allblackraven
Hall of Famer
Welcome.
As soon as they announced the talks are over, I thought there's no way he's staying. If there is truth in rumours he's been offered a deal comparable to Murray's, that's straight up disrespectful.
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Signings, Cuts, Trades
- Thread starter RavensMania
- Start date
As soon as they announced the talks are over, I thought there's no way he's staying. If there is truth in rumours he's been offered a deal comparable to Murray's, that's straight up disrespectful.
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
I believe the "report" was that it was more than Murray's. Kind of doesn't matter, because if he wants Watson money, that wasn't happening anyway.
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
No, he played every game.
Sure he does- he can get tagged and flat out refuse to sign it. Lamar has leverage here. The Ravens cannot afford to tag Lamar and have Lamar not sign. On the flip side, we've seen teams were VERY willing to give up a lot for Watson and he hasn't played in almost two years. Not saying it'll happen, but he holds some leverage.
I had serious concerns about the starting receivers and would have pushed much harder to draft one early considering they knew Hollywood was going to be traded months in advance of the draft, but I digress.
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
Right, but if he refuses to sign it, he's just LeVeon Bell, i.e. he sits and doesn't get paid. Lamar ain't turning down a $45M+ payday for "principles".
He also still doesn't get to enter FA any sooner either. He basically goes nowhere unless the Ravens allow him to go somewhere else.
I'm also not totally unconvinced that the tag isn't exactly what Lamar wants. If he's got concerns about the long term future of the franchise and how we handle his "weapons", then taking $45M next year and potentially another $55M the following year seems like a pretty good deal for him. It's in-line with whatever he would expect to make in the first two years of an extension anyway.
The Ravens couldn't afford to carry his $45M cap hit and risk him not signing because it'll hamstring any plans they have.
This isn't a situation where they hold a ton of leverage.
I should probably mention that I think this is more a reason that Lamar will get a deal more akin to what he wants, but there is a legitimate fear, for me, that Lamar could end up off the Ravens.
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
O they absolutely can. Cap-wise that's really not that big of a problem at all. Especially if they keep Huntley. Realistically, there "plans" for the offseason pretty much revolve around a long-term extension. They can do very little with him on the tag anyway.
Yes, I'm sure the Ravens would be thrilled to go into the season hamstrung by a $45M cap hit from a player who didn't sign and would be thrilled to roll out Huntley under those circumstances. You're right.
Loved him coming out of the draft, but I haven't really heard anything about him since entering the league. My guess is that injury really took its toll.
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
I mean thrilled's got nothing to do with it. They're not going to be thrilled with Lamar playing on a $45M tag either, but they'll do it.
It's about whether a) they'd want to trade him, b) whether they think they could resolve the situation long term and c) what offers they'll get from other teams.
Realistically, if the Ravens are that concerned about Lamar signing the tag (which, again, I think he's more than happy on the tag), then they can just go the non-exclusive route, and let another team set the contract terms and market for him.
End of day, no matter what, the keys to Lamar playing somewhere else are in the Ravens hands. They have to sign off on literally anything that happens there. If they do, so be it. He's got leverage, but the Ravens have more. They're signing the checks (which Lamar needs more than the Ravens need it), and they control where he goes.
redrum52
Hall of Famer
The Ravens are going to be a lot happier with Lamar on the tag than with Lamar not signing and trotting out Huntley.
The non-exclusive tag would hardly be an option because there are desperate teams with the cap to outspend the Ravens and given the haul the Seahawks got for Wilson, the Ravens know they could fetch more than two firsts.
ndub
Ravens Ring of Honor
Good call my bad
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
Agree on both. But again, happier doesn't factor in if the QB refuses to play. If Steve feels like he's being held hostage, I doubt he just caves and trades him away.
The draft haul is the barrier to the non-exclusive tag, since its not sufficient, BUT, it also does allow the Ravens to see what true market price is. Theoretically, they should be able to match most price tags. It would require some sort of gigantically front-loaded contract. The AAV, guaranteed money, etc. probably wouldn't matter.
I think it would depend on the haul. There's some pretty good prospects coming into the NFL. Obviously I'm more on the pay him and don't rely on a rookie quarterback train if you can avoid it, but if the Ravens really felt they couldn't get something done, the draft has good prospects.
I would be willing to bet that some team would offer him a fully guaranteed contract if given the chance to. Would the Ravens if their hands were forced? I'd hope so, but I don't know. I'd imagine they'd rather avoid that entirely and just get the deal done.
And again, I'm not suggesting this has a high probability of happening. I don't truly think Lamar would raise enough hell to force hands. But, I'd be lying if I said that the Ravens current plan of attack to best support Lamar isn't concerning to me and I could see a world where Lamar uses the leverage he has.
Shit houston already has 6 sacks