oldno82

So we offered Linderbaum $22mil a year for 4 years, and he took $27mil a year for 3. Seems like he took the better deal. But I don't think he is worth that much money. Good move for him though.

I can't believe the sums of money some guys are getting. Lindy 84mil for 3 years?? Oweh 100mil?? It boggles the mind. These players aren't worth the money being thrown at them. But will we have a team left after all these losses and very few signings? DeCosta has his work cut out for him.

This completely blows my mind. He had a good half season and turned it into $100 mil.

I'd like to see us trade back into the first round but we don't have the bullets to do it. Not by a long shot.

If Lamar doesn't sign very soon there won't be much left in free agency.

You make a good point. The Ravens are betting on better coaching this year and since the old ways didn't produce a SB visit that just might do the trick. Warhop was a fiasco.

Interesting. I guess we shall know very soon one way or another.

I hope so Tsyl, but I have a lot of doubts. If Mads makes it back and comes back at the level he was at before, the defense will be set with Crosby providing 10-15 sacks/year. But the offense...that's a different story. I'm not sold on Jones yet. Haven't seen him play enough to tell. All told and excluding him, we need a center and two guards and a competent tackle to help out an aging Stanley. We could also use another receiver---maybe Dez finally gets an extended look there. Bateman is pretty good, I think. He just needs to be more involved in the offense. That's going to be up to Doyle to coax that out of him and Lamar. And, speaking of Lamar, I want to hear in the next 2-3 days that he has signed an extension to give us cap relief. So at the very least, we need several positions on the O-line and a functional wide receiver. Oh, almost forgot about TE. Have real doubts Andrews can play like he used to and currently there's nobody behind him.

I think a lot of people have forgotten it's a 53 man team. Crosby will help but he is definitely not going to solve the offensive o-ine problems.

Huntley's got $5 mil for 2 years with another $6 mil in incentives. Depending on what the incentives are, maybe not so bad. The killer is the Bills' center deal...we should have gotten him for a bit higher than that price. Of course, I have no fricken' idea what our current cap situations is until we know WTF Lamar is going to do, if anything. I'm just pretty disgusted with the state of the team right now but after looking at other boards I'd say I am definitely in the minority.

I really can't understand how this deal could have happened given the Ravens previous philosophy of team management. Was Ozzie in the loop on this? For sure Bisciotti was, with the amount of money involved. Was EDC on an ultimatum to produce this year or be fired too? It just doesn't make sense to me. However, the deal is getting a lot of love from pundits all over the place who claim it was a good deal for both teams. I don't think I've read one opinion piece yet that thinks this was a bad deal. But giving up 2 first rounders for anybody is a bad deal in my book.

They should have gone with Hendrickson if they wanted to make a defensive splash.

Yeah the more I think about it the more I hate it. We finally get a decent early-mid round pick and then poof it's gone along with next year's #1. Just like Tsyl says, we haven't drafted well in the 2nd round, not getting enough return on investment. I'm pretty pissed.

My initial impressions of the Crosby deal are pretty negative. We gave up two first round picks for him when we are in dire need of offensive linemen and defensive tackles. Seems like more than a stretch...more like a leap off a cliff in the night.

Well, it may have been 'market setting' when they offered it but Chicago will probably go all out to sign him. And, I think Pops might be right on the Giants signing him to an even higher than market value contract. I believe the draft has at least one good center coming up that might be a possibility on day 2. As our first pick I'm leaning towards the Penn State guard everybody is raving about. Big guy with good movement. Meanwhile, I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting for some movement by Jackson on an extension. Time is getting short before the 9th opens up the tampering window.

It's not too late for Lamar if he truly wants to improve and one thing both Monken and Declan have stated, rather emphatically, is that Lamar wants and needs to continue to learn and improve. The best outcome for the Ravens would be if Lamar negotiates an extension and continues to display a resolve to get better. Will it happen? I don't know, but he's earned the chance to try if he does those two things.

A much bigger problem that just might come about is what if Lamar and EDC can't negotiate an extension? Does Lamar sulk and become a problem child?? Do the Ravens believe they then have a cancer in the lockerroom? And then what do they do? Trade him? Cut him and eat the dead cap? What are the realistic viable options in that scenario?

He doesn't need to be as fast as he was a few years ago if he continues his development as a pocket passer this year who is mobile enough to pick up yardage on the ground when the opportunity presents itself. Josh Allen is big but isn't fast but he can pick his spots to run when needed. That is what I want to see Lamar accomplish.

I think he's got to complete the transition soon to pocket passer. I think he's got the ability to do it but just not sure how motivated he is to do it. Coaching here would be a big help. You're right about him being chased down from behind last year and a loss of speed. Not sure if it's all due to age and wear and tear or if his injuries hampered his quickness. The most important thing for Lamar right now, and for the Ravens, is for him to sign an extension that alleviates the cap hits.

You hit the nail on the head. If he can be more decisive about the timing and if the new coaching works out, he could have a really good year. One thing I will add is that he can't let himself get down when events don't go his way. He needs to be more even keeled during a game that will have it's ups and downs, I think he tends to get down on himself and that hurts his leadership and confidence.

There is some truth to that but it's not always been his fault...Andrews not making a crucial catch, etc. The team goes into a funk in the playoffs which I really can't explain except to point to coaching problems. Maybe those will be resolved now that Minter is HC. We shall see.

Yes he should be happy here but I think the near misses of going to the playoffs and then missing out on the SB may have taken a toll on him. He's from south Florida and may just want to be closer to his roots. Just a feeling. We'll know more by the middle of this month when we see if he's proactive about an extension.

OK...got it. Thanks! Interesting that they don't need Jackson's approval to do any of that. I wonder if that is standard NFL contract language or if someone on our team had the presence of mind to add it to the contract. I am very wary about Lamar's working something out with the team after what went down last go-round. I'm just not sure he wants to be here. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

OK, if 2028 and 2029 are already void years how much does 'dumping more cap charges into future years' add to out-year cap costs? By future years do they mean 2028 and 2029 or do they mean years beyond that?

Did he play at all after the injury in college? I know he comes highly regarded. I'm just a bit wary after us being burned so many times. I watched his results again at the combine....I will say he sure looks healthy.