oldno82

From the Ravens' website on the 2027 cap: Ravens Will Have Work to Do to Manage 2027 Salary Cap The Ravens are in good salary-cap shape for 2026, but there is work to be done to make the 2027 cap manageable. The restructuring of quarterback Lamar Jackson's contract opened up just under $40 million in cap space for this season, but it made his 2027 cap number rise from $74.5 million to $84.49 million. The Baltimore Banner’s Giana Han pointed out that other players also have significant cap numbers next year. "Two of the top three contracts remain just as high [next season]," Han wrote. "[Inside linebacker Roquan] Smith's cap hit stays steady at $32.7 million, while [defensive tackle Nnamdi] Madubuike's makes a small jump from $30.975 million to $31.475 million. It's unclear if Madubuike will return this season after suffering a season-ending neck injury early in 2025. "Meanwhile, safety Kyle Hamilton's cap hit more than doubles, from about $10.7 million to $26 million. [Left tackle Ronnie] Stanley's goes from about $9.8 million to over $24 million. Tight end Mark Andrews' goes from just under $7 million to about $14.7 million. Running back Derrick Henry's and defensive lineman Travis Jones' cap hits will also jump more than $10 million in 2027." Han noted that "being tight against the cap is the price to pay for stars." The Ravens have time to figure out how to make the 2027 cap work. The first domino that could fall is a contract extension for Jackson.

Well would you draft BPA or draft for need?

I hope we're concentrating on the offensive and defensive lines in the early rounds.

I think the draft is then a better option for another WR. Not in the first or second rounds but sometime in the 3rd or even later.

I hope we're not going to pursue AJ Brown for a first and third round pick. We need higher priority positions filled before another WR. Plus I don't like giving up a first rounder as part of a package for anybody other than a young franchise quarterback which we don't need this year.

Sounds like a Mekari-type. Jack of all trades and master of none.

Pundits change up mock draft 1st round predictions for Ravens. Spencer Fano new flavor of the month: https://www.baltimoreravens.com/video/mel-kiper-mock-draft-ravens-spencer-fano-offensive-lineman-final-drive.

Ravens signed FA C Danny Pinter:https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/ravens-danny-pinter-sign-center-free-agency.

Am I glad Warhop is gone? Definitely. I hold him responsible for the big drop in O-line performance after Joe D. died. I was quite surprised to see Monken picked him up in Cleveland. Our new line coach comes from Atlanta. He can't be any worse than what we had. In fact, things should improve with his mere presence alone though Atlanta's stats were pretty much the same as ours. Do we know anything about the guy?

Plus a power lineman should help the running game as well up the middle. I think it's drawback is on defending against quicker, mobile D=linemen on stunts and running to the outside.

So far as bringing Zeitler back, does he still have any gas left in the tank? The guy is 36 years old. I think I'd rather go with either a younger guy or draft somebody. "NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah noted that teams looking for starting-caliber interior offensive linemen won't necessarily have to use a first-round pick to get one. You can find quality starting interior OL on day 2 in this draft. Some of my favorites here: Bisontis (A&M) Pregnon (OR) Rutledge (GT) Dunker (Iowa) Hecht (K State) Jones (Iowa) — Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) March 15, 2026"

The fact that they let Fouts walk took me by surprise. Ya think it just slipped through the cracks during the Crosby mess? I think overall he had a better year than our place kicker. Of course Loop was in his first year and not an UFA. If you think Thorton is good, that's good enough for me since your recommendation of Monken was borne out.

Maybe Stonehouse from Syracuse? Ferguson-Reynolds from BYU averaged 49.7 yards per punt but that doesn't tell me anything about hang time. Thorton was named the best in the SEC. Eckley was a freshman, if that matters.

That's what I'm driving at.

Maybe a trade?

I think Rosengarten can be salvaged by improved coaching. We all know our line coach last year was a minus. This year they have a respected O-line coach who ought to be able to get Rosey back on track. We all thought Stanley was going to go down with an injury but it never happened. That doesn't mean it can't happen this year but we just might squeeze one more year out of him. Maybe we draft an OT with the 3rd pick...we've done that with success before. OG is a problem area. Again, though, 2 years ago Vorhees played pretty well before he crapped out under a different coach. Maybe he's salvageable too. A stud DT is a must. A C is a must, a G to play opposite Vorhees is a must (he might already be on the roster). Some of our needs can still be plugged with a FA...there are some O-linemen still unsigned. We won't solve the TE spot this year. CB is a problem that might not be solved this year. Some of these holes might also be filled with trades. EDC will have to prove his worth here but with 11 picks there should be a couple of opportunities. We'll have to see what happens. Right now I'm not sold on anything. We'll see how much better our team will be this year by OTA's. A good draft, a successful trade, and a couple more free agents for the O-line should help.

ESPN's highest rated C comes in at 60th overall in draft. Conner Lew from Auburn. I don't know a thing about him other than that.

He has had a history ankle injuries but if he's there in the 2nd I'd draft him too. But he's too risky for a day one selection.

Last year the O-line was so bad he was constantly under pressure and had very little time to throw from the pocket. They need to beef up that O-line or coach them better.

Reports that Caleb Banks broke his foot at the Combine and won't be football ready until June. I really liked this guy but we've taken enough risks and had failures with drafting injured 'potential' that never seems to get straightened out so I hope we look elsewhere. Damn!

I had been thinking along these lines myself, and here they are off the Ravens website: "Being teammates with Hendrickson should be a positive experience for second-year outside linebacker Mike Green. Hendrickson has plenty of tools in his bag, and Green has plenty of talent and the opportunity to learn from one of the best."

All Lamar needs to do is throw, buy time, and scramble. I think they should really discourage him from running downfield and from having defined qb run plays anymore.

Is that true of Lamar as well?

Right now I am wary of DeCosta. I want to see how he does with this year's draft.

There are some media outlets, SI among them, saying he would be viable for the Ravens, but most of the latest buzz seems to involve him going to SFO. By the way, a nod to Tsyl and Grub: I was mistaken that DeCosta was only daydreaming of Maxx and Trey on the same line as apparently he was serious about that happening. That would have been a devastating D line for sure if they go ahead and draft a stud DT. We wouldn't have had much left for the Offensive line though except through the draft. The $40 mil of cap space the team got from the restructure of Jackson's contract really opened possibilities up.