Early Look at Baltimore Ravens Offseason: Free Agency

As I sit here pondering what the Ravens need to do this off-season, I have to remind myself it hasn't even been a week since the Super Bowl. So much has yet to happen before 4 p.m., March 13th -- the official start of NFL free agency. With the NFL draft scheduled for April 26-28, it's a crapshoot trying to figure out where all of the free agents will end up at this point.

Nonetheless, I thought it would be interesting to look at all the Ravens free agents and take a look at the entire league list of them, and prematurely pencil in a few that I'd like to see in the purple and black next season. As we approach combine season in a few weeks, O's, Bros and Natty Bohs will take a closer look at the draft prospects that look intriguing and "play like a Raven" (just kidding, I feel we hear that phrase thrown around about each player they sign. Although it may be indeed be true)


Could Ray Rice actually don a new Uni in 2012?
Credit: ESPN.com

Without further ado, here are your Ravens 2012 free agents:

Unrestricted
Brendon Ayanbadejo, Reserve Linebacker, former Pro-Bowl ST, active tweeter
Matt Birk, Starting Former Pro-Bowl Center, Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year
Ben Grubbs, Starting Pro-Bowl Guard, did not block for Cam Newton at Auburn
Andre Gurode, Reserve Guard/Center, got stomped on once by one Albert Haynesworth
Jarrett Johnson, Universally regarded underrated Starting Outside Linebacker
Jameel McClain, Starting Middle Linebacker, Repping the Orangemen now that McNabb is done-zo
Brandon McKinney, Reserve Defensive lineman, have a feeling Pagano is going to grab him ASAP
Haruki Nakamura, Reserve Safety/Special teams, resides in wonderful Carroll County #whatsup
Cory Redding, Starting Defensive End, dubious honor of being on the 0-16 Lions
Ray Rice, Starting Pro-Bowl Running Back, Coverboy of new NFL Blitz video game
Kris Wilson, Reserve Tight End, swags out in postgame interviews
Tom Zbikowski, Reserve Safety/Special teams, not a silent Z

Restricted
Dannell Ellerbe, Reserve Inside Linebacker, posterboy of Harbs doghouse
Lardarius Webb, Starting Cornerback, caught in the Webb, deserved Pro-Bowl bid
Cary Williams, Starting Cornerback, serious note: interesting story to this man's life

*Sidebar* Because of the new CBA in the NFL some slight changes occured to restricted free agents. Here's a brief summary of how it works, and what the Ravens must do to keep Webb and Williams (I'm ok with losing Ellerbe, more on that later)

The Ravens must tender an offer to the RFAs. Once done, another team can sign the RFA to an RFA offer sheet, but the Ravens then have 7 days to match that offer sheet and retain the player under the terms of that offer sheet. If the Ravens were to choose not to match the offer sheet, then they would receive compensation based on which level of RFA tender was made to the player.

There are 3 RFA tenders (the new CBA did away with the “high” tender of 1st and 3rd round draft picks as compensation):

1st Round Tender: allows the team to receive the other team’s 1st round pick
2nd Round Tender: allows the team to receive the other team’s 2nd round pick
Low Tender: allows the team to receive a draft pick equal to the round in which the player was originally drafted or the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) for an undrafted player

Thanks to an article at ravens24x7.com for this nifty little summary.

So now that we're all clear on that, let's look at some names that make sense (at least in my purple-tinted view of the world) as Ravens for next season. (click read more below)




Mario Williams, All-Pro DE, Houston Texans.
Let's not fool ourselves, there's absolutely no way he's coming to Baltimore. But imagine for a minute, a switch back to 4-3 with him and Suggs on the end and Cody and Ngata in the middle. Salivating.

Chris Myers, Center, Houston Texans
This might be the Texan actually worth pursing this offseason. Solid year last year paving the way for Arian Foster and Ben Tate. Will turn 31 in September and has played 16 games in 6 consecutive seasons. Also, with Matt Birk being a UFA and potentially mulling retirement, the Ravens could be in the market for a center.

Jeremy Mincey, Defensive End, Jacksonville Jaguars
Here's a guy that stuck out to me in reading through blurbs. "This is a try-hard player" taken from cbssports.com, and a guy who had eight sacks and 40 tackles last year. Not a flashy pickup, but in a year where the Ravens want to resign some of their own (Rice, Grubbs, Flacco extension), could be a solid, if unspectacular move.

Stephen Tulloch, Middle Linebacker, Detroit Lions
The Ravens have two linebackers under contract for the 2012 season at the moment. Perhaps they resign McClain but Tulloch could be an upgrade next to Ray. He's 27 and had 111 total tackles last year.

Robert Mathis, Defensive End, Indianapolis Colts
This could qualify as the biggest signing of the offseason (excluding resigned players). Turns 31 soon, coming off his best season, and has been pretty durable in his career. Reminds me a little of the Trevor Pryce signing back in 2006. Won't have too many years left, but hey, neither do Ray and Ed.

Dan Connor, Inside Linebacker, Carolina Panthers
Looking for a starting job, Connor is ready to emerge from Jon Beason's shadow. So why not come to Baltimore and replace McClain aside Ray? He's 26 and had 75 tackles last year.

Aaron Maybin, Outside Linebacker, New York Jets
Back-to-back Penn State linebackers listed here (Maybin is also from Howard County), except this one has been a huge bust until halfway through last season (he actually recorded his first career sack in Baltimore) Situational pass rusher, doesn't need to play that many snaps a game, and could post double digit numbers through a whole season. He's a RFA, so I don't see happening. But it's worth throwing out there in case he for some unforeseeable reason doesn't get tendered.

Cedric Benson, Running Back, Cincinnati Bengals
Wait, what? Here's my take. Anthony Allen deserves a look at the backup job no doubt. Ray Rice will be a Raven in 2012. Ricky Williams is retired and only Ozzie and Harbs know the percentage of him unretiring at this point. Benson is a big guy and between the tackles north-south runner, a nice complement to Rice's slashing and diving style. I expect him to be cheap (signed a 1 year deal with Cin last year) and at 29 years old, the former 1st round pick from Texas (hey, Ricky was too!) has just enough left in the tank to make this a fit.

The NFL has become a passing league but having two RBs capable of carrying the load is a paradoxical necessity in my opinion. Playoff teams this year? Starks/Grant, Sproles/Thomas, Bradshaw/Jacobs, Foster/Tate, Tebow/McGahee (haha). Not saying you need two studs at all, but depth proved effective in this brief analysis. There's A LOT of quality backup RBs out there this year, check out the list for yourself. If you see a better fit comment on it and discuss. Free Agent RBs

To wrap it up, I listed a center, two DEs (not counting Mario), three LBs and a RB. I sifted through the FA guards and really not all the impressed without crunching some serious stats. I see Grubbs' spot, assuming he leaves, to Justin Boren. Boren was a PS guy who I was relatively high on coming into this past year. Perhaps they find the replacement in the upcoming draft, or after a vet is cut before TC.

Skill positions just need depth, Flacco, resign Rice, Boldin and Smith and Pitta/Dickson all are the best options at this point. There are a slew of WRs out there but I held off from writing down Bowe, Colston and V-Jax. Baltimore has Tandon Doss to examine this year and dropping big money on a WR makes little sense given the other needs. Perhaps an Early Doucet or Eddie Royal could come in for depth and speed, but I'd like to draft another WR in the mid-rounds and follow the Steelers mode. These hired gun veteran receivers has not worked for Baltimore in clutch time, and while they are completely independent of each other, it's getting hard to swallow a Housh or an Evans coming up with nothing in crunch time.

The Ravens need help in the trenches, O-line and D-line in addition to replenishing their LB corps. The secondary is in a decent spot assuming they bring back Webb. I'm lukewarm on Cary Williams but feel like he'll back at this point.

Special teams need help and drafting a return specialist should be, albeit a lower, priority too. I'm sticking with Cundiff for now but couldn't really care too strongly either way if he was cut. Nature of the business but could see him coming back motivated and kicking....balls(?) in 2012.

That's all I got for tonight. Hopefully Blogger doesn't have a word count because I'm sure I exhausted it. Hope you enjoyed this lengthy blog and if not, feel free to comment or tweet @matt_perison.

MVP Out