Signings, Cuts, Trades

[rossihunter2]

Sorry, not feeling an oft-injured Watkins at all. Screams desperation to me. If he signs for cheap (which he better) then whatever, but we better be aggressive in the draft for another WR, preferably in the 1st. We’re getting roasted on social media. Poor Lamar

i really dont see why - i dont understand why people dont seem to like sammy

people talking about him like he's gonna somehow miss 24 games in a 16 game season... his worst year in terms of availability he still played 8 games...

and during KC's playoff run in 2018 and 2019 he was the chiefs' leading receiver in both playoff runs - which is when we've struggled most

 

[rossihunter2]

Nick Korte said that anything under $10M would cancel out Jihad Ward, so I think we're in the clear and really only losing a 7th.

Would think a guy like Dunlap as a non-comp player would be a priority should we sign Watkins.

do we know that jihad is definitely counting? if so that's a massive help because the longer this period goes on the less and less likely it is that snead is gonna count

 

[Tyler]

Watkins and Hollywood at 1 and 2 going into the draft is a MUCH better position than Hollywood and Boykin.

best thing about Watkins is he is a legitimate nfl wr and not just some 22 year old athletic guy attempting to play wr in the nfl, he actually knows what he’s doing and can run the routes, pick up the playbook, separate, and catch the ball.

I remember watching Watkins when he was a BEAST at Clemson, and we were dreaming of the possibility of him falling to us. We might get our wish after all. It’s crazy to think about how good he was vs. the career he’s actually had.

 

[JAAM]

i really dont see why - i dont understand why people dont seem to like sammy

people talking about him like he's gonna somehow miss 24 games in a 16 game season... his worst year in terms of availability he still played 8 games...

and during KC's playoff run in 2018 and 2019 he was the chiefs' leading receiver in both playoff runs - which is when we've struggled most

I deleted my post lol. Was extremely pessimistic and I’m trying to remain positive. Is it too farfetched that if we add Sammy, I’d still want at least two more NFL caliber WRs not named Boykin? Like I’m really trying to push him down the depth chart

 

[Simba]

do we know that jihad is definitely counting? if so that's a massive help because the longer this period goes on the less and less likely it is that snead is gonna count

Yep $2.5 meets the threshold. Might not get a comp pick if he falls below 32 but at least qualifies for the cancellation piece of it

 

[JAAM]

Even Jeff Z said he’d be underwhelmed with a Watkins signing lol

 

[QuothTheRaven]

We simply have to sign Watkins now. If we don't, there's a very real danger of signing Golden Tate.

 

[Simba]

Even Jeff Z said he’d be underwhelmed with a Watkins signing lol

I think it's underwhelming compared to the other possibilities, but he's still a clear upgrade over Boykin at this juncture. I don't think he solves the WR problem but he at least makes the position better.

 

[QuothTheRaven]

I deleted my post lol. Was extremely pessimistic and I’m trying to remain positive. Is it too farfetched that if we add Sammy, I’d still want at least two more NFL caliber WRs not named Boykin? Like I’m really trying to push him down the depth chart

Think that's a big ask unless you are including the draft? Money probably dictates that anyone we could afford would be below Watkins on the depth chart anyway.

 

[ChainedBird]

Overthecap reckons we have $12.5m left. Minus the rookie salaries given our current picks and using the top 51 rule gives $10.8m. Minus a couple for EDC emergency mid season signings and we're looking at about $8.8m spending money. Makes sense that our Juju offer was about that!

Still, I prefer getting Watkins if it means we can get a decent vet pass rusher as well. I'll take the incremental wr improvement any day for our funky offense if it means we can pick up a C day one of the draft instead (who could say no to having 2 stud Humphreys in our roster?)

 

[Simba]

Overthecap reckons we have $12.5m left. Minus the rookie salaries given our current picks and using the top 51 rule gives $10.8m. Minus a couple for EDC emergency mid season signings and we're looking at about $8.8m spending money. Makes sense that our Juju offer was about that!

Still, I prefer getting Watkins if it means we can get a decent vet pass rusher as well. I'll take the incremental wr improvement any day for our funky offense if it means we can pick up a C day one of the draft instead (who could say no to having 2 stud Humphreys in our roster?)

I think the bolded is a big thing here, as well as what comes after it. If you can fill the holes at WR and OLB with at least passable play, you don't have to reach for any specific position in the draft. If OL, WR, OLB, FS, whatever are the BPA at the time, you can take really any of those positions and not feel like you've left a gaping hole elsewhere. You at least have NFL quality options everywhere if you secure those 2 spots.

 

[RavensMania]

bby don’t hurt me no more.

 

[RavensMania]

do we know that jihad is definitely counting? if so that's a massive help because the longer this period goes on the less and less likely it is that snead is gonna count

nothing is really definite until 1 week following the draft

 

[rossihunter2]

I deleted my post lol. Was extremely pessimistic and I’m trying to remain positive. Is it too farfetched that if we add Sammy, I’d still want at least two more NFL caliber WRs not named Boykin? Like I’m really trying to push him down the depth chart

haha - good plan
i think, depending on what receiver we get in the draft (if we get one), boykin likely becomes WR 5 anyway because he's pretty exclusively an outside receiver as he's been used by us before... Hollywood becomes the 1, Watkins becomes the 2 and hopefully a draft pick becomes the 3 which would probably make Duvernay the 4 in that auxiliary burner + gadget role which would put boykin right at the bottom of the depth chart probably only there because of his blocking and some special teams prowess

 

[ChainedBird]

I think the bolded is a big thing here, as well as what comes after it. If you can fill the holes at WR and OLB with at least passable play, you don't have to reach for any specific position in the draft. If OL, WR, OLB, FS, whatever are the BPA at the time, you can take really any of those positions and not feel like you've left a gaping hole elsewhere. You at least have NFL quality options everywhere if you secure those 2 spots.

Agreed! I am a little concerned at the injuries though (17 in 7 years!), he must be held together by gaffa tape and rubber bands at this point. Still if he went down It would give Boykin another chance at making something happen after having an off-season with decent coaches...

 

[JoeyFlex5]

I remember watching Watkins when he was a BEAST at Clemson, and we were dreaming of the possibility of him falling to us. We might get our wish after all. It’s crazy to think about how good he was vs. the career he’s actually had.

Same. I was maybe Sammy Watkins biggest fan on the old boards lol, he wasn’t nearly what he was projected to be, but most of that is due to injury. If Watkins had a healthy career he would probably be considered one of the better WRs in the league by now, I understand that’s a big if, but the man has always had talent and legitimate skill and if the only thing you gotta hope for is health then I’d say you made a good signing so long as it isn’t big guaranteed money.

 

[rossihunter2]

Even Jeff Z said he’d be underwhelmed with a Watkins signing lol

i saw him say that it's not the immediate fix we'd expect, but i also saw him suggest that he wouldn't want us to sign another vet after watkins to be a progress stopper (was super not keen about golden tate lol) - said he'd want us to draft someone and have the young guys actually play

 

[Tyler]

Same. I was maybe Sammy Watkins biggest fan on the old boards lol, he wasn’t nearly what he was projected to be, but most of that is due to injury. If Watkins had a healthy career he would probably be considered one of the better WRs in the league by now, I understand that’s a big if, but the man has always had talent and legitimate skill and if the only thing you gotta hope for is health then I’d say you made a good signing so long as it isn’t big guaranteed money.

The Only way this would be a bad signing is if the Ravens fail to capitalize on a LOADED wr class back to back years. If they don’t take a guy in the 1st or 2nd, we might be in trouble. However, a healthy Watkins at just 27 years of age could be great value. I would take Watkins and a draft pick over Juju or Golladay, IMO

 

[purplepittabread88]

At this point I would like watkins but honestly what other option do we have.
Agree with being excited if we can get Watkins and a pass rusher and do whatever the hell we want in the draft. You can go straight for a stud or play maker and not be worried about a forced hand

 

[rmcjacket23]

Overthecap reckons we have $12.5m left. Minus the rookie salaries given our current picks and using the top 51 rule gives $10.8m. Minus a couple for EDC emergency mid season signings and we're looking at about $8.8m spending money. Makes sense that our Juju offer was about that!

Still, I prefer getting Watkins if it means we can get a decent vet pass rusher as well. I'll take the incremental wr improvement any day for our funky offense if it means we can pick up a C day one of the draft instead (who could say no to having 2 stud Humphreys in our roster?)

RSR has effective cap space at pretty close to scratch.

$12.5M in space left.
Rookie draft class costs ~$2M
Rule of 51 ending costs - ~$1.3M
Practice Squad - ~$2M

So that would bring you down to about $7M in effective cap space. That doesn't include any in-season roster needs, i.e. guys going on IR, mid-season signings, etc. Many teams try to carry $3-5M for that.

So you effectively have close to $10M of cap space "earmarked" for needs that are not being realized now but will be utilized in the Fall.

That only leaves you with about $3M to spend, realistically.

However, note that there are several players that you could restructure (or even cut) to create cap space. The biggest being Ronnie Stanley, who you could easily create $4-5M in space with a restructure.

So if the Ravens needed, say, $10M in cap space to spend, they have ways of doing it that aren't unreasonable or require cuts.