Veteran Free Agents Can Bolster The Ravens

The market is still flooded with veteran free agents. The Baltimore Ravens have gotten quality players at this point in free agency in the past. The market still has a lot of these guys available and the Ravens will no doubt dip into it.

Nnamdi Asomugha still has a lot left in the tank. He was in the wrong situation in Philadelphia and his performance the last two years could make him cheaper. He is also a person who the Ravens could use at safety as he started in the NFL as a safety and played some in college. However he might be out of the Ravens’ price range given their current paradigm.

Karlos Dansby is someone who could try and fill Ray Lewis and Dannell Ellerbe’s vacant spots. He had the highest tackle total of his career last year and has played 16 games 4 of the last 5 years. Dansby has been the leader of an extremely underrated Miami Dolphins’ defense.

James Harrison has probably been the most talked about free agent of late in Charm City. He is looking for a new team as the Pittsburgh Steelers became tired of his fines, suspensions and most of all, injuries. Harrison has missed 8 games in the last two year and his sack total dropped to 6.0 last year. He is no longer an elite pass rusher, but could add depth.

Brad Meester has been a good center in this league for a long time. If the Ravens don’t think that Gino Grandkowski is ready to take the reins and round out the all-Blue Hen battery, then the Ravens should look at Meester. He has been buried on an atrocious Jacksonville Jaguars’ team for 12 years. He hasn’t missed a game since 2008 and would be able to step right in.

The last and most farfetched of all would be Victor Cruz. In my opinion, the Ravens need to add depth at receiver. Cruz is a restricted free agent and has a first round tender attached to him. The Ravens would have to give up their first round pick to get him. I really don’t think this will happen, but it would be exciting if it did. The Ravens will be hard pressed to find a better player with the #32 pick then Cruz. The general sentiment is that Cruz had a down year last year, but the numbers don’t suggest that. Hakeem Nicks was injured at times and Mario Manningham went to San Francisco so he was the main man. He still had 86 grabs, over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. The New York Giants would have a chance to match, but this is certainly an interesting prospect.

The Ravens get better every year late in free agency and this year will be no different.