JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
Wolfe is aptly named, that mf is a dog and a half. I have been so happy that we got away from brockers and added Wolfe instead, he’s been carrying our run defense for basically a month
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Signings, Cuts, Trades
- Thread starter RavensMania
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Wolfe is aptly named, that mf is a dog and a half. I have been so happy that we got away from brockers and added Wolfe instead, he’s been carrying our run defense for basically a month
We have a lot of low profile guys I like this year as fa. Snead, mcphee, jimmy smith, ward, ellis to name a few. Will be interesting to see what we do- we obviously need wr help but we need a higher pick in the secondary, later picks to reinforce the d line, and probably some likebacker help. Not to mention a te. At least rb and the o line is pencil set in
It really is interesting how things have turned out. A lot of these guys I would have been willing to let walk, but they've all really turned a corner. Would think with the economic uncertainty though, they may remain cheap so it might not be too terribly difficult to retain a lot of these guys.
Important Pieces:
Derek Wolfe
Yannick Ngakoue/Matt Judon
Tyus Bowser
These guys should be the priority. Looks like talks have already begun with Wolfe. Bowser has vaulted his way up to this tier with a stellar season in coverage and I'd be hard pressed to let him go. I still think you have to retain one of Ngakoue or Judon - I'd definitely lean Ngakoue from a pure pass rushing standpoint, especially if you keep Bowser, but not gonna count Judon out.
Cheap Keeps if you can:
Willie Snead
Jimmy Smith
Anthony Levine
Pernell McPhee
Morgan Cox
Jihad Ward
Justin Ellis
I think Jihad Ward is the only one here that might be due a raise from his 2020 salary, so none of these guys should be too terribly difficult to keep if you want to. Most should be one year pacts at or near the minimum, with Snead and Jimmy probably costing a bit more than that. If you want them and they want to be here, I see no reason for any of these guys to not be back.
Don't Really Care:
Matt Skura
Dez Bryant
Robert Griffin
Chris Moore
DJ Fluker
Tramon Williams
Luke Willson
Jordan Richards
Would love to see Dez work his way up to the second tier but just hasn't really had a chance yet. You could argue him there for the minimum but I don't think they're super attached either. Everyone else here I really don't care about. Maybe they'd be willing to give Skura another chance to work his way back but again, do we really care?
the price for Bowser is going to be super interesting - his value is definitely highest in Baltimore and he doesnt have massive pass rush production over his career in terms of sacks and he's not a middle linebacker
the hope has to be (for the ravens) that other teams just aren't interested in him and we can re-sign him on a depreciated deal
obviously tyus will want to maximise his money but I'd be surprised if the largest deal isn't in Baltimore
starting to think this way a little bit too - with the salary cap the way it is and the franchise tags being what they are on judon and ngakoue (have to go up by x% that's locked in at this point)
obviously it would leave us thin on the EDGE but I think this is a fairly realistic possibility that both Ngakoue and Judon leave and bring us back a couple of 3rd round comps
JAAM
Hall of Famer
We can’t let a premiere edge rusher in his prime in Yannick leave. I’d be absolutely livid. He only has 1 sack with us but our defense is night and day compared to Minny’s and he’s getting so much pressure. Give him a
full off-season and he’ll be an absolute monster. We NEED to retain him. 3rd round picks are fucking useless here historically
I’m pretty shocked you guys are even entertaining the idea of letting him walk
full off-season and he’ll be an absolute monster. We NEED to retain him. 3rd round picks are fucking useless here historically
I’m pretty shocked you guys are even entertaining the idea of letting him walk
Willbacker
Ravens Ring of Honor
Tbh I wouldn't be surprized if one or both turn out to be 4th not 3rd rd comps. Depends on what kind of salaries are being divvied out.
idk i just feel like Judon's a better player than him in our defence right now but Judon's gonna be more expensive by virtue of their tag numbers this year
but honestly at this point I think I'd rather re-up with Judon than Ngakoue - Ngakoue's a good player and maybe it'll click with an offseason but that's a bit of a gamble
Willbacker
Ravens Ring of Honor
If he's gonna keep doing those wide 9 outside rushes with nothing else then what use is he. Part of that is design but he needs to stunt or develop some sort of spin or bullrush move. I missed the Cleveland game ( I hate MNF football ) but thats what I've seen.
JAAM
Hall of Famer
Judon is gone in my opinion. I’m confident we will tag Yannick considering the capital needed to get him if we can’t reach an extension. I’m pretty sure he’s in our long term plans, and everyone and their mom already knows how I feel about Judon
JAAM
Hall of Famer
He has a great spin move and has violent hands. Haven’t seen much bullrush but he’s been doing well in the run game. I’d like to see his pressure/hit numbers since he got here. They have to be high as hell. He’s consistently wreaking havoc
for reference, sheldon richardson's less than 12m/yr deal got the Vikings a 3rd round comp pick in the 2020 draft - i imagine that number will go up this year and maybe again but it's hard to imagine the number going high enough that it would put either ngakoue or judon below the 3rd round comp line
because tbh if either of them are below that money then they're probably gonna get paid by the ravens instead
given what both are being paid this year i find it unlikely either wouldn't get paid even with the lower than hoped sack totals
i mean he does already have a spin move and a speed-to-power move
but his best move is still his cross-chop
i wouldnt say hes been doing well in the run game - id say he's occasionally done well and also sometimes completely taken himself out of the play and lost the edge
JAAM
Hall of Famer
Same thing Judon does, but Judon isn’t as good of a pass rusher lol. I just highly doubt we let Yannick walk because of what we gave up for him
possibly but i imagine we were partly willing to give up the 3 for him because if it didnt work out and he left in free agency we'd likely get a 3 back as a comp pick a year later
Willbacker
Ravens Ring of Honor
Just seems like every time I notice him behind the QB. Not saying I haven't missed some with these weird nights they been playing and my work schedule. Sure gonna be nice to have a regular game against Jax but it sure bums me out I missed perhaps the best regular season game ever.
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
Dangerous game to be playing, in my opinion. Remember, in order to get comp picks, you have to net qualifying free agent losses.
Ravens are certainly going to be needing to sign some FAs this offseason to fill some of their holes. So the only way to make sure you get a comp pick back is to make sure you're not signing a lot of guys.
Realistically, while we have a large FA class, I'm not sure many of them are going to qualify for comp picks. Its early to tell obviously, but like its basically Yannick, Judon, and Bowser who would actually fetch high or decent price tags on the market, and I'm assuming we will keep at least 1 of those guys.
Other than that, I'm not sure where the comp picks are coming from. Snead, Jimmy maybe, but that's assuming a) we let them walk (I think Snead gets re-signed) and b) they have a decent market. Jimmy's market was terrible last year, and I can't see how that's increased. Even Wolfe would be suspect... he's only making $3M this year, and while I think he's played well, I'm not sure his market would increase. A $3M free agent lost is like a fringe 6th/7th round comp pick, at best.
I think a lot of our FAs leaving are going to be roster minimum or just barely above roster minimum type players, meaning they're not going to qualify most likely.
If its me, I'm deciding between Judon and Yannick, letting the other walk, and then letting Bowser hit the market to determine value. If somebody is going to give him like $10M+ or something absurd, I'll gladly take a 4th or 5th round pick for him.
LSURavenFan
Veteran
Judon or Ngakoue is such a tough call. I think you need to keep one.
The Ravens pass rush isn't good and I don't think they can afford to lose both.
The Ravens pass rush isn't good and I don't think they can afford to lose both.
It's such a tough call, but I'd have to lean Ngakoue if I had to pick one of the 2. I really respect what Judon does outside of just pass rush responsibilities, but it's been so long since we had a guy that wreaks havoc in the backfield consistently. Ngakoue might not have the sack numbers here but he's consistently around the QB and I think that's more valuable to us, especially if you can also re-sign Bowser, who can fill some of that Judon role.