By far the Ravens biggest concern this offseason is re-signing Ray Rice. I’m a Flacco fan, I was impressed with his play during the postseason and think he deserves an extension — not top five QB money — but Rice is the heartbeat of this team.
Right now, Rice sits atop the league as one of the top three running backs. At 25 years old, it’s hard to imagine a day in which defenses will begin to slow him down.
But it is going to happen. The harsh reality is that the Ravens probably have maybe three solid seasons left with Rice before we start to say a decline in his performance. Rice has rushed for over 1,200 yards in three straight seasons and is a pivotal part in the Ravens pass attack. He’s a different type of back.
But like Jamison Hensley at ESPN.com, I wouldn’t give him the seven-year, $100 million deal that the Minnesota Vikings gave Adrian Peterson. I tend to side with Tony Lombardi of Ravens24x7.com and think that Ozzie Newsome should use the franchise tag on Rice for not only 2012, but also in 2013.
After two seasons the Ravens can re-examine Rice and determine how much they think he has left in the league. Right now he’s at the highest level of his game and it wouldn’t be smart to pay him for what he’s done when you have the opportunity to pay him for what he’s going to do.
We’ll know their plans by March 5. That’s the deadline for the franchise tag.
I’m getting scared,,,,,,,,,,this is the second article from Zach I agree with,,,,,,,,but he is right on about the franchise tag and Rice , it’s the best business decision they can make………..the only thing is , I believe Steve said he would be here long term and this may tend to piss him off…………
Steve needs to let his football people make these decisions. Look, I think Rice is awesome, but this is the NFL were cap is king, as in salary cap. Some of the chucklehead fans out there think they should and can just throw money at everybody. Look at the stats on NFL running backs in terms of longevity- it ain’t good. I totally gree with Zach’s assessment, cap him twice and re- assess after that. And tell Biiscuit to let his GM make those kind of statements.
If you do not give Rice the money then who do you give the money to? To win, you have to spend it. Why not give it to our best player? We are going to be ready to give it to Flacco but not Rice…what hypocrits we are.
The key is spreading the wealth around , but Ozzie has yet to learn this process.