Ravens 1st in newest power ranking; Pitt 8th, Cincy 12th

[Whatever]

(10-19-2015, 11:28 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: I assumed when I asked for examples, I'd get them and not a generic response. So I'll guess what you're referring to:


Smith was offered a competitive contract prior to a lackluster season. After that, the Ravens chose not to match a very similar contract the Niners gave him. In hindsight, it was a mistake as Perriman has been injury plagued. At the time, they knew they could get a receiver in the draft who, at the very least, was just as good as Torrey. But the point is they chose to not sign him.

If you're referring to Ngata, they let his high price tag walk and have had Brandon Williams do a great job since. The D line may be one of the few strengths of the team.

McPhee was 3rd in the depth chart. We're paying Suggs and Dumervil $5m a year and he was offered over $7m a year with the Bears. No offense, but I have to question the intelligence of anyone who suggests that not matching this inflated contract was a mistake. Yea, Suggs ended up getting injured week 1, but you don't say "I am going to pay my #3 more than my #1 and #2 just in case my #1 gets hurt week 1". 

The only thing I can see you arguing is that they should have aggressively pursued a free agent in the secondary, but were probably limited due to cap restrictions, but they don't ever do that. So far you haven't shown the cap to be the issue. It certainly is a issue with the dead money, but your examples demonstrate very little knowledge of the team. It's like when you tried to argue in 2012 that Flacco's contract kept them from signing Boldin despite his cap ht being less than the previous season after they signed him.


The one thing I think we can agree on is that Ozzie is having too many misses in the draft. My biggest concern with the team is that I do not believe they value the offense enough and I am not certain Ozzie is that great at judging offensive talent outside of the O line and at the TE position. The Steelers, Bengals, and Browns all understand the need to throw the ball in the NFL in 2015. The Ravens seem hellbent on remaining a "smash-mouth football team". The secondary coaches also seem incapable of grasping how the rules work now and explaining that to their players. They also need to find someone who can actually coach Flacco and get his head out of his ass every other game. They can't keep going from franchise QB to just OK every other week when the defense is giving up the 5th most points in the league.  Trestman clearly isn't NFL material. He needs to go back and coach in the CFL. This running twice and throwing it to a TE or FB 2 yards behind the line scrimmage isn't working in the NFL. With who they have given Flacco, he needs them to run more slant routes. Aiken can't run a post. Then he just needs them to get open.  At the same time, Flacco needs to know his limits. Not everyone is Boldin. Some throws won't work. Some guys won't be physical and that miracle pass turns into a stupid pick. On the defensive side, Pees is awful at play calling. Everyone knows his blitzes. He isn't surprising the offense, so there's no pressure on the QB. A lack o fpressure means the secondary looks even worse. 

You can trade big contracts off to get cap relief, but you also have to get something on return to replace them.  Ozzie dumped Boldin for a 7th, and he had back to back 1000 yard seasons for the 9'ers.  You're highly unlikely to get that kind of player in the 7th, so you just make the team worse.  Same with Ngata.  It probably wasn't feasible to keep McPhee, but when you throw in the loss of Ngata and Suggs, you have a thin front 7 that gasses and blows 4th quarter leads.

Every team loses players in fa but Ozzie is missing way too much in the draft to replace that talent, and is handcuffed by a massive QB contract in fa.