Eisenberg responds to Conspiracy Theorys

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John does a great job getting to the bottom line and truth on why Reed, Pollard and Ayambadejo were not retained.

I know I pasted too much of the article, but it was so well written. I suggest going on their site and reading it.

 

 

 

By my count, the Brendon Ayanbadejo conspiracy controversy lasted approximately 26 minutes. That’s about how long it took the Ravens’ former special teams ace to distance himself from a newspaper story in which he said the Ravens released him at least partly because of his view on gay rights.

It wasn’t true, he knew it wasn’t true, and when the story went viral, Ayanbadejo immediately corrected himself on Twitter and elsewhere. Case closed.

As a veteran, Ayanbadejo certainly understands that the Ravens, like most teams, base personnel decisions almost entirely on a blend of performance, age and salary, retaining the players with the right mix while parting ways with those they feel they can replace with someone younger, cheaper and possibly better.

I’m not going to say other factors aren’t occasionally considered, such as when a player’s off-field behavior becomes problematic. It happens. Some players are deemed not worthy of the problems they create.

But this is pro football, not a cotillion or debate class. In the vast majority of cases, the only thing that matters is whether your team believes you can help it win.

 

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The Ravens let Reed walk because they set a price they were willing to pay him based on what they thought he would bring to table at age 35, and the Houston Texans exceeded that price … by a lot.

Yes, Reed did exasperate team officials at times with his willful independence and unpredictable opinions, but who cares? The Ravens kept him for years in spite of all that because he was an All-Pro with countless positive attributes and could help them win. They let him go when they decided they could replicate his contributions with someone younger and cheaper. That’s all that mattered.

As for Pollard, yes, he was another strong personality, but it is way overstating the case to say he was such a distraction that he had to go. Huh? He walked around with a smile on his face, earned a media Good Guy award in 2011, and belonged to an inner circle of players who counseled quite peaceably with Harbaugh on various issues.

The Ravens know they’re going to miss Pollard’s hard hitting, but after giving up a ton of big pass plays in 2012, they decided they wanted a secondary that is younger, cheaper and faster. That alone cost Pollard his spot.

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Eisenberg-We-Really-Supposed-To-Believe-Conspiracies/c13e477c-380d-463a-9a3b-8b562e326194

 

It wasn't about personality and ego conflicts with Harbaugh. I think that can be one of the factors in player evaluations. For example the Ravens have an image...a vision of the type of player who they want. We hear it all the time: "He's a Raven". If you don't fit into that, then you don't wear the uniform.

 

Where I got lost at times during these and other departures was figuring out how much age, speed, and the Cap figured into these decisions, while still tied to my emotional attachment to certain players (Reed, Boldin and Pollard). I did not want to see them go.

I also do not want to see the Ravens get old, slow and in Cap Hell.

The time to "let go" came fast and sudden and...Oh Well...take a deep breath and move on.