Best Player Available, But...

[purplepoe]

The question was not answered. The 16 mil in dead money won't be there next year. The contracts that are on the books were on the books anyway, the 16 mil was not. Some players will make more money next season than this one, but that has nothing to do with the "dead money" issue.

Yes, the $16M in dead money comes off of the books for next year, but the salary for every player that is under contract for next year is going to increase, and in some cases by a couple of million. The Cap is not static, so the fact that the $16M won't be on the books next year does not mean that they will have $16M more to spend.

You really don't see your answer?

PP

[srobert96]

Just because I do not know how Washington and Dallas do it, does not mean I do not know that they do. Look at the players they have and how they get them and tell me how the Ravens can do it if you feel like it. I also know that just becasue I want it to happen does not mean that it will, it just suprises me that so many fans seem so convinced the Ravens are always out of cap space even though they always seem to let more good players go then most teams and find more diamond in the rough type players than any other team.

I can't believe you have hijacked a second thread with this Peppers nonsense. Yes the Ravens could make it work financially by letting Suggs go. That is about the only way they could open up enough money to sign Peppers.

The Redskins and Cowboys do not circumvent the cap. Name 1 big signing by Dallas this year??? 0. They lost a great player in Canty because they could not fit him under the cap. The Ravens choose to sign their own players over big free agency signings. I suggest you go to the Washington Post site and do a little research. The Redskins consistently lose good young players because they do not have cap room. They have more holes than swiss cheese. They are rolling out an old aging Oline. They don't have any DEs. Their LBs are horrible. All of their money is tied up in a few big contracts.

[B-more Ravor]

Who else on NE and Dallas makes a lot of money you ask? Seymore, Mayo was a top 10 pick.

LOL - Mayo was in the 1st year of his rookie deal, his cap number was $1.8M.

Seymour's was $6.8M. The Ravens had 3 players with higher cap numbers - and substantially so.

Dallas has nothing but 1st and 2nd round picks or big money free agents accross the board.

I think I already addressed that - they are all on the 1st or 2nd years of their deals, so their cap numbers are still relatively low. The largest cap number they had last year was in the $6M range.

There is a huge gap in actuall payed out money between the Ravens and the teams at the top. I don't care how they explain it, I want premium players, at least one Julius Peppers and possibly a #1 WR. Make it work.

LOL - yes, you don't care and you clearly don't understand, but why bother? Why let understand of the facts get in the way, right?

Look, last year, because they were so tight against the cap, the Ravens didn't sign any players to big money. Those numbers you have posted show the total money expended in that year. When you don't sign players to big deals, you don't pay out big bonuses, therefore your expenditures are down for that year. They also carried a lot of dead money last year - for JO, McNair, Mulitalo - so that was cap space that could not be used, which also lessens the total amount of money spent.

Now, since you are so good at research, go back to 2004-2007. They were top 1/2, #5, #6 and top 1/2 in total expenditures. They are willing to spend, they just do so more wisely than teams like the Skins.

[jonboy79]

And take a look at the contracts and status of their Old aging OT's. They are no longer worth NEARLY their contracts, but they are stuck with them like we are stuck with McGahee. This is waht happenns when teams try to "beat' the cap. They get beaten in the long run.

And yes, I understand what you are getting at, and that is that Snyder's payroll is higher on average then most, as in he kicks out mroe money each year and remains under the same cap number as others. He is more "creative" with deals. Also it should be noted that Washington is the Kings of the inflated contract numbers that make contracts silly, when in reality they aren't that bad.
In this current age of the cap, you can't really do that anymore like they used to with Brandon Lloyd, Archuleta, etc.

[Rayvens52]

My question is they do it constantly, why can't we do it once? Extending Suggs creates cap room, so would cutting Kelly Gregg and getting Reed to restructure, maybe Heap. The Ravens would not be locked into a lot of bad contracts, and next year is scheduled to be uncapped, but even if there is a cap, it will most likley go up and a ton of "dead money" comes off and guys like Pryce, Willy and any vet becomes that much more easy to cut.

Seriously get off this kick it is never going to happen. Why do you want this team to even be close to the Deadskins, right now they are a really bad franchise that make the wrong moves every year. You want this team to cut multiple players and shift cap numbers all over the place to pick up a guy we will never even speak to. Seriously enough is enough IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN no matter how many times you write it, and I will keep letting Ozzie be Ozzie and stay as far away from becoming a team like the deadskins as poss.

[B-more Ravor]

Why not? It seems like that money will directly be added to the mix. Also if there is no cap next year, there is no cap space issue.

Yes, if there is no cap next year, then none of these issues apply.

If there is, then a team operating as if there isn't going to be one is screwed.

[baltimore_hokie]

Don't get me wrong, at the moment Jackson is my second choice for likely to be available players... He is a monster that would fit well. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I think Pryce and Banna or gregg, followed by Edwards, McKinney, et al, is a MUCH better depthchart top to bottom then Heap, Smith, Syp... I think Pryce is CLEARLY playing at a higher level then Heap, And there are some bodies behind that are not hateful.
A lot of this stems from the fact that I think Heap is a merely AVERAGE starter at this point is his career, perhaps not even quite that.

i think heap's catching a little too much shit about what he had him do last year. we needed help on the edges because or tackles were kind of weak, so he blocked like a man man and didn't compete with other players at his position in a key category--catches. well, ngata spends his games clogging up the middle for the run game and doesn't make the pro bowl because he can't compete with the key category at his position--sacks. does that make him any less valuable?? HELL NO. with heap and LJ, we can at least get by for another year or two and still be above average. the main problem for our offense was stretching the field out to let our receivers and running backs play in space. as good of a player as pettigrew is, he does that bring that ability into play with his mediocre speed. so while i like him alot, i do not see a dire need for him (mostly because i see last year for heap as being valuable in a different way). either way, we can snag a faster, better receiving tight end in a later round if we would like to address that. i would be extremely disappointed if we don't come out of the first day of the draft addressing our needs at WR and youth on the DL.

to address another point that you made, our DL is solid but they are almost all getting old as crap. bannan-29, gregg-32, pryce-33, with ngata being the only young stud. the others are not yet old, but none of them are pass rushers. our depth at pass rushing DL is shot behind pryce, who is 33. with syp being a steady blocker, heap serviceable still, and lj a receiving threat that is much better than one 33 year old guy in my opinion. i do agree with you on alot of what you said, but i think the need to infuse some youth into that DL and have a guy in jackson that could slide inside on passing downs and get after the passer would be a bigger impact than a good tight end. keeping enough defensive lineman in there to bring energy all season is key, see the giants getting another guy to bolster their front-seven after they wore down last year. if we draft pettgirew, we have 4 TE's leaving sypniewski out. he is serviceable for what we ask him to do and is cheap, but adding another guy in the DL rotation would provide major dividends in the playoff run we hopefully will make.

[Jeremiah W]

i think heap's catching a little too much shit about what he had him do last year. we needed help on the edges because or tackles were kind of weak, so he blocked like a man man and didn't compete with other players at his position in a key category--catches. well, ngata spends his games clogging up the middle for the run game and doesn't make the pro bowl because he can't compete with the key category at his position--sacks. does that make him any less valuable?? HELL NO. with heap and LJ, we can at least get by for another year or two and still be above average. the main problem for our offense was stretching the field out to let our receivers and running backs play in space. as good of a player as pettigrew is, he does that bring that ability into play with his mediocre speed. so while i like him alot, i do not see a dire need for him (mostly because i see last year for heap as being valuable in a different way). either way, we can snag a faster, better receiving tight end in a later round if we would like to address that. i would be extremely disappointed if we don't come out of the first day of the draft addressing our needs at WR and youth on the DL.

to address another point that you made, our DL is solid but they are almost all getting old as crap. bannan-29, gregg-32, pryce-33, with ngata being the only young stud. the others are not yet old, but none of them are pass rushers. our depth at pass rushing DL is shot behind pryce, who is 33. with syp being a steady blocker, heap serviceable still, and lj a receiving threat that is much better than one 33 year old guy in my opinion. i do agree with you on alot of what you said, but i think the need to infuse some youth into that DL and have a guy in jackson that could slide inside on passing downs and get after the passer would be a bigger impact than a good tight end.

How does Peppers not solve your problem? He is only 29 and not injured like Pryce was, so it is safe to assume that he should have 3 or 4 prime seasons left in him before he begins to decline.

I get the fact that we are up against the cap right now, but because we have already almost completed the purge of big dollar vet contracts, and because the cap is very possibly going away next season, and because the Ravens were not a rebuilding team last year but a legit SB contender, I think Oz should go back to the 2000 type formula when he brought in the vet D line as the final peice to the puzzle.

From strictly a football perspective, how does Peppers opposite Suggs not make our D better accross the board, and closer to the 2006 look with Peppers as an upgrade over AD.

[baltimore_hokie]

How does Peppers not solve your problem? He is only 29 and not injured like Pryce was, so it is safe to assume that he should have 3 or 4 prime seasons left in him before he begins to decline.

I get the fact that we are up against the cap right now, but because we have already almost completed the purge of big dollar vet contracts, and because the cap is very possibly going away next season, and because the Ravens were not a rebuilding team last year but a legit SB contender, I think Oz should go back to the 2000 type formula when he brought in the vet D line as the final peice to the puzzle.

From strictly a football perspective, how does Peppers opposite Suggs not make our D better accross the board, and closer to the 2006 look with Peppers as an upgrade over AD.

because it would most likely eliminate our ability to make any other moves to bolster our offense or other positions of need. look, dude. you have a point that he's a stud and would make our D better, but there is one guy like you on every site for every team in the NFL. no one here is going to agree with you because they fundamentally would rather see us field a good offense FOR ONCE. i saw our dominant defense last year allow 30-some points to the giants, and peppers may help with that some so that we only allow 24, but we need an offense that can score that, or more, consistently to become great. there's no point in arguing anymore, just chalk it up to a difference in opinion and let Oz do work. but please, i'm sick of arguing about this and your productivity at work has got to be suffering from this argument. let's agree to disagree and just see what freakin happens.

[ravenjoer]

There are alot of valid points here but remember trust Ozzie and teams like Shittsburgh ALWAYS use's the draft to build teams and over the years they have been very competitive(they still suck) I believe if we don't trade up it will be best avaliable i think the need's are DE and WR and OL

[Jeremiah W]

because it would most likely eliminate our ability to make any other moves to bolster our offense or other positions of need. look, dude. you have a point that he's a stud and would make our D better, but there is one guy like you on every site for every team in the NFL. no one here is going to agree with you because they fundamentally would rather see us field a good offense FOR ONCE. there's no point in arguing anymore, just chalk it up to a difference in opinion and let Oz do work. but please, i'm sick of arguing about this and your productivity at work has got to be suffering from this argument. let's agree to disagree and just see what freakin happens.

Forget that, I am half way there to convincing you. He not only makes our defense better he makes our offense better. He would play some redzone TE, and his 4 or 5 forced fumbles a year puts teh O in better position. His abuse of the other QB takes points off the board. The Panthers have not had a whole lot else on defense, but when he has been paired with talent in the front 4, they have made solid playoff runs.

The Steelers and Giants the past 2 years proved that bookend pass rushers can and will beat perfect passing attacks. The Ravens have proven that stopping the run is not enough but when we pressure QBs we get pick 6.

The Steelers beat us 3 times last year basically the same way. Late in the game, we did not have enough pass rush to stop the good teams from driving. Peppers puts a stop to that. Suggs on one side, him on the other with the rest of the rotation would give us a much better coverage and pressure package than Pittsburgh, and there is a good chance that the DPPG not only goes down, the OPPG will most likley go up from more picks, closer to 2006 than last year.

The Ravens O is basically in place. QB, RB, LT, LG, C, RG, RT WR 1, 2 and 3, a couple young guys in the mix. You may not like all we have there but there is a lot of youth and for the most part that is what we are going with on O.
The D is getting old accross the D line. Peppers fixes that for a while.

Price and recruiting him seem to be the only obstacles to me. I do not see a lot of money commited to players or a lot of holes, so getting past this one season of cap jail should not be too hard on the long term roster building plan.

[purplepoe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE

Long overdue.

PP