Ravens fans are panicking. Most recently the Ravens lost running back Willis McGahee to Denver and safety Dawan Landry to the Jaguars, they lost Chris Chester to the Redskins yesterday and of course cut Derrick Mason, Todd Heap, Willis McGahee and Kelly Gregg on Monday. Meanwhile, Rex Ryan’s Jets continue to make headlines with their deals in New York. The Jets appear to be the number one contenders for one of the biggest free agents of the season, Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
Fans in Baltimore have been campaigning for Asomugha to wear purple all offseason. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the Ravens cap room will allow for that. The Jets appear to be the clear cut winner for Asomugha in a secondary that will be far and away the best in the NFL. Asomugha and Darrell Revis? It’s almost unfathomable. This clearly upsets Ravens fans, especially with the number of former Ravens that the Jets have grabbed over the years.
It wasn’t until I listened to ESPN’s Colin Cowherd this morning that I felt okay with the Ravens current offseason status. It’s strange to think the Cowherd is my voice of reason, but hear me out. The Jets have an average quarterback, an average running game and they overspent for a good receiver, Santonio Holmes. On defense, their pass rush is weak but that corners are already solid. Add Asomugha and the secondary becomes the best in the league. Cowherd argues, and I agree, that good secondaries don’t win championships, good offenses and pass rushes do. Cowherd thinks that Rex Ryan has fallen in love with Asomugha and that the Jets are going to do everything in their power to bring him to New York. Even if that means backloading their franchise quarterback’s contract and ignoring their offensive struggles from last season. “This is an offense that got worse in the last 48 hours,” Cowherd said on his show today.
Who were the Colts and Steelers shutdown corners in 2009 and 2010? Can’t remember? It didn’t matter in the AFC Championship. Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger beat the Jets defense in the AFC Championship because they weren’t pressured enough. So if the Jets want Asomugha and want to mortgage their future, let them have him. Come next season, their going to be hurting. Reports are the Darrell Revis is going to want more money after this season and they will have to work out a longterm deal for Mark Sanchez. All of their moves are set to win this year, but they’re going to have to blow the whole thing up and start over in February of next year.
I know what you’re thinking. How are the Ravens in a better spot than the Jets? Baltimore isn’t just planning for this season, they’re setting themselves up for years to come. The Ravens cap situation isn’t good, they have about $4 million to work with for 2011. Until they sign Haloti Ngata to a long term deal, that won’t change. Baltimore is also thinking about the future deals of Joe Flacco and Ray Rice, that’s why they’re not looking to overspend on a corner, a position that clearly isn’t as important as New York thinks.
New York loves headlines, don’t let it get to you Baltimore. In the end, the Ravens have had a better offseason than the Jets and they really haven’t even done anything yet.
Isn’t this another case of trying to stay good as opposed to going for it all? While we love the Ravens being good, we want them to be great. there has been nothing done this season to indicate that Ravens had made any progress towards being great. The Jets on the other hand are willing to risk a lot to be great. Just saying!
The only thing the Ravens have shown me is that they want to get younger. The signing of 26 rookie free agents, great. The cutting of some older players as well as letting some of their free agents go, ok, I see they are getting younger. BUT, Ray has only a year or two max and he, among others in the organization, wants to win a championship. I don’t see them looking for that this year unless all the young guys have stellar years coming up. I’m not convinced of the proverbial “adding less is more” kind of thing.
Wake up people , the Ravens are in a transition,,,,,,they are getting younger while trying to stay competitive , some years you just can’t go after it all but you can still remain competitive and make it interesting for the fans,,,,,,,,,,the O’s could learn from this course of action…………