Signings, Cuts, Trades

[D1City55]

I mentioned the Skins may end trying to trade or even cutting him to clear up the 11m in cap space. Sure they have plenty of space, but could be looking to rebuild and defensive line assuming they draft Chase Young is one of the positions they have talent. I'd also like Kerrigan on this team and would end up being a classic underrated Ravens signing.

Getting him and retaining Judon could create a really good duo. I still think Kerrigan is among the elite pass rushers. I'm putting that down year behind him in which he missed four games. His body of work is so impressive.

 

[D1City55]

Problem for us, I think, will be the guaranteed money. People talk about the size of ZaDarius' deal... he got $20M guaranteed, which was his signing bonus. That's 30% of his contract value. Like you could sign Judon to a $100M deal, but if only like $30M of it is guaranteed, it means nothing.

My opinion is Judon will do quite a bit better in the guaranteed money department, which is when I think you'll see the Ravens getting priced out.

What's quite shocking to me is while the team says Judon is a high priority, they also already hedged themselves by effectively saying "it will be difficult to sign him". Generally speaking, the Ravens have done a great job of keeping core players they've wanted, and are willing to open up the wallet for certain guys. The fact that a team with like $35M in cap space, and the ability to create at least $5-10M more, is already hedging against losing its priority resign, means they already think they're going to get priced out.

Good point, we do see teams who pry away FAs some times play it safe on the guaranteed money. I like the concept since you keep the player motivated as if he's always in a contract year.

I don't think we can read too much into what they say time to time. The team can be unpredictable at times and I can see us being in trouble with the guaranteed money, but I think it all depends on what other guys sign for. I don't know if Judon will be the first edge player to sign and it all depends on how the Ravens value that particular player and how replaceable they are.

I will say this though, losing him would be a huge blow. The Ravens lack more depth then ever before at the position and with Judon being a SAM, it's going to be very difficult to not only find him but find someone who can do the things that the team asks of Judon. SAM's are hard enough to replace, team was desperate for Bowser to carve out a role there but he's inconsistent in rushing the passer and against the run. ATM, he's not your ideal #1 guy and neither would a rookie be unless you seriously hit in the draft.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

We’re going to be aggressive this offseason, regardless of if it’s a trade or signing. I have a good feeling. Probably going to re-open talks with the Jets about Prez as well. Bookmark this y’all.

Who tf is prez?

 

[JAAM]

Who tf is prez?

Jamal Adams

 

[RavensMania]

Who tf is prez?

Jamal Adams

I was wondering if this is who you were referring too.

 

[allblackraven]

Who tf is prez?

 

[rossihunter2]

Problem for us, I think, will be the guaranteed money. People talk about the size of ZaDarius' deal... he got $20M guaranteed, which was his signing bonus. That's 30% of his contract value. Like you could sign Judon to a $100M deal, but if only like $30M of it is guaranteed, it means nothing.

My opinion is Judon will do quite a bit better in the guaranteed money department, which is when I think you'll see the Ravens getting priced out.

What's quite shocking to me is while the team says Judon is a high priority, they also already hedged themselves by effectively saying "it will be difficult to sign him". Generally speaking, the Ravens have done a great job of keeping core players they've wanted, and are willing to open up the wallet for certain guys. The fact that a team with like $35M in cap space, and the ability to create at least $5-10M more, is already hedging against losing its priority resign, means they already think they're going to get priced out.

it also suggests that they arent thinking about using the franchise tag - the way harbs talked about it was as if he would be hard to keep but if you stick the tag on him then he's guaranteed to be here - but it does suggest that harbs at least initially doesnt want to pay judon that sort of money...

either that or we're reading too much into a comment made 2 weeks before any of the senior personnel start talking about this stuff in orlando with steve bisciotti

 

[Grim]

Shaq Lawson might be available in FA

Forgot all about him. He would be a nice signing as well and should cost less than a guy like Judon. I think it would be good to get him and another guy too if we could.

 

[rossihunter2]

forgive me for being confused about our cap but how in the hell don't we have more cap than we do ( even taking into acount poential cuts)

We're only really paying big to Earl, Marcus and Brandon at this point..

how the hell are we still in the bottom third in cap space?

partly its because we've done a whole lot of re-signing during the year - marcus peters took about 15m off our available cap space for 2020 because of the flat structure of the deal - add in the smaller deals for LJ Fort etc. and it eats in

we also have the ability to make nearly 7m extra in cap room by getting rid of TJ which is a given

so despite being in the bottom 3rd of the league in available cap space we've got more effective cap space than we've had in a long time and also more cap flexibility (because of the lack of dead money on our cap) than we've had in a while too

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Prezbo. The inventor of the deskpop

 

[Edgar]

Forgot all about him. He would be a nice signing as well and should cost less than a guy like Judon. I think it would be good to get him and another guy too if we could.

I recall a bunch of us were high on him coming out. Both he and Jordan Phillips of the Bills are FA.

 

[airconteka]

it also suggests that they arent thinking about using the franchise tag - the way harbs talked about it was as if he would be hard to keep but if you stick the tag on him then he's guaranteed to be here - but it does suggest that harbs at least initially doesnt want to pay judon that sort of money...

either that or we're reading too much into a comment made 2 weeks before any of the senior personnel start talking about this stuff in orlando with steve bisciotti

I think it's more about what Harbs can say given there are contract negotiations to play out.

 

[rmcjacket23]

it also suggests that they arent thinking about using the franchise tag - the way harbs talked about it was as if he would be hard to keep but if you stick the tag on him then he's guaranteed to be here - but it does suggest that harbs at least initially doesnt want to pay judon that sort of money...

either that or we're reading too much into a comment made 2 weeks before any of the senior personnel start talking about this stuff in orlando with steve bisciotti

And I generally agree with this. I think fans generally think the franchise tag is a great idea... I normally think its basically a last resort. One year deal that in no way guarantees the player signs long term, its at basically the top of market value, and there's no maneuverability in the contract terms to create cap flexibility.

A franchise tag for Judon, which will likely cost somewhere around $16-16.5M next year, would take up roughly 45-50% of the teams available salary cap space for the year currently. We could create maybe $10M more by cutting a few players, but the reality is that if you franchise Judon and then resign Pierce or extend somebody like Stanley, you're quickly going to find yourself out of cap space. And all you've done is retain players... you haven't improved many of the position you need to improve.

For me, I'm making an offer to Judon, and if he walks, he walks. I'm not using the franchise tag on him. I don't think anybody in the league thinks he's a top 5 OLB in football. Just because he's more valuable to the Ravens than probably anybody else, and just because we have practically no replacements on the roster currently, doesn't mean you hamstring yourself and pay them whatever they want.

 

[RavensMania]

And I generally agree with this. I think fans generally think the franchise tag is a great idea... I normally think its basically a last resort. One year deal that in no way guarantees the player signs long term, its at basically the top of market value, and there's no maneuverability in the contract terms to create cap flexibility.

A franchise tag for Judon, which will likely cost somewhere around $16-16.5M next year, would take up roughly 45-50% of the teams available salary cap space for the year currently. We could create maybe $10M more by cutting a few players, but the reality is that if you franchise Judon and then resign Pierce or extend somebody like Stanley, you're quickly going to find yourself out of cap space. And all you've done is retain players... you haven't improved many of the position you need to improve.

For me, I'm making an offer to Judon, and if he walks, he walks. I'm not using the franchise tag on him. I don't think anybody in the league thinks he's a top 5 OLB in football. Just because he's more valuable to the Ravens than probably anybody else, and just because we have practically no replacements on the roster currently, doesn't mean you hamstring yourself and pay them whatever they want.

I agree with everything you have said. The one caveat is If we extend Stanley it will most likely not start until next season.

 

[rmcjacket23]

I agree with everything you have said. The one caveat is If we extend Stanley it will most likely not start until next season.

True, but that's typically not really relevant.

If you extend him this year, whatever bonus payout he gets is going to kick in immediately, so you'll start prorating that immediately. You don't have to alter his salary at all, but if he has any sort of signing bonus or roster bonus, that will have an impact on current year.

So in Stanley's case, its in their best interest to start it now. He's going to sign for probably at least $18M a year, and his cap hit for 2020 under the option is only $12.8M. It would be highly disappointing to sign him to an extension this year and have his cap hit stay the same or go down. That would be a bad mistake in terms of cap management.

If it were me, I'd be offering like a 4 year, $75M extension, that would keep him here for the next five years. I'd keep his $12.8M salary as is, and I'd give him something like a $20-25M signing bonus. You'd then pickup $4-5M of that this year, pushing his cap hit up to around $17M.

That way you've got a much flatter structure over the length of the deal, making it easier to dump him later if he doesn't perform, and you're only losing like $4-5M in cap space this year that isn't already accounted for.

The overall question I have for this offseason is how much urgency the Ravens are feeling to extend these guys. Stanley is the obvious one, but theoretically, he can be under team control for at least two more years, via the 5th year option in 2020 and a franchise tag in 2021. I'm obviously not a fan of using the tag, but the reality is that in 2021 the OL tag would probably be the neighborhood of $17M. That would be at or below the market value for Stanley currently, who's clearly a top 5 or better LT in the league at this point. So if you're the Ravens, you frankly may not have that much urgency in getting an extension this year, because you can control him for at least two more years.

Same thing with Marlon... under team control for dirt cheap in 2020, 5th year option in 2021, franchise tag available in 2022. He'll get market value sooner rather than later, but with 3 years of team control, is there the urgency to get it done?

The only real urgency I would be seeing is to sign these guys before the price goes up. Stanley is likely a $18M a year player now. Two years from now... north of $20M, easily.

My opinion is they'll wait until the 5th year option year to negotiate with both of these guys. That means Stanley this year, Marlon next year.

 

[allblackraven]

 

[rmcjacket23]

Based on everything I'm reading, I don't think there's an expectation that he'll ever actually hit the FA market.

 

[Sami84]

I say we go after Armstead and Shaq Lawson. Armstead will replace Pierce. Lawson will replace Judon. Both younger.

 

[rossihunter2]

Based on everything I'm reading, I don't think there's an expectation that he'll ever actually hit the FA market.

which is a shame because he clearly doesnt want to stay in jacksonville

 

[Davesta]

which is a shame because he clearly doesnt want to stay in jacksonville

He needs to hire AB’s social media consultant. Find a way to get out of Jacksonville like AB got out of Oakland lol