big picture; looking at the future

[JoeyFlex5]

it is very obvious why i am already looking past 2018. im expecting growing pains from our large group of young players we need to step up, hopefully most of them do, and im expecting an improved performance from joe flacco but all in all i dont think we have much to be excited for in 2018. if joe is done after this year, then 2019 is what im already focused on.

some key to-be-free-agents in 2019(only because their contracts are expiring, only some will actually end up in FA) also a disclaimer, im just using walter footballs 2019 FA list, its the easiest to find and i know i dont have to sift through bullshit to get to it, if anything is out of date, sorry.

Deone Bucannon
Grady Jarrett
Kelvin Benjamin
Devin Funchess
Adrian Amos
Geno Atkins
Demarcus Lawrence
Zack Martin
Ameer Abdullah
Golden Tate
HaHa Clinton-Dix
Jadeveon Clowney
Benardrick McKinney
TJ Yeldon
Chris Conley
Casey Hayward
Jason Verrett
Brandin Cooks
Anthony Barr
Danielle Hunter
Eric Kendricks
Trey Flowers
Jordan Matthews
Odell Beckham
Quincy Enunwa
Mario Edwards
Ronald Darby
Brandon Graham
Chance Warmack
LeVeon Bell
Cliff Avril
Frank Clark
Kwon Alexander
Brent Grimes
Ali Marpet
Taylor Lewan
Rishard Matthews
Jamison Crowder

looks like a damn solid FA class for our needs. the savings we would get from moving on from joe could help us land a real game changer. and as blasphemous as it feels for me to say this, maybe even moving on from jimmy smith to find a quality and consistently healthy replacement, such as a ronald darby, and also go for a deone bucannon to help with the coverage LB role, or a move for geno atkins or grady jarrett to alleviate our interior pressure problem, taking the defense from last year, adding another year of growth to willie henry, and then pairing him with fucking geno atkins or grady jarrett would be amazing. im not gonna keep going for now because i dont wanna drop a name and then find out they were given an extension or something lol. but this FA class fits some potential needs for us to burst back onto the scene by using saved dollars to frontload some contracts and lure in some splash FAs in key spots. a good few WRs, pass rushers, corners, and interior OL. id be happier to see more coverage LBs and safeties in the class, but the pass rushers and corners really make me wanna blow up our books and throw some money at some sexy defensive positions.

who do yall think we could target come FA next ye

 

[ZonaRaven]

Buchanan, Tate, Martin, Enunwa if he recovers and looks good, are the ones who initially stick out to me as realistic gets.

At the end of the day, no Brent Grikes. I simply cannot take Miko's "woke" ass bullshit. She's simply an awful human.

 

[rossihunter2]

There’s a lot of guys on that list who I don’t think even have a chance of making it to free agency

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Buchanan, Tate, Martin, Enunwa if he recovers and looks good, are the ones who initially stick out to me as realistic gets.

At the end of the day, no Brent Grikes. I simply cannot take Miko's "woke" ass bullshit. She's simply an awful human.

lol i forgot about her, wack ass bitch.

There’s a lot of guys on that list who I don’t think even have a chance of making it to free agency

disclaimer up there for exactly this reason lol

 

[ZonaRaven]

lol i forgot about her, wack ass bitch.

disclaimer up there for exactly this reason lol

I used to follow her on Twitter and had to stop because I simply couldn't take it anymore. It was epic for a while but she's out of her mind.

 

[Oldfaithful]

Bringing this back a few months later..

Our best course of action might be cut Brandon Carr, resign our own guys, go find a bargain bin signing at LG, and then just draft BPA next season. I'm not even kidding. Even if Yanda decides to retire(I doubt it if we make the postseason this year) and Suggs continues to look like he has another season in the tank of good play, and so does Weddle to be honest. And we have replacements for both on the roster. Skura looks solid at C(surprisingly), we just need a good LG.

Even with Jimmy's absurd salary next season, if we get to the AFC championship game there is literally no reason to break up a winning team.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/baltimore-ravens/
Sure, it looks like we have a lot of key FAs, but a lot of those guys can be tendered, and a few of them can likely be had for cheap(Maxx, Buck). This leaves Suggs, Mosley, and Brown. I think we can fit all three under the cap, and that should be the top priority. You let Za'Darius Smith walk, and you see where Urban stands(he's a very good player but we have zillions of defensive linemen and a few nice young ones waiting in the wings).

I think the team is in good position moving forward. Next year could be our year if we play our cards right.

 

[Adreme]

Bringing this back a few months later..

Our best course of action might be cut Brandon Carr, resign our own guys, go find a bargain bin signing at LG, and then just draft BPA next season. I'm not even kidding. Even if Yanda decides to retire(I doubt it if we make the postseason this year) and Suggs continues to look like he has another season in the tank of good play, and so does Weddle to be honest. And we have replacements for both on the roster. Skura looks solid at C(surprisingly), we just need a good LG.

Even with Jimmy's absurd salary next season, if we get to the AFC championship game there is literally no reason to break up a winning team.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/baltimore-ravens/
Sure, it looks like we have a lot of key FAs, but a lot of those guys can be tendered, and a few of them can likely be had for cheap(Maxx, Buck). This leaves Suggs, Mosley, and Brown. I think we can fit all three under the cap, and that should be the top priority. You let Za'Darius Smith walk, and you see where Urban stands(he's a very good player but we have zillions of defensive linemen and a few nice young ones waiting in the wings).

I think the team is in good position moving forward. Next year could be our year if we play our cards right.

Next year could be our year... um Lost I think you need to take a look around the AFC right now and notice there are only 4 teams of any relevance at the moment.

The Chiefs, Patriots, Jaguars, and Ravens are really the only true contenders this conference has at the moment and with the Pats showing weakness and the Steelers having dropped off a cliff the AFC is wide open and I think the Ravens are perfectly suited for beating 2 of those other 3 contenders (Chiefs and Patriots).

Forward over to the NFC and you have the Rams as the class of the NFL and below them the Saints then a whole lotta eh in the NFC and I could see the Ravens having perfect matchups to shut down the big play offense of the Rams in the same way I think the Ravens match up well with the Chiefs. Forget next year being "the year" this could legitimately be the year.

 

[rossihunter2]

Next year could be our year... um Lost I think you need to take a look around the AFC right now and notice there are only 4 teams of any relevance at the moment.

The Chiefs, Patriots, Jaguars, and Ravens are really the only true contenders this conference has at the moment and with the Pats showing weakness and the Steelers having dropped off a cliff the AFC is wide open and I think the Ravens are perfectly suited for beating 2 of those other 3 contenders (Chiefs and Patriots).

Forward over to the NFC and you have the Rams as the class of the NFL and below them the Saints then a whole lotta eh in the NFC and I could see the Ravens having perfect matchups to shut down the big play offense of the Rams in the same way I think the Ravens match up well with the Chiefs. Forget next year being "the year" this could legitimately be the year.

you're going a bit far by saying only 4 teams are in it - i think there are legitimately 6-7 teams in the AFC who look in contention for the 1 seed at the moment

 

[Adreme]

you're going a bit far by saying only 4 teams are in it - i think there are legitimately 6-7 teams in the AFC who look in contention for the 1 seed at the moment

I mean the only other 3 teams that have any wins are the Dolphins, Titans, and Bengals who all just look mediocre. I give the Titans credit for beating the Eagles but they have looked really off all year. The Dolphins will fall off a cliff and the Bengals are still not very good.

 

[allblackraven]

Jefferson, J. Smith, Crabtree carry outrageous salaries / cap figures for 2019, considering contribution/availability.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

This thread doesn’t appear to be aging well and thank fuck for that. This is the most complete ravens team since 2011, and with a lot more young up and coming talent than we had then, this team is overall very young with guys like joe, sizzle, weddle, yanda, jimmy, as key guys but overall we’re built for the future, where that ravens team was bound to fall off a cliff at any moment, multiple HOF/borderline HOFers at the ends of their backloaded contracts and retirement being a discussion every year, with our franchise QBs contract looming in the near future.

We’ve finally begun adapting to the new nfl, the jags and cinci are the only afc teams that scare me, I think there are 2 teams in the league that can stop the Chiefs and we’re one of them, and the other team may be able to stop them but can’t score with them the way we can(jags). And the only reason cinci scares me is because they simply have our number, and those fortunes can change at any moment.

Until some team exposes us, and like shows a blueprint on how to exploit us to the point that we don’t have a chance, then I like our potential to make a deep run. The AFC I think at this point is gonna come down to the ravens and jags, because the jags can eliminate the patriots offense, and I believe the ravens can too, and the chiefs have the worst defense in the league and you simply can’t win it all at this rate, the only teams who can beat the Chiefs are the strong defensive teams. The ravens and jags are the teams built to take on the other contenders, nobody else.

 

[rossihunter2]

I mean the only other 3 teams that have any wins are the Dolphins, Titans, and Bengals who all just look mediocre. I give the Titans credit for beating the Eagles but they have looked really off all year. The Dolphins will fall off a cliff and the Bengals are still not very good.

its week 4 dude - im not worried about records atm but here are all the teams that look like contenders so far in the AFC:

Chiefs
Jags
Patriots
Ravens
Bengals (i dont know why people insist they arent a good team - they're like the 3rd highest scoring team in the league or something ridiculous)
Titans (again they are a well balanced team with the best coaching so far and talent at every level on both sides of the ball)

those 6 teams all look like contenders so far

 

[JoeyFlex5]

its week 4 dude - im not worried about records atm but here are all the teams that look like contenders so far in the AFC:

Chiefs
Jags
Patriots
Ravens
Bengals (i dont know why people insist they arent a good team - they're like the 3rd highest scoring team in the league or something ridiculous)
Titans (again they are a well balanced team with the best coaching so far and talent at every level on both sides of the ball)

those 6 teams all look like contenders so far

The bengals point differential is really small, and it’s fucking impossible to trust that team in any big moment that’s not against the ravens.

And I’m not as low on the titans as a lot of people are, but it’s more of a prove it thing for me, they need to get Derrick Henry really going, they lost their top TE who is really underrated by a lot of people because of his age, mariota needs to prove himself over the course of a season, and it’s hard to trust a dean pees defense who has made a career out of blowing leads dating back to his patriots days.

I don’t disagree with there being 4 real contenders, but I suppose the ravens are in the same boat as the titans and bengals on a “prove it” basis.

 

[rossihunter2]

The bengals point differential is really small, and it’s fucking impossible to trust that team in any big moment that’s not against the ravens.

And I’m not as low on the titans as a lot of people are, but it’s more of a prove it thing for me, they need to get Derrick Henry really going, they lost their top TE who is really underrated by a lot of people because of his age, mariota needs to prove himself over the course of a season, and it’s hard to trust a dean pees defense who has made a career out of blowing leads dating back to his patriots days.

I don’t disagree with there being 4 real contenders, but I suppose the ravens are in the same boat as the titans and bengals on a “prove it” basis.

the reason these 6 teams are all on a similar level is that they all have shown themselves to have flaws and need to prove it or find solutions to certain issues

 

[Adreme]

the reason these 6 teams are all on a similar level is that they all have shown themselves to have flaws and need to prove it or find solutions to certain issues

Its not about not having flaws, teams have tons of flaws, the "complete" team never wins in the NFL because they are the jack of all trades and they are not great at anything which gets you 8-8 but doesn't get you playoff success.

The Jaguars have that fearsome defense with strong pass rush and an elite secondary, which will win you games even though Bortles is still Bortles.
The Chiefs have one of the strongest offenses in the history of the league in terms of passing attack and that works to counter a rather poor defense.
The Patriots will be getting back Edelmen and paired with Gronk will form a very good mid range passing attack which will be good to counter a weak defense and weak running game (hesitant to put Pats even on the list of true contenders but the history suggests they will find a way to get great on offense)
The Ravens have an elite secondary and strong run stoppers as well as a very good passing attack which helps deal with the Ravens OLine and running attack being very weak.

The Titans are good at everything but great at nothing.
The Bengals are a pretty good offense but lost one of their best pieces for the year and that defense is awful not to mention its the Bengals and they will find a way to Bungal and while Dalton has looked good on a Thursday home game and against the MASH unit that is the Falcons I still wonder how real that offense even is.

 

[DeVito52]

We are only talking about all these contenders because the AFC is garbage. The Titans and Bengals are nowhere near #1 seed worthy.

The Bengals will NOT do anything this year I’ll say it for the freaking 50th time. Their defense is shit and their offense isn’t good enough to carry it. The Chiefs, if this continues, can win a shootout against a real team. The Bengals can’t. That’s the difference.

The Jaguars should’ve traded for Teddy B or something, they need someone who isn’t so inconsistent. But if Bortles is on that week they’ll be near unstoppable. It’s just a matter of which one shows up.

The titans are a well coached team and can grind out games but they’re no super bowl contender rn let’s be real. That offense is not to be trusted until they prove otherwise. They got lucky against the Eagles this week. They won’t convert 4 4th downs in overtime every week. The Eagles looked like shit anyway. The titans have a lot to prove.

I want to see how the Ravens play against teams like the Panthers and Saints etc before I get too hype, but the AFC is wide open and it’s near impossible right now to say what the playoffs will look like. But right now it looks like we are easily the most well rounded team in the AFC

 

[allblackraven]

We are only talking about all these contenders because the AFC is garbage. The Titans and Bengals are nowhere near #1 seed worthy.

The Bengals will NOT do anything this year I’ll say it for the freaking 50th time. Their defense is shit and their offense isn’t good enough to carry it. The Chiefs, if this continues, can win a shootout against a real team. The Bengals can’t. That’s the difference.

The Jaguars should’ve traded for Teddy B or something, they need someone who isn’t so inconsistent. But if Bortles is on that week they’ll be near unstoppable. It’s just a matter of which one shows up.

The titans are a well coached team and can grind out games but they’re no super bowl contender rn let’s be real. That offense is not to be trusted until they prove otherwise. They got lucky against the Eagles this week. They won’t convert 4 4th downs in overtime every week. The Eagles looked like shit anyway. The titans have a lot to prove.

I want to see how the Ravens play against teams like the Panthers and Saints etc before I get too hype, but the AFC is wide open and it’s near impossible right now to say what the playoffs will look like. But right now it looks like we are easily the most well rounded team in the AFC

Well, the Saints defense is worse than Bengals, not quite good measuring stick

 

[Cville-Raven]

Well, the Saints defense is worse than Bengals, not quite good measuring stick

Yup, they’re pretty below average. Honestly the browns defensively will be better than most teams on our schedule.

 

[Adreme]

I know the AFC is pretty bad at the moment but the deep NFC seems to be a letdown so far with the teams basically being the Rams at 1 then the Saints at 2 then everyone else kind of lacking at the moment. The eagles offense is still rusty, and the defense seems off. The Vikings just are so weird in that they probably will be there by years end but right now just are weird and then no one else in the NFC is a real threat.

 

[DeVito52]

Well, the Saints defense is worse than Bengals, not quite good measuring stick

Can you tell me where I said anything about their defense? Thanks.

It’s a good measuring stick for our defense.