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A lot of so-called experts, be it NFL analysts or know-it-all fans, have already written off the Baltimore Ravens as Super Bowl contenders for the 2013-14 season. The Ravens have lost more than half of their defensive starters as well as key parts of their offense.
To replace the losses, the team has signed free agent veterans at cap-friendly prices, as well as drafted young players with unlimited potential. The question remains of whether these new guys can fill the shoes and roles of the ones that have departed.
For the ones that have gone on to one of the other 31 teams in the NFL, odds are that their new employers will not be getting the type of performance out of them that attracted them to their new team in the first place. Over the years, the Ravens have not re-signed certain players,who have found much greener pastures (defined: Paydays) with other teams.
Unfortunately, those players have rarely replicated the same success that they had here in Baltimore. Is that a matter of team chemistry, lack of performance or perhaps just Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome and his staff knowing the perfect time to leta veteran walk when they see their value significantly less than what the market bears.
How many times have we seen the Ravens lose a player to free agency on to end up seeing that player either not pan out as hoped or even fail miserably with the new team? The list is long and forgive me if I miss anyone and feel free to add them in the comments section below.
Adalius Thomas
Edgerton Hartwell
Jim Leonhard
Bart Scott
Jarret Johnson
Willis McGahee
Jason Brown
Jamal Lewis
Le'Ron McClain
Todd Heap
Tom Zbikowski
The list is probably a lot longer and this writer thinks next year at this time, we can add Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe, Cary Williams, Bernard Pollard, and yes, even Ed Reed.
To be fair, there have been a few players who have continued to play at a high level after leaving the Ravens. The much shorter list that most quickly comes to mind includes Brandon Stokley, Steven Hauschka and Priest Holmes.
Post your opinions on which players that have left the team did not succeed and which did, plus what are your thoughts on who left this off-season and what you expect their future success to be.