What to think of the Ravens' off season moves

by BaltimoreSportsReport on Mar 5, 2009 1:27 PM EST

Story from BaltimoreSportsReport.com

The Ravens have had quite an eventful off season this year. But should we be worried about their future? In my mind there are a lot of question marks the Ravens face going into 2009. In Ozzie we trust though, right.

Here’s a brief summary of what has gone on:

Cut CB - Chris McAlister
Lost C - Jason Brown to the Rams
Lost LB - Bart Scott to the Jets
Lost S - Jim Leonhard to the Jets
Signed CB - Domonique Foxworth
Signed C - Matt Birk
Re-signed LB - Ray Lewis

Looking to the list above I can tell you two losses that I’m not worried about. Both of them went to the Jets. Bart Scott was way over paid in New York and Jim Leonhard was a good fill in for Dawan Landry, but is nothing more than that. Don’t worry about these two Baltimore. Players like this come and go in this town, they get their big deals (and good for them) but you won’t hear their names again.

They are the Jamie Sharpers, the Duane Starks, the Ed Hartwells, and Adalius Thomases. Highly paid, but they’re system guys. You take them out of the Ravens’ system and you’ll see the kind of puzzle piece players that that they really are.

What I am worried about is Domonique Foxworth, a cornerback that Atlanta and Denver seemed to give up on and a guy the Ravens lovingly tossed 27 million dollars to. How is this guy going to do matched up one-on-one with Hines Ward twice a year? Because he certainly doesn’t seem to be the second coming of C-Mac.

The Ravens have also run Samari Rolle out of town. “Honestly, I don’t want to play in Baltimore anymore because I feel I’m not wanted,” Rolle said. The 32 year old cornerback has caught a lot of heat from some fans because he’s been burned a few times. I’ve always challenged that by wondering whether Ed Reed left him high and dry trying to make the play of the week. Though you’d never hear him say that. Last year he thought Fabian Washington came to replace him, now its Foxworth.

And what about Matt Birk? The Ravens obviously couldn’t afford to give a center $37.5 million dollars. But they were able to give a 32 year old 12 million over 3 years. I’m not saying that signing a 6 time Pro Bowler is a bad idea, but I’m just a little skeptical.

Finally, Mr. Baltimore, Ray Lewis, is back. Unfortunately for him, no star on his helmet. The length and terms of the deal have not been released yet, but Ozzie told the press that Ray can “retire as a Raven.” We’ve heard all kinds of rumors about the deal. Despite his history here, I just hope the Ravens didn’t break the bank on a 34 year old tattered linebacker.

So what do you think? Are you still following Ozzie blindly, or are you starting to feel a little uncomfortable like me?

The opinions posted here are those of the administrator of this blog and his loyal readers. They are in no way official comments from the team, and should not be misconstued as such, even though he thinks he could do just as well or even a better job!

Tweet Comment 10 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Totally diagree

With your analysis.

Signing Birk for less then half of what it would have taken to keep Brown was a master stroke.

Also, I heard Denver traded Foxworth for more political reasons; he was their Players Union Rep, and for some reason they wanted him to vacate that position. He played well in Atlanta on a playoff team last year, and they wanted to retain him. Of course his first choice was Baltimore since he was born, raised, and played his college ball here.

I went to UMD when he played there and saw him play over a dozen times. The man is fast, smart and can cover. He will be a good fit in what were trying to build. Having a pass rush will make him look even better.

Ozzie is the best and has proved it with this off season.

by DT711 on Mar 5, 2009 1:34 PM EST reply actions

your analysis’s are heading south…we lost nothing so far…might need help on kick returns..

by raven on Mar 5, 2009 1:40 PM EST reply actions

Wow, what a bad break down, sorry

I disagree with nearly everything you said, accept for the system guys. First off, with Foxworth you are worried he wont be good here because of what happened in Denver and Atlanta. Well I go back to your talk of Hartwell, Starks, Sharper, and Thomas not doing as well when they LEFT our system. So why cant we reverse that case with Foxworth and say that he may of just needed a system like ours? That is the way I look at it. Can you name me one Free Agent that the Ravens have brought in that was an absolute bust from Ozzie signing him? I cant.

With Birk, I go back to a comment raven made earlier yesterday about the situation. 32 for a lineman is not that bad, and for a Center, he can indeed play 3-4 more years there. This is because of the space he has to occupy, it is mainly a backward and forward position with little left to right movement. You bring a guy like Birk in here, we can draft another center to learn behind one of the best this league has seen in the past 10 years.

As for the Ray comments, I am kind of shocked by your “Star on the Helmet” comment. This is because those comments were NEVER SAID! You my friend, got caught up in the drama show that the NFL media is. I do not see one thing about this off-season that makes me in any way feel “uncomfortable” about what Ozzie is doing with this team. I honestly think we are better off with the guys we have now, then we did last year.

We brought back and brought in veteran leadership. In the snap of a freaking finger, boom, our CB problems are nearly solved, which I still cannot get over. I feel like everyday I am still gonna complain about our CB’s. Not anymore. Again, you got way too caught up in the media and not looking into very much detail of our moves.

Ozzie is THE BEST GM in the game at evaluating talent. Until we turn into a franchise like Cleveless and Dallas where there is absolute garbage all over, that is when I will start feeling uncomfortable. I would suggest taking that story off that site, as it seems as if it comes from someone who is does not know too much about the Ravens, but more about the whole league.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Mar 5, 2009 2:20 PM EST reply actions

B-

by raven on Mar 5, 2009 4:43 PM EST reply actions

Baltimore Sports Report?

Says who? Vertainly just seems like a winded opinion on the negative devil’s advocate side of things. If you’re just trying to stir up debate, great job.

But Matt Birk is an upgrade and whomever we draft or groom for his replacement will be just as good as Brown. Foxworth will succeed here just like Fabian Washington has. At the same time, a corner is only as good as the pass rush in front of him.

Ray is so much more valuable to us than any other team, which is why there wasn’t much of a market for him. He should have tried to test the market three or four years ago and he would have struck it big then. At 34 years old he is a great fit here.

The losses we “suffered” will be average at best for their new teams, regardless of Rex Ryan being the head coach, he is not the d-coordinator. It all revolves around Ray on defense and we will be even better than last year.

Plus, offensively we will be better with a 2nd year Flacco and a better center and deep in the wideout position afte rthis draft.

Rexx

by Rexx on Mar 5, 2009 5:46 PM EST reply actions

Ray is my guy again..we made up

by raven on Mar 6, 2009 1:09 AM EST reply actions

Karl Paymah

this guy a CB from denver i believe has visted the ravens facility

any info on him ??

by Bm0re blackout on Mar 6, 2009 5:22 PM EST reply actions

Karl Paymah - Notes

CB on Denver, not too much to say about this reserve. 5th year undrafted pro from Washington State.
Had 39 tackles and one interception. Career game in last year’s 26-17 loss to Dolphins where he had 13 tackles (12 solo, must have been on long runs by Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams through the soft defensive front of Denver) and one interception. Average CB size, 6’, 195 pounds.

Rexx

by Rexx on Mar 7, 2009 8:35 AM EST up reply actions