Money

Well...the cap increased again (another $2mil if I'm not mistaken), so worst case they can put the tag on him and continue to work to sign him long term. They cannot let him go.

It's useless to try and argue with a "special" person. You'll figure that out eventually.

Correct. They can't escape the dead money (which is entirely made up of what was already paid to Rice). It's going to cost the Ravens an additional $5.5mil against the cap to cut Rice...plain and simple. The Patriots took a huge cap hit when they cut Hernandez. It's the same thing.

That's why I don't give an ounce of credibility to the video of a video that was leaked.

I'm not sure that bad teams remain bad simply because they don't have enough thugs. If this were the case, there were at least a couple of Bengals' teams that should have gone undefeated.

I don't know. There are some "choirboys" out there that are fantastic players. Not sure what thuggish behavior has to do with performance on the field.

I don't know how much this will help when the rest of the teams see the same increase. Where it might help is giving them a little more flexibility in using the franchise tag. Who this really helps is the current crop of UFAs.

As I stated in my post above...he would count $16m against the cap if they keep him 2015. If they release him they save $8.5m (meaning $7.5m in dead money).

It boils down to this for me...I'm just not a big fan of sinking significant money into players on the downside of their careers. The Ravens typically aren't big fans either. They have certainly shown they are willing to part ways with popular veterans the last few years. Hell...they even let Ray test the market before he ultimately signed his last deal with us. They have always maintained that it's better to get rid of a player a year too soon than a year too late. They obviously believe in Suggs. Whether this was a good move for them remains to be seen. If Suggs gives them two more productive seasons, it's a win for me. It is going to be very interesting to see what they do with Webb and Ngata next year. Webb counts $11m and Ngata counts $16m against the cap. Unless Webb rebounds and has a great year, they will ask him to restructure. If he refuses, they will cut him and save $4m. Ngata will need to be restructured regardless of his year. They would save $8.5m against the cap by cutting him. They are stuck with Rice for 2 more years.

Where are these numbers coming from? He's guaranteed $16m and if he's here 4 years, add in another $8.6m in base salary. I do get your point about the dead money being the same after two years as it would be if we had released him now. Basically if we get 2 productive years out of him, it's a win. If we get a repeat of 2012/2013 though, it was a bad move.

Wow. You think Suggs has five more years in him? Personally, I'll be happy with two as long as they are productive.

I just don't think Ozzie would part with 4th and 5th round draft picks to rent Monroe for 2/3 of a season. Everyone knows how much Ozzie covets draft picks. I want him signed long-term, but I'm okay with the tag if that doesn't get worked out.

Good lord. That's a scary proposition. Not quite the TE trifecta I want going into next season. The Ravens will not overpay Pitta. If he ends up walking, there will definitely be other affordable options. This is also a deep TE draft class. Given the fact that it is also a very deep WR class, there are weapons to be had which is why I'm hoping this draft is just as tailored to improving the offense as last year's was to improving the defense.

...Reed had $50k cash in his front seat???

I get it. I understand why many people like to root for him. He is definitely a high effort individual and an "overachiever". I really do wish good things for him. This doesn't mean that I feel the Ravens made a mistake letting him go though. Who knows...maybe he ends up being a Priest Holmes. I just don't like the odds of that happening.

Who the fuck was talking to you troll???

Exactly. Hopefully the Ravens have learned to avoid the bargain basement deals when it comes to the OL.

Solid what? The argument is whether he's starting caliber. He's obviously not.

Not when the sample size is much smaller than the starting RBs in the league. Hell...Andre Ellington had an 80-yard run and averaged 5.5 yds/carry for the season. I guess he's All-Pro material in your mind. Whatever...keep the 80-yard run in if you like. If you feel 150 carries for 566 yards is starting RB material, you are welcome to your opinion. Thankfully, the Ravens don't agree.

Excuse? Where did I use an excuse? TB's backup RB ran for 4.9 yds/carry. Rainey ran for 3.9 yds/carry. The game before James broke his ankle, he had 28 carries for 158 yards. Rainey obviously is nowhere close to being in Doug Martin's league. So Rainey was the 3rd best RB for TB last year.

A. I have no idea what game you are talking about. The longest run of his career was 82 yards. B. Actually if you do take away his two biggest runs from that game, he still went for 28/150 which is over 5 yards/carry. C. You take away his entire 295-yard game and he still averaged close to 5 yards per carry that season. D. It actually cracks me up that people think Bobby Rainey is a starting caliber RB in the NFL.

He needed to be released twice and have 2 RBs suffer season-ending injuries to start. Even with those two good games, he still averaged a full yard per carry less than TB's backup (Mike James). You take his 80-yard run out of the equation, he ran for 3.3 yds/carry the rest of his attempts. That is not starting material. He's a good kid and very talented (just to be in the NFL). He's just not starting material. The Ravens already had Rice and Pierce on the roster. They were keeping two FBs. Letting Rainey go was far from a mistake.

No way. This is GerRastaMo's time to "shine". If you remember, GerRastaMo was nowhere to be found on this board during the playoff run. He showed back up when Flacco signed his contract and Boldin was traded. If he can't bitch and moan and do his best Chicken Little impersonation, he won't post.

So? What's wrong with utilizing weapons? Darren Spoles and Pierre Thomas combined for 148 receptions from dump off Brees. The Broncos RB rotation combined for 92 receptions from dump off Manning. Shane Vereen caught 47 passes from dump off Brady in only 8 games.

Crav...what are you talking about? They have Doug Martin who is one of the best RBs in the league. He tore his labrum and missed half the year. Their backup then broke his ankle. Rainey was a body to finish out the year. Rainey is not a starting caliber RB in this league. Never has been, never will be.