Too bad, he was a nice complement to Ray. I think we'll give Anthony Allen and Damien Berry a shot in camp, as well as a 2012 late-round draft pick--we seem to select a running back every draft under Harbs. I think a guy like Chris Polk out of Washington would be a great pick, but we may have to use a fairly early pick on him. I am not sure who could be there in the later rounds.

Please please please, please lock Bernard Pollard in a room until he's too old to play football anymore.

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Should Ravens Fans Push the Ravens to Make Bernard Pollard Disappear For As Long as Possible?!

• Yes of course!

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Been a while, fellas. Anyway, here is what I think our team will do. We re-sign Joe long-term (Bisciotti stated last year he does not want Joe heading into his final rookie contract season without a new deal in place), franchise tag Rice (to me, a running back's second contract is so difficult to work out), and we let Grubbs walk (the front office usualy does not let former first rounders go, but I doubt we pay big money for the second time to a guard). As for the rest of our lower-profile free agents, I really have no predictions other than we do the usual "let them test the free agent waters" and see it we can/want to match any offers. I would like us to re-sign Haruki, though. I did make a prediction to a buddy of mine the other day, and that is, I am betting we sign one big-time offensive or defensive free agent outside the organization to a nice contract. There will be a bevy of wide receivers available and a few pass rushers hitting free agency, and I predict we sign one of them to a contract (I have no idea who). Those are two positions Ozzie said he will prioritize this offseason. I think we will address them in the draft, but there is too much talent in free agency to not spend some money.

Super Bowl?

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Dear Ursula,

I keep trying to climb down off the Vontaze Burflict Bandwagon. I have attended MABB meetings (Mothers Against Bad Burflict) and enrolled in the 12-step program. I have even tried pretending to be Burflict and scored me a 9 on the Wonderlic test as reinforcement. Then I watch this.







And no matter what my logical mind says - my visceral side still wins. I want him as a Raven!!

Please help.

Yours truly,

Fandemonium

Note: These are just an opinion on what I think will happen this offseason given prior offseasons and what the Ravens needs are.

Players being released: Jarrett Johnson, Cory Redding, Dominique Foxworth, and either Nakamura or Zbikowski, Ellerbe, and Carr may be released or have his contract restructured. He's making way too much for his spot on the depth chart.
Why? Well the Ravens need to make room to re-sign Flacco, Rice, attempt to get Grubbs back & Webb.

Toss up: Grubbs, when he said "I'll trust my agent to do whats best" sounds like he's looking for $$ I see the Ravens offering him a decent contract and hopefully he takes it in regards to winning Super Bowls (yes plural) rather than money on a crap team. Also with Birk coming back or Gurode coming in for C.

Possible restructured contracts- Lee Evans, Ricky Williams, Chris Carr, Bryant McKinnie. The Ravens could use every penny with trying to get Flacco, Rice and Grubbs back.

Resigns: Flacco, Rice (franchise tag?), Webb, McClain, Brandon McKinney, Ayanbadejo, Cary Williams. (Hopefully Grubbs :D), Kindle, Danny Gorrer, Morgan Cox.

Draft GUESS: Vontaze Burfict- the ideal situation is he comes in with Ray Lewis still playing so that he has a full season under Ray Lewis's wing before being unleashed. I believe this because it doesn't get much sweeter than that and I don't see our FO passing up on that opportunity, then they will address the OL problem via free agency/draft (In Ozzie we trust).

Young studs to not forget about- Kruger, McPhee, McAdoo, & Jah Reid (I also could see him starting next season if they don't bring back Bryant McKinnie.)

Also, signing Rice to a long term deal would significantly help free up more cap room allowing the organization to make better offers to players. Steve Bisciotti said "Flacco and Rice will be part of this team next year guaranteed" So its a matter of if both sides can come to agreement before March 5th so they don't have to use the franchise tag.

I could be horribly wrong for this whole thing however based on what I've read and seen this is my educated guess for the Ravens this offseason. Thoughts?

Here’s a look at the Baltimore Ravens Salary Cap for 2012. Unfortunately I don’t know how to insert a table or I would give you the current salaries of each player under contract. I have pulled this salary information from several sources, so while I can’t be sure it is exactly accurate, I think it is pretty darn close.

2011 Roster: My list includes 53 players who were under contract with the Ravens in 2011 with a total Salary Cap number of $119,781,963. The cap number for 2011 was $120M.

2012 Roster: The Salary Cap for 2012 has not yet been set, but the rumor is that it will not change substantially from 2011, so we’ll work with a $125M Salary Cap for now in trying to set the roster.

The Ravens have 32 players under contract for 2012 with a Cap Number of $105,071,286. This includes Dominique Foxworth’s cap number of $8.3M. Assuming Foxworth gets released (a pretty fair assumption), you lose his salary but take a onetime hit for his remaining bonus money of $2.7M, therefore the savings is $5.6M. So we start with 31 players at $99,471,286.

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Super Bowl Sunday is days away- get your game day gear in order! TaTaToos are the best way to "support" your team- plus they are sexy and fun!! (www.tatatoos.com) You will certainly be the life of the Super Bowl party.

The “touchdown” temporary tattoos allow you cheer without saying a word. They will certainly take your touchdown dance to the next level!

Make this year’s Super Bowl party one to remember with your touch-down ta-tas! (http://www.tatatoos.com/touch-down/)

The Ravens will be in the hunt for a new linebacker coach, wide receiver coach( if Jim Hostler leaves), and quarterback coach. I wanted to list some possible candidates that could possibly not only fill a need but be able to help The Ravens become better than last year in some areas.

Hue Jackson:

Jackson has been with the ravens before as the quarterback coach (2008-2009)and he definitely will be some one Joe Flacco will be familiar with but it may be best if The Ravens can get Jackson to be the wideceiver coach. Under Jackson’s tutelage in Cincinnati, Chad Ochocinco and T.J Housmanzadeh became one of the most polific wide-receiving tandems in the nfl. In 2005, the Ochocinco-Houshmandzadeh tandem combined to total 175 receptions for 2,388 yards.

Possible coaching postion: wide receiver or quarterback coach. for more info click here

Jim Caldwell:

Caldwell spent most of his time in the nfl as a quarterback coach before he became the head coach of colts in 2009. During his time as the quarterback coach it was said Peyton Manning credited Caldwell for his success where Manning became the first QB since Steve Young with three consecutive 100+ rating seasons Caldwell may be able to help Joe Flacco in a big way and since he has worked with/ watched a elite/future hall famer quarterback, it could be even more helpful for Joe Flacco/

Possible coaching postion: quarterback coach. for more info click here and here

Greg Manusky:

Manusky is a former nfl player( he was a linebacker) who started his career in coaching as a linebacker coach. During his time as linebacker coach of the chargers ( 2002-2006) it was said he help molded one of the best linebacker units in the nfl. Under his guidance Donnie Edwards led the team in tackles, Randall Godfrey finished second and Shawne Merriman was named nfl defensive rookie of the year. Five different linebackers have made the pro bowl while being coached by Manusky.

Possible coaching postion: linebacker coach. for more info click here

If you have any ideas of which coaches The Ravens should target then please share.

I just got to get this out there. If you think Burfict is a good pick in round 1 or 2 then you just don't understand the guy. His mental um processes make him barely able to survive in college and he is totally unable to handle the subtleties of being a pro football player.

I just can't think of another player who is so extreme at both ends. He has a Grade A+ body and a Grade F mind. And it is not a mind that will just learn from Lewis how to be a pro as various writers are saying. This isn't a Jimmy Smith or even a Pacman Jones type of problem. This is more of a there's-not-any-wattage-upstairs type of deal. He's just not smart enough. Just look at some of the "expert" mockers out there you can see that some of them are beginning to see this. They are getting past that wonderous body and seeing that his cheap shots are both not easily correctable and that there's more to it than simply misguided passion. Soon all the mockers wil see this. But let's look at a couple of quotes:

<a href="http://www.draftinsider.net/blog/?p=6055" target="new">From Draft Insider</a> while discussing the Senior Bowl:

<blockquote>Before the practices even started the conversation turned to Arizona State junior linebacker Vontaz Burfict. Separate sources, including one close to the program, told me Burfict’s decision to turn pro was likely centered around the fact he was looking at potential eligibility problems in 2012. Everyone I spoke with said Burfict’s struggles in 2011 are directly related to the fact teammate Brandon Magee never took the field during the season after tearing his Achilles in August. I was told Magee, a leader on the ASU defense, was the one who made sure Burfict was properly positioned on the field and made him aware of assignments. This further confirms my report from the Shrine Game last week where different sources told me, “It’s a matter of Burfict not diagnosing plays correctly if put to the test, amongst other things.”</blockquote>

Or better, this is from <a href="http://rob-rang.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/13682485/34179390" target="new">Rob Rang a couple weeks ago</a>:

<blockquote>Outgoing head coach Dennis Erickson characterized Burfict's junior season as "average." There may not be a more accurate way of putting it.

While Burfict certainly has the hype and talent to warrant leaving school early, quite frankly he's been a disappointment over the past two seasons.

For a player nationally known as an intimidator, Burfict only registered 69 tackles (including seven for loss) in 2011, along with one interception and one fumble recovery. He was not recognized by Pac-12 coaches as a first, second or even honorable mention player following his junior season. This is quite a drop from Burfict's 2010 season in which he led the team with 90 tackles and earned Second Team accolades. It is an even bigger disappointment considering that in 2009 he was named the Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Burfict is explosive. He can rock ball-carriers in the hole, is particularly adept rushing the quarterback and plays with a ferocity that could quickly make him a fan favorite. As you'll read in our official NFLDraftScout.com profile for Burfict, there are plenty of aspects about his game that translate well to the next level.

However, he has been prone to immature behavior that has cost his team penalties at critical stages of games throughout his career. He's not as instinctive as his reputation might lead you to believe, has a soft build and hasn't shown any real improvement since first stepping onto the ASU campus.

As such, he's currently ranked third in our rankings of inside linebacker prospects.

Quite frankly, I think he's as overrated a prospect as there is in the country. He may prove me wrong. He certainly has talent to do so. However, Burfict won't soon get added to my ranking of the top 32 prospects in the draft. Burfict, in fact, wouldn't make my list if the Big Board contained twice as many players. </blockquote>

What happened with Burflict's year with Az St is that the opposing Pac-12 offenses learned that they could simply scheme him out of the game because he's simply not smart enough. That's what the two people I've quoted are saying. Burflict doesn't have a problem like someone who smokes too much dope or got arrested with a DUI. He just doesn't have the ability to understand the subtleties of the game. He is easily confused and that was the reason why his coach benched him. Just wait for the combine and his interviews. Us Pac-12 fans know that he is an awful interview: Ryan Mallet on a real bad day awful. We may pick up a LB in round 1 or 2 but once the Raven's get to talking with him, they will know that he's radioactive. I wouldn't pick him before round 6.