Will we re-sign Ryan Jensen?

**Ravenswintitle** · 12-28-2017, 09:20 AM

I remember before the season saying Jensen would be center and getting ten spewing responses of how he was horrible and not the answer. Not it's can we resign him. Did he get better, is it the line coach, or is it that we don't know as much as we think? a lot of all that

**HbgPARavenfan** · 12-28-2017, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle

I remember before the season saying Jensen would be center and getting ten spewing responses of how he was horrible and not the answer. Not it's can we resign him. Did he get better, is it the line coach, or is it that we don't know as much as we think? a lot of all that

to be fair, alot of fans think "a lineman is a lineman" Center is not an easy position to play, to expect every lineman to be able to just "start playing Center in the NFL" isnt logical. Jensen is one of those odd exceptions and a wonderful surprise

**Ravenswintitle** · 12-28-2017, 09:50 AM

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/946098387081863169

Official: be nice
Jensen: I'm being nice

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 12-28-2017, 10:21 AM

I'd much rather be spending big money on Jensen than Wagner. I think you can find quality RT's on the cheap side. I do not think you can for C's.

We'll probably have to overpay him, but I'd do it.

**WNCRavensFan** · 12-28-2017, 11:01 AM

Here are the top ten centers this year by total value at signing (guaranteed money in parentheses):

1) Travis Frederick - 6 yrs, 56.4 mil (18.2)
2) Brandon Linder - 5 yrs, 51.7 mil (19.5)
3) Alex Mack - 5 yrs, 45 mil (20.0)
4) Mike Pouncey - 5 yrs, 44.8 mil (11.0)
5) Rodney Hudson - 5 yrs, 44.5 mil (12.6)
6) Maurkice Pouncey - 5 yrs, 44.1 mil (13.0)
7) Jason Kelce - 6 yrs, 37.5 mil (10.4)
8) Justin Britt - 3 yrs, 27.0 mil (5.0)
9) Max Unger - 3 yrs, 22.2 mil (10.6)
10) Eric Wood - 2 yrs, 21.3 mil (9.4)

So where do you put Jensen on this list? He's only had one good season.

For reference, Wagner got 5 yrs, 47.5 mil (17.5)

**sawraven1** · 12-28-2017, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteNorthRaven

I'd much rather be spending big money on Jensen than Wagner. I think you can find quality RT's on the cheap side. I do not think you can for C's.

We'll probably have to overpay him, but I'd do it.

Ozzie has never done it before. He let Jason Brown go pretty easily who had more sustained playing time than Jensen.

He let Wagner walk and he played damn near every snap at RT,

I hope we do but highly doubt we retain him because Ozzie will move SKURA , with Yanda and Lewis and Siragusa coming back from IR

**lowrider** · 12-28-2017, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by HbgPARavenfan

to be fair, alot of fans think "a lineman is a lineman" Center is not an easy position to play, to expect every lineman to be able to just "start playing Center in the NFL" isnt logical. Jensen is one of those odd exceptions and a wonderful surprise

This!

No one expected Big Red to play the position as well as he has. I just don’t see Ozzie letting him walk without making him a competitive offer.

**ursula** · 12-28-2017, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteNorthRaven

I'd much rather be spending big money on Jensen than Wagner. I think you can find quality RT's on the cheap side. I do not think you can for C's.

We'll probably have to overpay him, but I'd do it.

We probably don't have the cap space for him.

I read here various conjectures like how we might lowball him like we did with KO or the team felt like it can develop any OL in time: its amazing how many contortions folks here get themselves into when ignoring simple facts like the salary cap.

Priorities 1 and 2 are improving the WRs and OL. Multiple draftniks who talk to teams report this. And it makes sense. So it would probably make sense to keep Jensen and the team will try. But the cap....again the Ravens will have little cap space with the kicker being that the team can't just cut players to free up cap space like most other teams can. For the Ravens if players get cut they create about the same amount of dead money as keeping them due to how the contracts are structured.

The most obvious player to cut is Maclin followed by Carr followed by Suggs followed by Howard. Even these four generate a fair amount of dead money. Other than those three the possible players to cut won't create much in the way of cap space. But cutting Maclin, along with not re-signing Wallace, creates a huge void at WR. Cutting Carr with Jimmy and Hill both being on IR to start next season creates a void. Cutting Suggs our best pass rusher, well, I don't see the team cutting Suggs. cutting Howard opens up RT again.

But we have to cut at least one of them to have a fair shot at re-signing Jensen. You also have Hurst as a free agent, who will probably be less expensive to resign and who can play RT-and he has played it fairly we'll in the limited time he has put in there. And you have Skura who is a natural center and obviously will be very cheap.

So its not obvious that the team should spend big money on Jensen though it would suck to lose him. The cap has tied the team's hands-and that's their own doing.

Here's a wild thought: cut Maclin, Carr, Woodhead, Perriman, Webb, Howard and McClellan for $18M in cap relief and about $30M in camp space all told. (Really $24M since some of that money needs to go to draft picks and a little left over for next season's injury replacements.) The team would then have serious holes at:

- OL: C, LT, RG (unless you think the always injured Alex Lewis is the answer. Hint: he's not.) and depth. Skura can fill one of the interior spots.

- WR both starting spots cause Wallace is a UFA too.

- CB Without Carr and Jimmy Smith and Hill on IR the depth is just Humphrey, Tavon, and Canady plus street free agents. (So I kinda doubt that the team will cut Carr.)

- TE- Re-sign Watson? Otherwise its Maxx, Boyle, and Maybe.

- with smaller depth related holes at RB, S, and ILB.

So maybe Jensen is step one in rebuilding the team. He's good. But there is always a limit to the contract the team can offer him.

**Bhcforlife** · 12-28-2017, 11:40 AM

I would like to see them re-sign him, and I think they will try, but I don't think they go overboard on keeping him. The smart move is probably not paying out the ass for him and instead slotting Skura in there, who has been solid this year at RG.

As long as they have D'Alessandris I'm not overly concerned with it at this point. He'll coach them up.

**HbgPARavenfan** · 12-28-2017, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by WNCRavensFan

Here are the top ten centers this year by total value at signing (guaranteed money in parentheses):

1) Travis Frederick - 6 yrs, 56.4 mil (18.2)
2) Brandon Linder - 5 yrs, 51.7 mil (19.5)
3) Alex Mack - 5 yrs, 45 mil (20.0)
4) Mike Pouncey - 5 yrs, 44.8 mil (11.0)
5) Rodney Hudson - 5 yrs, 44.5 mil (12.6)
6) Maurkice Pouncey - 5 yrs, 44.1 mil (13.0)
7) Jason Kelce - 6 yrs, 37.5 mil (10.4)
8) Justin Britt - 3 yrs, 27.0 mil (5.0)
9) Max Unger - 3 yrs, 22.2 mil (10.6)
10) Eric Wood - 2 yrs, 21.3 mil (9.4)

So where do you put Jensen on this list? He's only had one good season.

For reference, Wagner got 5 yrs, 47.5 mil (17.5)

I like Jensen and want to resign him, but he should be closer to 7-10 pay wise and talent wise than 1-6 on that list

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 12-28-2017, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by ursula

We probably don't have the cap space for him.

I read here various conjectures like how we might lowball him like we did with KO or the team felt like it can develop any OL in time: its amazing how many contortions folks here get themselves into when ignoring simple facts like the salary cap.

Priorities 1 and 2 are improving the WRs and OL. Multiple draftniks who talk to teams report this. And it makes sense. So it would probably make sense to keep Jensen and the team will try. But the cap....again the Ravens will have little cap space with the kicker being that the team can't just cut players to free up cap space like most other teams can. For the Ravens if players get cut they create about the same amount of dead money as keeping them due to how the contracts are structured.

The most obvious player to cut is Maclin followed by Carr followed by Suggs followed by Howard. Even these four generate a fair amount of dead money. Other than those three the possible players to cut won't create much in the way of cap space. But cutting Maclin, along with not re-signing Wallace, creates a huge void at WR. Cutting Carr with Jimmy and Hill both being on IR to start next season creates a void. Cutting Suggs our best pass rusher, well, I don't see the team cutting Suggs. cutting Howard opens up RT again.

But we have to cut at least one of them to have a fair shot at re-signing Jensen. You also have Hurst as a free agent, who will probably be less expensive to resign and who can play RT-and he has played it fairly we'll in the limited time he has put in there. And you have Skura who is a natural center and obviously will be very cheap.

So its not obvious that the team should spend big money on Jensen though it would suck to lose him. The cap has tied the team's hands-and that's their own doing.

Here's a wild thought: cut Maclin, Carr, Woodhead, Perriman, Webb, Howard and McClellan for $18M in cap relief and about $30M in camp space all told. (Really $24M since some of that money needs to go to draft picks and a little left over for next season's injury replacements.) The team would then have serious holes at:

- OL: C, LT, RG (unless you think the always injured Alex Lewis is the answer. Hint: he's not.) and depth. Skura can fill one of the interior spots.

- WR both starting spots cause Wallace is a UFA too.

- CB Without Carr and Jimmy Smith and Hill on IR the depth is just Humphrey, Tavon, and Canady plus street free agents. (So I kinda doubt that the team will cut Carr.)

- TE- Re-sign Watson? Otherwise its Maxx, Boyle, and Maybe.

- with smaller depth related holes at RB, S, and ILB.

So maybe Jensen is step one in rebuilding the team. He's good. But there is always a limit to the contract the team can offer him.

Good points.

I don't have a good understanding of our cap situation. One thing I do know is that we don't have to invest much in the D. We have most guys under contract next year with the exception of Urban. We may extend Mosley, but if we don't he's under contract at least for next year.

There's really no one else. Like you said we can cut Carr, which I'm definitely conisering given the play of Humphrey and Canady. The return of Young and Smith will be big. Carr would probably be our 4th or 5th corner (1st backup to the outside guys). Smith and Humphrey start outside, Young and Canady in the slot.

If we don't sign Jensen I'm hoping for an early investment on the interior. Personally, I'd like to replace Howard with a draft pick, sign Jensen and let Skura and Lewis battle for the LG spot.

History tells us we make an offer, he probably doesn't take it and we use Skura as the "next man up". It would be the same as this year in the sense that we just don't know what we're going to get. Maybe it's a pleasant surprise like Jensen was or maybe it's a shitshow like Gino was.

Jensen provides the continuity and a line of Stanley - Skura/Lewis - Jensen - Yanda - Rookie could be solid (Depedning on who the rookie is of course - risk there as well).

As for offensive investment in general, we absolutely 100% need to draft or sign pass catchers. Not just 1 or 2. We need about 2 WR's and 1 receiving TE. Boyle and Maxx are fine for depth/blocking, but we need a legit receiving TE.

The ideal situation would be to cut the guys you mentioned (Carr, Maclin, Howard specifically). And then:
- Sign Jensen
- Sign Landry
- Sign Taylor Gabriel
- Draft RT, TE, WR, ILB with our first 4 picks (assuming we get a 3rd round comp for Wagner).

Now, obvioulsy it's not that easy and like you mentioned we proabbyl can't afford that without some crazy backloading, but god damn would that ever be sweet.

Regardless of whether or not we sign Jensen we need HEAVY investment in the offense. The defense is fine and it's even better if Pees retires and we bring in someone competent. Only two positions I'd bring people in for are ILB with a 3rd-5th round draft pick and FS depth again with a 3rd-5th round draft pick.

Yes, we could use some interior pass rush, but I'd rather give a season to a new DC to try and get something out of Wormley and Kaufasi (I knwo they've shown nothing, but I'd rather give a new DC that chance before burning more draft picks there).

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 12-28-2017, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by HbgPARavenfan

I like Jensen and want to resign him, but he should be closer to 7-10 pay wise and talent wise than 1-6 on that list

Given he's going to be a UFA we likely need to overpay. I'd try and come in with 5 years 45M, 20M guaranteed). Same as Mack.

He is not as good as Mack and I would never try and argue that, but that's the way the FA market works. Jensen has a lot of leverage given he's at a premium position (Up there with QB, LT, pass rusher) and had a veyr strong season with more room to grow.