Terrell Suggs does not do anything quietly. Quiet people do not found “Ball So Hard” universities. Quiet people don’t have offensive formations named after them when they don’t play a down of offense. And yet, looking at the last decade of Baltimore Ravens football, it’s been easy for Suggs to get a little lost in the shuffle at times. As a self-admitted third-in-command behind Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, Suggs has not been synonymous with the Baltimore Ravens in the way those two players have.
With his three-sack performance and tremendous leadership in Baltimore’s crucial 16-6 victory over San Francisco, Terrell Suggs has etched himself firmly in at least third position not just on this current team, but in all-time Ravens defensive history. READ MORE >>>
The NFL season kicks off tonight as the Green Bay Packers take on the New Orleans Saints. It promises to be a pretty awesome matchup between the last two Super Bowl Champions.
For Baltimore, the season begins Sunday afternoon in a rival matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers at The Bank. The Ravens haven’t had much luck against the Steelers in recent years, going 2-6 over the past three seasons and being eliminated in the postseason by Pittsburgh two of the last three years. On Sunday, I believe the Ravens will finally get the monkey off their back and beat the Steelers in week one. Here’s five reasons why:
Joe Flacco steps up – When people talk about the Ravens failures against the Steelers they mention quarterback Joe Flacco in the same breath. He’s the team’s leader and for better or worse, he has to be the guy to beat Ben Roethlisberger and propel the Ravens forward. I like what I have seen from Joe Flacco the past couple months. He’s got a new attitude, he’s looks more confident in the pocket and I think he has the weapons on offense to beat the Steelers. I’m betting on him Sunday to put it all together and get it done.
When fans and analyst refer to the NFL’s “parity,” they are usually talking about a balance of competition among the league’s 32 teams. One of the things I appreciate about the NFL so much is actually its parity in the most basic sense. 32 divided by two, divided by four, divided by four – a perfect equation for a mathematically balanced grouping of teams. With this harmonious balance, you begin to see patterns develop. The divisions, while different in the details, fall into similar dynamics. Each one is kind of a bizarro version of the next, like on “Seinfeld” when Elaine found the other group of guys to hang out with. So, who are the Ravens’ “Feldman” in the other divisions? READ MORE >>>
Due to the lockout putting teams on a tight deadline to make signings, NFL free agency this year is pretty much impossible to follow. Here at BSR, we’ll try to help you out with our Free Agent Tracker. Here we track the comings and goings of Ravens free agents, meaning you can keep up with who leaves Baltimore, and who will be a new face in the purple and black.
Currently, you’ll see a few “2011 Team” spaces left blank. As players agree to contracts and sign those contracts, we’ll update that space.
***Additionally, you’ll see Casey Rabach’s name crossed out. This is because he failed his physical after agreeing to a contract, and therefore will not be playing with the Ravens this season.***
Gaither visited with the Oakland Raiders last week, but signed a deal with the Chiefs today. The former University of Maryland star struggled with injuries during his time with the Ravens as he missed all of last season with a thoracic disc injury in his back.
It appears that the Baltimore Ravens are on the path of a youth movement.
Yes there is still about one month until opening day, but early signs since the lockout was lifted show the Ravens giving a lot of young players their opportunity to step up and prove they can contribute. With the departures of Todd Heap, Willis McGahee, Derrick Mason, Kelly Gregg and others, a lot of new faces have stepped in. And while the Ravens have signed free agents Vonta Leach, Bernard Pollard and Ricky Williams, there are still plenty of young players filling out spots on the two-deep depth chart.
Many of them will be getting their first taste of football Thursday night in the first preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Look for a ragged contest, probably on both sides as teams continue to shake off the rust from the long lockout. For the Ravens, the one question that hopefully begin to get answered is this: can any of these rookies and new faces be part of the final roster? Can they step in and make plays? Names like Sergio Kindle, Terrence Cody, Ed Dickson, Jah Reid, Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss (to name a few) will get their chances. Football teams value experience, but young players have to gain their experience by playing. Thanks to the salary cap, teams have to find players that can step in when their number is called as soon as possible, because they never know when it might be their time.
There may be more moves to come in the next few weeks, before the Steelers come to town. Finding a backup quarterback, a center and more depth at other positions will be crucial. But as of right now, the young players have the opportunity to show that the belief placed in them by the organization was not given in vain.
“I have nothing against Baltimore. It’s just that this was the right place,” Mason told reporters. ”Why not come here with the big fella and try to win a championship,” he asked.
I’m of the belief that Harbaugh is looking to start fresh in the locker room without sacrificing too many wins or too much talent. By dropping Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Willis McGahee and Kelly Gregg, the Ravens aren’t just dropping salary, they are dropping pre-Harbaugh players and guys that may not have fit in his system. Just look at how Harbaugh used Heap over the past two seasons.
It has been a week of frenzied activity since the NFL resumed business. Players have been changing addresses-some to other teams, some to destinations unknown at the moment-while others have come back to the fold. Training camps have opened up, fantasy football leagues are making up for lost time-yes football is back. You almost would’ve forgotten that anything else was going on in the sports world: baseball had its trading deadline come and go, and the Orioles, as usually is the case, were giving players away rather than adding players for the stretch run. Yes there were some big deals made in baseball, but nothing quite like the headlines coming from the NFL.
My daughter’s boyfriend has been peppering me with questions throughout the lockout and since it ended. Since my job doesn’t really allow me to follow the news 24/7, he usually gets the highlights of what transactions have taken place over the course of a day. Like me, he is a Ravens fan, so it was interesting to see his reaction when I told him that Derrick Mason, Willis McGahee, Kelly Gregg and Todd Heap had all been cut last week. I tell you, there was palpable panic etched in his face. I had to explain to him that they were cap casualties, cuts made to make room under the new salary cap for the upcoming season. It eased his pain when I told him that the Ravens were going to make an effort to bring them all back, but for less money than they had been making. Of course, now that McGahee, Gregg and Heap (HEEEEAAAAPPPP!) have all headed for new clubs the sky is really falling now for him. Throw in the other departures as shown on the handy Baltimore Sports Report Free Agent Tracker (shameless plug), and now he is wondering who will be left when the season starts. Gloom and doom are the order of the day. READ MORE >>>
It appears that the Osi Umenyiora trade rumors are heating up and the Ravens could be in the center of the talks with the Giants DE holdout. Tony Lombardi of Ravens24x7.com tweeted this morning that the unconfirmed trade rumors center around two teams, the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens.
In my opinion, Umenyiora would be a much bigger acquisition to Baltimore’s defense than Nnamdi Asomugha would have ever been. Successful corners are made or broken by a strong pass rush.
Tony Lombardi of Ravens24x7.com reports that the Ravens are handcuffed by the salary cap at the moment and he sees only one solution.
Last week ESPN’s John Clayton reported that the Ravens were $1.8M over the cap and that number did not include the RFA tenders which totaled around $10M. Then the minimum salaries went up by $55K per player for about three-fourths of the team’s roster. Not all of those add into the cap because of the rule of 51, but that also took away another $1.5M or so.
Bottom line, until the Ravens can sign Ngata to a long-term deal or restructure other contracts, they appear to be handcuffed.
Ozzie Newsome has always acted as a patient general manager, but Lombardi wonders if their patience this season has more to do with a lack of money than a method of operation. The Ravens need a wide receiver, a back up quarterback an offensive lineman and could certainly use some help in the secondary. They need a few bucks though first.
It’s been a busy week. The Ravens cut Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Willis McGahee and Kelly Gregg. They also lost Donte Stallworth and in my opinion, their biggest loss was free agent cornerback Josh Wilson, both of whom went to the Washington Redskins.
Wilson, was arguably the best of the Ravens three free agent cornerbacks, Fabian Washington and Chris Carr being the other two.
It’s clear that the Ravens top offseason priority was re-signing offensive lineman Marshal Yanda. It’s my hope that in doing so the Ravens didn’t forget about one of their best corners, Josh Wilson, who they let slip for a very reasonable 3 year/$13.5 million deal with a $6 million signing bonus.
This move says one of two things; either the Ravens completely dropped the ball on Wilson in the midst of what has proven to be a hectic week or the Ravens have bigger plans for the cornerback position in 2011.
Thus far, their moves have made sense, Wilson’s loss seems to be the only flaw. If the Ravens let him slip through the cracks, they need to ensure that they bring back Chris Carr, who has been outspoken about wanting a bigger role with the Ravens this season. If not, then maybe they are in the running for Nmandi Asomugha. The Asomugha rumors have been full of Jets news, but perhaps Baltimore will sneak in at the 11th hour and and pull off a big deal.
Yesterday afternoon free agency fever was dead in Baltimore. The news that the Ravens had cut four fan favorite players (Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Kelly Gregg, and Willis McGahee) along with Baltimore’s possession of four unrestricted free agent offensive linemen (Marshal Yanda, Jared Gaither, Chris Chester, and Tony Moll) cast a Poe-like gloom over the Charm City. However, according to the Ravens web site and Baltimore Sun, the Ravens have agreed to terms with their 2007 third round pick — 6’3 315 lbs. guard/tackle — Marshal Yanda. With the re-signing of Yanda, one of the top free agents in this year’s class, the Ravens have spent some of the money they saved by cutting Heap, Mason, Gregg and McGahee.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but a press conference is scheduled for some time today (Wednesday). Last season Yanda started all 16 games at right tackle after Jared Gaither missed the entire year with a back injury. However, the Ravens would like to move Yanda back to right guard, which many NFL talent scouts consider his natural position.
Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network reports that the Ravens are hoping that they can re-sign Heap, Mason and Gregg following the cuts.
The Ravens began informing veterans of their pending release Monday and are hopeful of being able to re-sign TE Todd Heap, WR Derrick Mason and DT Kelly Gregg, but they’re trying to clear salary-cap room to make other moves.
Baltimore re-signed Marshal Yanda to a five-year, $32 million deal, on Tuesday. Hopefully now they can begin negotiating with Mason, Heap and Gregg.
As you all know by now, the Ravens have released four fan favorite, veteran players that will free up about $18.6 million in cap room. The news saddened both teammates and fans of Derrick Mason, Todd Heap, Kelly Gregg and Willis McGahee, but in the salary cap era it’s clear that personal relationships don’t factor in when it comes to taking care of business. I know that for some of you this is tough to hear. But you need to have faith in Ozzie Newsome and the organization that while these aren’t the most popular moves, they are in the best interest of the team. Nobody likes getting rid of quality players and leaders like they’ve done here. It’s tough for everyone affected by the moves, but the organization is looking at the bigger picture here, believe me.
Many Ravens have already made their outlook on the situation clear. They don’t necessarily agree with or like the decisions that have been made over the past few days, but they do understand the business aspect of the game. Some guys, such as Ray Rice and Terrence Cody, feel like they are losing their mentors. But I think it’s about time for the young core of Ravens, guys like Rice, Cody, Joe Flacco, Michael Oher and Lardarius Webb, to step up and become the new leaders of this team. Ray Lewis only has a couple years left at best and who knows how much longer Ed Reed’s health is going to hold up. So judging from this recent departure of leaders like Heap, Mason, McGahee and Gregg, I think it is clear the Ravens are putting the fate of this team’s future in the hands of their younger players. READ MORE >>>
Terrell Suggs does not do anything quietly. Quiet people do not found “Ball So Hard” universities. Quiet people don’t have offensive formations named after them when they don’t play a down of offense. And yet, looking at the last decade of Baltimore Ravens football, it’s been easy for Suggs to get a little lost in the shuffle at times. As a self-admitted third-in-command behind Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, Suggs has not been synonymous with the Baltimore Ravens in the way those two players have.
Favorite
Retweet
Reply
Recent Comments