It's A Buyer's Market

[JimZipCode]

What is up with the 10 million from Earl Thomas? Did the Ravens go after it or are they going to let him keep it?

I believe that they WENT after it, and Earl filed a grievance, and the Ravens by rule had to reserve the amount (or half of it?) against their cap.

And I think the grievance is at this point un-heard or unresolved or whatever. So that's up in the air.

[Corey]

Ravens run a defense that doesn't put the OLB in a position to rack up sack numbers. They value OLBs that are better at setting the edge. They use blitzes to get pressure on the QB. It seems to work for the Ravens. They should sign Bowser as he has become the ideal OLB for the Ravens. He is the guy that does everything at average or slightly above average. They will getting a good pass rusher at the position and will use them more as a situational guy like they did with Z smith. It is hard to argue as it works for the Ravens. The Ravens defense works best when they get a guy in the middle that can collapse the pocket. That is why they need to hold onto Campbell.

Agreed. I am not arguing that we change anything. Just saying don't write Yannick off based on what you saw from him here.

[Corey]

Ingram, yes. But you are not going to get this team to the next level by cutting players to save a few bucks. And every player you cut will need to be replaced by a better player on a lessor contract.

The upgrade we need is in play calling and scheme. We need a dynamic passing attack. The defense shut down Buffalo to ten points. Three of them on a short field because of a dreadful short punt. That defense was good enough to win a SB. We missed two basic FG, gave up a FG on a bad punt and LJ gave up a pick six because he knew he had to get a TD. Our offense was clearly not for the third year in a row ready to win a SB. Fix that or you might as well cut LJ while you are at it.

I agree. I think we can expect a few restructures, some extensions and maybe they ask a guy to take a pay cut here and there.

[sflegend89]

Agreed. I am not arguing that we change anything. Just saying don't write Yannick off based on what you saw from him here.

Yannick is likely back just based on the fact that they traded a 3rd for him and it's very likely they won't get a 3rd round comp back for him next year now. EDC kinda assumed at the time of the trade that he would either re-sign or play well enough to earn a big contract elsewhere. Didn't play out like that unfortunately.

If he flops in the FA market, which he probably will since nobody has any money to spend and he had a lousy year production wise... might just lead him back to Baltimore on a modest deal to stay at home and prevent jumping teams 3 times in one year.

[Kyle Cactus]

I’m taking a look at the Saints situation and Oh my god, I honestly am at a loss as to how theyre going to navigate this.

Just quick back of the napkin math, some of these are guaranteed to go to post June 1 just because they have to. But before considering that here’s what I’ve got so far-

Brees, post June 1- 25m savings
Malcolm Brown- 5m
Nick Easton- 6m
Morstread- 2.5m
Latavius Murray- 2.5m
Janoris Jenkins- 7m
Emmanuel Sanders- 4m
Kwon Alexander- 13.4m
Patrick Robinson- 2.6.m

That gets me to 68 million in savings with only 36 players of the roster AND having to cut GOOD players. So still got 28m to go just to get compliant and refilling the roster is gonna require another 10m or more just for league minimum players. And then need room for draft pick salaries over top that (probably around 3m) and then pay out incentive that were NLTBE. Likely they still have to cut about 40-45m on top of what I’ve already listed! They might have to trade Ryan Ramczyk (11.5m in savings) Marshon Lattimore (10.2m), Terron Armstead (6.2m) and who knows what they do with Tayson Hill (5m)....BUT EVEN IF THEY TRADE ALL 4 THEY ARE STILL GOT A LONG WAY TO GO! Trading or cutting Michael Thomas post June 1 gets them 12m, and now I think that is definitely happening. Never seen such a wreck. Keep a close eye on the Saints.

If anything the Eagles situation might be even worse. The Eagles aren't as far over the cap, but far fewer of their big contracts can be cut to create cap space. It seems to me like they will both have to make painful cuts (to a bad football team) AND do restructures and extensions they wouldn't have wanted to do. I'm sure they'll find some clever ways to minimize the damage, but there's no avoiding the fact that on paper that team is going to go from bad to worse.

[srobert96]

Agreed. I am not arguing that we change anything. Just saying don't write Yannick off based on what you saw from him here.

Not writing him off. I am not sure they are going to be able to sign either Yannick or Judon. Their is going to be a severe cap crunch for the Ravens. Bowser is probably the cheapest of the 3.

[srobert96]

Na, they really cant. They’ve pused as far as they can and then got hit with COVID cap. There is going to be serious house cleaning. Thomas is for sure leaving. Hell he’s already said as much on twitter. I expect them to get extensions done with Ramczyck that will be a low cap number and maybe renegotiate Armstead. I think they trade Lattiimore. And realize, even with every move Ive mentioned, they still wont be compliant. They have a looooong ways to go. You don’t just ‘kick the can’ down the road by snapping your fingers, there has to be a solution. And its hard to see one here. They simply went all in for a couple years and now they have to pay the piper.

Because of situations like this I wonder if the NFL doesn't agree to artificially push the cap up to like 195m or something.