SpearSrai

And do we know how much that is?

One of the positive aspects of the free-agent signing period is that it gives fans another offseason opportunity to pull for their team to upgrade its personnel. It is very much like the draft in that it engenders a lot of emotional responses, but there is one huge difference -- free agents often have a track record NFL fans are familiar with. This familiarity can lead fans to think the new acquisition will be a panacea, especially if the team in question is a contender that might be a single dominant player away from making a Super Bowl run. When that caliber of signing is made, it can lead to unrealistic expectations. For proof, one needs to look no further than a Baltimore Sun fan poll regarding the Ravens trade for Anquan Boldin. Ninety-one percent of the 2,880 fans who voted on the poll as of this writing chose the "Yes, Boldin could be the missing piece the Ravens need at wide receiver" option. Only 9 percent of those polled chose the "He's not a difference-maker" or the "It was a solid move but they gave up too much to get him" options. The problem with this line of thinking is that it assumes Boldin is the kind of game-breaking threat the Ravens need to open up their passing game. A closer look at the numbers indicates this simply isn't the case. Boldin's statistical history actually strongly leans toward his being a possession receiver. Over the past two years, he has seen only 66 vertical targets (a "vertical target" is defined as a ball thrown 11 or more yards downfield). That is a terribly low number, especially for a workhorse receiver. To put this into perspective, consider that out of the 47 receivers who have seen at least 150 total targets the past two years, only five have seen fewer than 66 vertical passes. Boldin's vertical pass percentage (the percentage of his overall targets that are "vertical") is even worse. Of that same group of 47, only Antwaan Randle El and Wes Welker had a lower vertical pass percentage than Boldin's 24.5 percent. His mark was even lower than the totals posted by noted possession specialists Bobby Wade (31.6 percent), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (32 percent) and Davone Bess (33 percent). If that wasn't enough to reconsider his status as a game-breaking wideout, it is also worth noting that only 10 of those 66 vertical targets were of the deep (20-29 yards) or bomb (30-plus yards) variety, and only three of those 10 were tallied in 2009. What these totals indicate is that Boldin has a short/medium-pass skill set similar to the one that Derrick Mason gave Baltimore over the years. That makes this much more of a lateral move than an upgrade, but one that GM Ozzie Newsome smartly made at low price. http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=4971373

T.O. used to be that good. There was even a period where he was probably the best receiver (when Moss was in Oakland, maybe). But not right now... That said, I'd love to have T.O. and Boldin out there together.

So is the reason we're not pursuing Bryant and Bodden that we can't afford them, that they aren't interested, or something else? Because as far as I'm concerned, if we added one of those guys - plus two solid draft picks - we'd be one of the Super Bowl favorites.

And Bannon was a RFA? Meaning we could have matched their offer?

So does this, in any way, affect who we can or cannot sign? I don't know what types of signings affect the "Final 8" rule.

There's actually a question on The Sun's website asking if the Boldin trade is a good move for the Ravens. The choices are basically "Yes", "No", and "Solid, but we gave up too much." Whoever came up with that question should be fired. I can see if we gave up a 1st (or even a 2nd) for him, but a 3rd and what is essentially trading down from our 4th is nowhere close to "too much". And "no" isn't even worth discussing. So I've come up with a better question. One that I don't think I can even answer. What would make you happier this year... A) Anquan Boldin making the Pro Bowl as a Raven, OR B) Ben Roethlisberger being exposed as a serial rapist. (And......go.)

Or, more accurately, he plays exactly like a (non-receiver) Raven. Which is the problem.

We should definitely be going after Bodden... he's a tough guy and would fit right in with us. I have no idea why we're not pursuing him.

High-fives are pretty rare in "Shutter Island."

So who do we use our exception on, now? Dunta Robinson? *drools* No, but seriously. What are our options?

Okay, so it's nearly official. Boldin and Walter will be Ravens.

Say whaaaaaaaaat?

So basically we'll get back the same pick we used on him, only earlier in the round.

This is 100% correct. I challenge all of you guys to name the top 15 backs, and we'll see where McGahee falls in. It's nowhere near the top at this point in time, despite a few decent runs last season (and one amazing stiff-arm). I just hope San Diego was as fooled as you guys were.

The reason we didn't have good offensive linemen was more because we were using our first rounders on other positions. When we draft linemen in the first round, they work out. And rookie offensive tackles have historically been able to come in and produce right away, so if a team is willing to give up a top 20 pick for Gaither (which I doubt) then good for them, and then we could decide what pick to use on his replacement.

How can you tell how they set up the video?

I never understood why everyone assumed we'd tender him a first and third. He's not that good... he's big, yeah, but I think we've been judging him based on the fact that we got him for a 5th round supplemental pick, rather than as a star tackle. By the time Oher, an actual first rounder, has Gaither's experience, he'll be head-and-shoulders better than Gaither. If he isn't already.

25 years old, three 100-reception seasons in a row, with different quarterbacks... very, very tempting. There's no way we could expect anything close to that from Benn, Thomas, Tate, or any guy we took at #25... and he's only a few years older than those guys anyway. Without getting into the intangibles, this guy is exactly what you hope your top draft pick turns into in 2 or 3 years, except he's ready to go now. *sigh* I'd have to do it.

Okay, but why can't you line them up based on when the player made his first movement? Surely you could tell that, with all of the cameras they use nowadays.

This doesn't seem nearly as restrictive as I thought it was (at least for all but the final 4 teams). Do we normally sign that many guys to contracts over 4 million anyways? 1 big signing and a few smaller ones seems to be about what we'd need, anyway...

Here's a cool vido that may mean that Taylor mays ran in the 4.2's after all. At first I was skeptical, but after you watch it, it's hard to argue that the guy definitely came in under 4.4. http://www.usctrojans.com/blog/2010/03/a-flawed-40-time-for-mays.html

Without getting too far into it, I'd be a fan of bringing in Owens. Not because I like the guy, but because I think it would help out offense (on the field at least.)

"The Ravens will have to be selective buyers in free agency. As one of the final eight teams in an uncapped season, the Ravens can sign one unrestricted free agent for $5.8 million in year one of the contract before one of their free agents signs elsewhere." This is news to me... so what exactly is the final 8 rule? I had no idea there were allowances in it...

We talked about this a week or two ago, when Cromartie hit the trading block. My conclusion was that there was virtually no chance of it happening, but that it would be a huge trade for us.