and everyone else who got their contracts are all overpaid. This is who people are spinning this news while the team makes great signings like David Reed and Chris Johnson.

Anquan Boldin wasn't worth his mega-cap busting billion-dollar contract (despite being an big part of our SB year). Wasn't the point of trading him to have the cap money to pay Ellerbe? Well, now we have neither. So now we have not one question mark on offense (oh yeah, other than the giant GLARING question mark that is LT), but a huge question mark at ILB since your other starter has a spinal cord injury and the rest of the pack are mediocre at best. Oh, but even though you knew Ray Lewis was retiring, and the rest of the ILB corps are subpar, paying Ellerbe the $7million you just let Boldin walk would be too much money. Because you can easily get a better young ILB for $2.5m, right?

And why even bother to keep Pollard. He's a bum too, at least that's what I've more or less started to read here. And hey, it's ok. We have James Ihigidbo and Christian Thompson. I mean, you're not paying Ed Reed 6 million. Hell you're not even paying Pollard, who's 28 years old, $500,000. So what high-production safety are you bringing in on either the strong or free side that will cost less than that? I mean, it's not like we're not $11+ million under the cap since Ellerbe was obviously too expensive.

So ok, we've done all this and cleared all this cap space. For the moment I'll step back and be ok with it. Teams around the league are "overpaying" players that are upgrading their team. So........Denver signs Wes Welker to bolster it's already top offense that simply adds to a team that was the #1 team in the AFC last year. The Rams pick up Steven Jackson, and a Jake Long, which will improve their offense and help them win more games. Even the Browns start improving their defense getting Paul Kruger. We got........30 year old Chris Canty. Ok.

Somewhere, all this makes sense that we are a Super Bowl team that just outright gutted it's defense, while other teams made moves to get better, and I'm just missing how this is all "part of the plan to compete for the next decade".

**MD Boy** · 03-14-2013, 06:30 PM

Leon Washington signing with the Patriots.
Nmandi to visit SF 49ers.

**rlh445** · 03-14-2013, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by StingerNLG

I wish I knew.

Again, all of a sudden Boldin is a washed up bum, and everyone else who got their contracts are all overpaid. This is who people are spinning this news while the team makes great signings like David Reed and Chris Johnson.

Anquan Boldin wasn't worth his mega-cap busting billion-dollar contract (despite being an big part of our SB year). Wasn't the point of trading him to have the cap money to pay Ellerbe? Well, now we have neither. So now we have not one question mark on offense (oh yeah, other than the giant GLARING question mark that is LT), but a huge question mark at ILB since your other starter has a spinal cord injury and the rest of the pack are mediocre at best. Oh, but even though you knew Ray Lewis was retiring, and the rest of the ILB corps are subpar, paying Ellerbe the $7million you just let Boldin walk would be too much money. Because you can easily get a better young ILB for $2.5m, right?

And why even bother to keep Pollard. He's a bum too, at least that's what I've more or less started to read here. And hey, it's ok. We have James Ihigidbo and Christian Thompson. I mean, you're not paying Ed Reed 6 million. Hell you're not even paying Pollard, who's 28 years old, $500,000. So what high-production safety are you bringing in on either the strong or free side that will cost less than that? I mean, it's not like we're not $11+ million under the cap since Ellerbe was obviously too expensive.

So ok, we've done all this and cleared all this cap space. For the moment I'll step back and be ok with it. Teams around the league are "overpaying" players that are upgrading their team. So........Denver signs Wes Welker to bolster it's already top offense that simply adds to a team that was the #1 team in the AFC last year. The Rams pick up Steven Jackson, and a Jake Long, which will improve their offense and help them win more games. Even the Browns start improving their defense getting Paul Kruger. We got........30 year old Chris Canty. Ok.

Somewhere, all this makes sense that we are a Super Bowl team that just outright gutted it's defense, while other teams made moves to get better, and I'm just missing how this is all "part of the plan to compete for the next decade".

can't say i disagree much, at least with the beginning parts about how now Boldin's a bum, Pollard couldn't cover (what the heck is with that rationalization anyway?! the guy's coverage skills were definitely advertised as much, much worse than they were while he was here..probably due to Ed Reed). SPEAKING of Reed, here's a guy who has performed at HoF levels for years here and has now regressed to become like other mortal safeties and was credited by not one but two HoF QBs on our way to the Super Bowl and yet now that it looks like he's gone he's been kind of horrible for years now, can't tackle (despite making several key tackles throughout the season but hey he got hurdled one time by a pretty good player) and is generally regarded as, 'Oh well see ya Ed, won't even be disappointed,'. Those are the things I don't like. Hey, guys have to go sometimes and even though it blows, I'm coming around to it. I'm not gonna sit here and say Pollard or Reed or Boldin or Ellerbe or anybody else that leaves is garbage, not even Cary Williams.

Other than that, I believe we WILL make some moves in the future to shore up some areas that we just don't think we can in the draft. Whether that happens before or after the draft is anybody's guess. I'm sure we're not gonna start the season without a LT (but who knows....that could be Oher :( ) or without some sort of presence in the middle besides Canty. I agree though that overall it doesn't feel good as a fan to do what seems like sit around and twiddle our thumbs while other teams make some very nice pickups. I don't think it's going to last though and we'll start patching it up especially on defense.