thundercleetz

I am tired of people saying that Boldin for Mason is a sidestep or a push. While they both may be possession receivers, Boldin brings a lot more to the table than Mason. First, Boldin at 6'1" 217 pounds gives Joe a big catching radius anywhere on the field, especially over the middle. Boldin has long arms and strong hands, he fights for the ball in the air. Mason is only 5'10" and catches with his body. Mason is not very effective over the middle because Joe does not have much room for error when throwing to Mason, he essentially has to be perfect on every throw to D-Mase. Mason thus does most of his work on the sidelines. Boldin's effect will go beyond himself, it will give Joe confidence throwing the ball over the middle of the field because he now knows he has a receiver that will fight for the ball and can bail him out. This will help Joe expand his game and become a better QB. Then there is the matter of YAC and the redzone. Boldin runs the ball like a runningback. We have never had that strong, Hines Ward, Brandon Marshall-type receiver that can catch a screen and barrell ahead for the first down, possibly more (the screen play to Boldin in the redzone was the Cards bread-and-butter). Boldin only had four touchdowns last season, but since 2003 Mason has 37 TDs in 112 games, Boldin has 44 TDs in 95 games. You mention Boldin's 12.8 YPC average on his career, compare that to Brandon Marshall's 12.3 YPC average and Larry Fitzgerald's 13.5 YPC average (Fitz only had a 11.3 YPC average this past season). YPC does not always measure gamebreaking ability, especially when you have YAC receivers like Boldin, Marshall, and Fitz. So yes, the receiving corp is not complete yet. But we still have a lot of free agency left and the draft. Ozzie is playing the Mason situation just like he played the Ray Lewis situation last offseason. The market will set itself, Mason will realize he is not going to get more money anywhere else, so he will return here for a good contract as this is his best situation. Mason is going to be a great #2 receiver for us. If Mason leaves, we will either make a play for Bryant or draft a rookie high. Just have patience.

Double post.

Ozzie found Bannan when he was a backup that no one else had any idea about. Three years later the guy got a big contract to be a starter. It should be not difficult to believe that Ozzie will look through this free agent class and find another Justin Bannan.

You spend the first six weeks of the season on the inactive list. After that the team has the choice of activating the player or putting him on IR. From what I have heard Webb is working very hard with his rehab. He canceled a trip he had planned to the football to stay in Baltimore to rehab. You can only do so much when it comes to rehabbing an ACL injury. On a side note, it will be exciting to see the day where medical technology has progressed to the point where an ACL can be healed in a couple of months. You know that day is coming, just think, an ACL used to be a year to two year injury. Now players are coming back in six months. The thing to remember about Webb is that he is a smaller guy. So it might be easier for his knee to heal as he does not put as much weight on it. At the same time Webb's game is built around speed. So if he is not up to full speed, he will not be of any use.

The way I see it is that Joe threw for 3,600 and 22 this season, and with all the drops and missed passes he probably could have easily had 25 TDs (off the top of my head both Heap and Mason dropped a gimme pass in the endzone, and Flacco missed a wide open Clayton on that long ball in the Bengals game). That is why I see 3,800-4,000 yards and 25-28 TDs as realistic.

We are not getting any comp picks. We lost four free agents, we signed we free agents. The value of the contract only matters in the sense that it could get us a seventh round pick. You can thank the worthless LJ Smith for us not getting a third/fourth round compensation pick.

McClain is a better player than Mughelli in every aspect of the game. There is no CAP, McClain is only 25-years old, pay the guy!

Webb is expected to start the season on the PUP list. We need corner help. I would not be surprised to see us go cornerback with our first or second pick.

You're usually the optimist, Spear. What kind of numbers are you thinking of? 3800 years and 25 TDs? If Joe gives us a QB rating over 93 or something like that, I would be happy with his progression.

He tore his right ACL on October 30, 2008 and he tore his right ACL on November 6, 2009. Very odd, both injuries came during practice. A former first round pick out of Michigan, Jackson was looking like he was on his way to becoming a very good cornerback in this league until he hurt his knee. Jackson was a big part of Indy's Super Bowl run back in 2007. I am sure we will put him through a tough workout like we did with Stallworth. If Jackson passes, you have to believe we think he can help this team out in some way. This could be a situation to keep an eye on. Here is what Scouts, Inc. said on Jackson coming into the 2009 season:

If we get Mason back or sign Bryant to be our #2, I can see 3800-4000 yards and 28-30 TDs being a realistic goal for Flacco. Remember, we have a great offensive-line and a Pro Bowl runningback as well. By the way, Rice said his goals for the upcoming season are to win NFL MVP and win a Super Bowl. The pieces are certainly in place.

Who knows? Family, familiarity with Schaub and the offense, team chemistry, the sense that the Texans are about the turn the corner, those could have all been factors as well. It is understandable that Walter wanted the opportunity to be a #1 receiver, especially on a playoff team, but once that went away I guess he put things into better perspective.

You guys can stop arguing, Aaron Wilson said that Walter didn't want to come here after we traded for Boldin. He probably wanted the opportunity to be a #1 receiver, but when he saw we got Boldin he probably thought what was the point of going from being a #2 to Andre Johnson to being a #2 to Q here in Baltimore.

This point alone is where Boldin makes us a better team. At 6'1" 217 pounds with long arms and strong hands, he give Joe a large catching target anywhere on the field. Mason at 5'10", and being a body catcher, does not give Flacco much room for error on his throws. Boldin on the other hand can use his size and strength to fight for balls in the air anywhere on the field. We know that Boldin is not a deep threat, it is the YAC, like you said, that makes him dangerous.

It is still very early. From what I am hearing there is not much interest in Bryant right now. He wants to go to Miami (he is from there), but if you remember Bryant had a fallout with Bill Parcells on the Cowboys back in 2002 or so, thus Parcells is not interested. Ideally, I think Ozzie wants Mason back, but Ozzie is going to let Mason test the market. This thing could play out for a little while. If Mason goes somewhere else or Ozzie decides Mason is not worth what he is asking for, and Bryant is still on the market, I am sure Ozzie would make a move. Or vice-versa, if Bryant is signed before Mason, Ozzie will probably step his offer up for Mason being there is nothing left on the market. Ozzie wants to see what happens with Mason first, so he is not going to make a rash move with Bryant. Patience guys, there is no immediate rush, let the market set itself. I am very confident we will end up with one of Bryant or Mason. As for Bodden... With the money Dunta Robinson got, do you want to give Bodden #1 corner money? I mean he is good, but he is not an elite corner. If anything, he is a good fit for the Pats system and who knows how he would do outside of it. With the money Foxworth is making, it does not make sense to overpay for another corner who is not a legit #1 corner. I think we are going to have to find our corner through the draft, there is certainly value there so I am not worried. Right now I think Ozzie is going to try and re-sign Dwan Edwards and search for addition vetern defensive line help. Ozzie has a plan, we will be a much better team when it is all said and done. Heck, we already are after the Boldin move.

Give me Antonio Bryant as our #2 receiver if Mason is gone! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icFuomOYYT4 This guy has elite talent, and posted big numbers in 2008. He has never had a good QB or another good WR to work with. Put him in the offense with Joe, Q, and Ray, and he will make plays for us. Bryant would be the perfect complement to Q. Q nabs all the underneath and over the middle stuff, while Bryant is the deep threat.

I think that rumor stemmed from Hensley's blog that said "Mason could return, but [is] no longer a priority." I believe this is all just postering between Mason and the Ravens. It will work itself out. If not, we will draft a receiver or two, or even sign a guy like Bryant.

This is my favorite Anquan Boldin highlight. Joe's job should be a lot easier when you have a receiver that can abuse cornerbacks like this and then take it to the house: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d814c4a1b/Boldin-39-yard-TD

My first choice is to re-sign Mason. But if Mason signs elsewhere, I would sign Antonio Bryant to a Kevin Walter-type deal. Bryant, as a downfield threat, would be a perfect complement to Q.

Okay, here are some guys we could be looking to sign: Maake Kemoeatu - he was just cut from the Panthers. Maybe we could bring him back for pretty cheap and solid defensive line depth. Lito Sheppard - only 28-years old. He had a pretty bad year for the Jets last season but he could be a classic buy low, bounce back player. He made the Pro-Bowl in 2004 and 2006 (All-Pro 2006). Leigh Bodden - Also only 28-years old and is from Hyattsville, MD. He had a great year for the Pats last season (55 tackles, 6 INTs), so his price tag could be a little high. We should really focus on bringing back Mason and Edwards first, however.

Yes, you are correct.

So you guys would really prefer Walter as our #2 compared to Mason? I guess it doesn't matter because all of the major news outlets are saying we are out of the Walter running. Bring back D-Mase, draft a rookie in the first or second round.

Robinson is very close to signing with the Falcons, he would have been a good guy to get. Leigh Bodden? There is really not that much else out there. We would be better off re-upping our own guys like Edwards, Gaither, Yanda, Koch, and McClain. Bring back Mason, save the money for other uses.

Aaron Wilson is saying we are out on Walter, which is good because we shouldn't waste our $5.3 million free agent on Walter when we can re-sign Mason without giving up this exception. Mason is definitely the better option, we would have to give Walter a five-year deal similar to Burleson, we only have to give Mason two-years. Mason already has a great rap with Flacco, and would thrive in our offense with Q on the other side. Teams could no longer double Mason and he is going to have a field day in man-coverage as teams try to contain Ray Rice and Q. As for Mark Clayton. Sure, I would take a second rounder for Clayton, but it is unlikely a team will make an offer. Clayton is not a bad player. If Clayton was on the free market right now, I am sure he would get more attention than any other UFA WR. IMO, Clayton has been playing out of position on the outside the past couple of years. He is a guy who is more quick than fast, we need to get him in the slot against linebackers, nickel backs, and safeties to cause a mismatch. With the addition of Mason, and the addition of Q, Clayton will be able to comfortably slip into the #3 slot receiver role for us. Something else to consider about Clayton, he could be something of a late bloomer like Derrick Mason. Mason was 27-years old when he had his first 1,000 yard season. Mark will only be 28-years old this season. Derrick said himself that "Mark Clayton is a younger version of me." Clayton may never be that true #1 receiver we wanted him to be, but he can still become a solid #2 for us. This is not like Travis Taylor where Taylor seemed lackadaisical when it came to being the best he could be. Mark works very hard, is a team player, and gives 100% every game. Bringing him back is a no brainer. There were plenty of times this past season where Clayton was open and Joe did not hit him. They will continue to develop chemistry and hopefully Mark will be able to be more of a playmaker for us.

I AM SO THRILLED!!! Ozzie, go bring back D-Mase now!!!! Wow, do Lions look bad. Nate Burleson gets 5-years, $25 million with $11 million guaranteed. We get Boldin for 4-years, $28 million with $10 million guaranteed. Joe must be estatic right now!!!