Saying goodbye to AD might be best for the Ravens

[Gabrosin]

Free agency this year isn't going to bring us anyone worth noticing... that is, until the season starts. We'll probably wind up with another couple of guys like Justin Bannan and Corey Ivy: solid roleplayers who contribute for a low price but aren't expected to do spectacular things. We're sure as hell not getting a brand new RB through free agency. RB is the absolute best position to fill through the draft rather than free agency; in fact, only DE is even close on the same scale.

Most likely offseason? Thomas goes to the 49ers, we bring back Pashos for a reasonable deal, same for Mughelli, we cut Jamal, we draft a RB on day one, we draft a DE/OLB hybrid on day one, put Cody in the starting role and hope he stays healthy, have our rookie as a backup plan, and we manage to get by.

And while it was a fine article, let's not forget that despite the shitty playoff performance, our offense was much improved this year with Billick calling the plays. Was it just a run of good luck? Maybe, but that's hard to justify. We were rarely explosive, but even with a substandard running game we put up a decent amount of points on some pretty good teams. Can we do it again, with McNair? If we want another AFCN Championship and a playoff run, we'll have to. And I think we will. We are watching young offensive players emerge: Clayton, Heap, Williams, Mughelli, Pashos, Brown, Chester. We're phasing out older veterans and replacing them with fresh blood. I do expect improvement, even if there's not a big jump in new personnel.

[festivus]

One ray of hope -

AD is extremely talented but most teams would want him to play LB. Just boring old LB. Which would depress his market value.

I would expect the offer for a long term deal from the Ravens will actually be higher then most teams would be willing to pay for a pure LB, because we have a scheme that takes advantage of his abilities. So perhaps, if one or two teams - Patriots, possibly SF? - drop out, we may *still* have the top offer on the table. I doubt it, but it would be nice.

AD must make Bill Belichek's mouth water with his versatility, but the Pats are historically cheapskates. . .

[RavensNTerps]

TL 24X7 i was talking specifically to Purple Rulz not about the column.

[TL24x7]

got it...my bad RT:bag:

[Fanman]

I agree w/ TL. I would love to keep AD here, but at what cost?
We lost 4 games in 2006....and only the loss to Carolina could be blamed on the defense...all others on the offense for sure.

If you need to be the #1 defense in the league to win the Super Bowl, then you are likely in trouble...balance is the key and we haven't had it here since Billick took over.

FM