Courtesy: Baltimore Sun
Free agency for the 2013 NFL season began on Tuesday March 12th, usually an exciting time for football fans alike, unless you’re a Ravens fan. While other teams like the Dolphins, Chiefs, and Lions have added a lot, the Ravens have lost a lot of key pieces that were instrumental in last season’s Super Bowl run.
Beginning with the surprising trade of Anquan Boldin on the eve of “Free Agent Frenzy” the Ravens then lost Paul Kruger, Danelle Ellerbe, Cary Williams, Bernard Pollard, Ed Reed; not to mention Ray Lewis and Matt Birk to retirement. You would think by now us Ravens fans would have faith in General Manager Ozzie Newsome.
From 2000-2012 the Ravens have made the playoffs nine times, including two Super Bowl titles. From what I’ve learned over the years about certain Raven fans, well some people are never satisfied. Below are some comments that were posted all over my Facebook wall, no names will be given in the sake of privacy and common decency. Here they are………
So I guess the Ravens have decided to make themselves under-dogs even though they are Super Bowl champs…Boldin, Kruger and Ellerbe? Really?
Wow…didn’t think we’d lose Ellerbe, now I’m thinking were gonna lose ma main man #20 🙁 ughhhh!!!!!
How many Superbowl Champ Ravens will we still have left by Friday??
Over hearing about these dumb decisions the ravens are making….less than a month til opening day! Lets go Os!!
Ravens u just keep disappointing me 🙁 flacco will be no good without someone to catch the ball
And these are only the ones before the Bernard Pollard release, if only I had copied and pasted a few of those. Now is there reason to be a little concerned? Of course there is; these were a lot of key contributors of not only this past Super Bowl run, but for a lot of the Ravens previous playoff success as well. Could the Ravens have restructured a few contracts here? Moved a little money there? If only we had a point of reference to look at. Well holy shit balls there are! Let’s take a little history lesson, shall we?
2001 Ravens:
The 2000 Ravens won the Super Bowl, on the power of arguably the greatest defense of all time. Not to mention a physical running game with Jamal Lewis and possibly the greatest game manger Quarterback of all time in Trent Dilfer. The idea for the following 01 season was simple, bring back the defense intact and add some pieces on the offensive side. The defense was brought back intact minus SS Kim Herring (one of the more replaceable guys on that defense). On offense Leon Searcy was brought in to play RT opposite Jonathon Ogden and in one of the most controversial moves in franchise history, Trent Dilfer was not resigned in favor of bringing in flashy free agent Elvis Grbac. The idea being with a more explosive offense combined with the great defense, this 2001 version of the Ravens could be unstoppable.
To make all of that happen though? A lot of contracts were restructured, which means the Ravens were all in on that season to repeat, knowing that the years to follow they would be in dire straits as far as the salary cap went. The 2001 took a few major hits before the season even started as Jamal Lewis and Leon Searcy were both knocked out for the year in training camp. The defense was still great, but not all time great like in 2000 and Elvis Grbac was not quite what our front office brass had hoped for. The 2001 season ended in the 2nd round of the playoffs in Pittsburgh. Welcome to salary cap hell.
2002-2005 Ravens
Hello 2002 and goodbye Shannon Sharpe, Tony Siragusa, Sam Adams, Rod Woodson, Duane Starks, Qadry Ismail, Michael McCrary, Rob Burnett, Jamie Sharper, Jermaine Lewis, Elvis Grbac, and probably a few more I can’t think of. Many believed that the 02 Ravens were going to be the worst team in the league, but surprisingly were a very competitive 7-9 and nearly made the playoffs. 2003 Division Champions at 10-6, but an opening round playoff loss to Tennessee. 2004 9-7 and no playoffs. 2005 5-11 and no playoffs.
So what did we learn? Going all in on one season is not very good for the long term. Well sure, but this is a different situation right? Of course, every year is different. To fully understand though, we’re going to make a list of all the players that the Ravens lost THIS year and we’ll go over their strengths, weaknesses, and blah blah blah.
Ray Lewis: (Retired)
The heart and soul of the Ravens for the past 17 years. Lewis’ leadership and intangibles are off the charts. On the field, his game noticeably dropped off in the last five years or so. Still he was a pretty good tackler even in the latter years, although he was always a liability in pass coverage.
Matt Birk: (Retired)
Birk was always a solid and reliable center. A guy that a young offensive line could look up to. Gino Gradkawski was drafted last year as the possible successor to Birk. Whether it’s Gradkawski or someone else is anyone’s guess at this point.
Bobbie Williams:(Released)
Mainly a backup, Williams was capable of playing either guard position and even started a few games when needed.
Anquan Boldin: (Traded to San Francisco)
Okay, so I’ll admit it, this one hurt. Boldin was a straight beast in the playoffs. His toughness and will to win couldn’t be reckoned with, Joe Flacco’s security blanket. Boldin carried a heavy cap number in to this season and since he’s about to turn 33, he’s definitely not in the Ravens long term plans, still it would have been nice to have him for another year or two. Tandon Doss is being talked about as a possible replacement.
Dannelle Ellerbe: (Signed with Miami)
Definitely a disappointing departure considering the Ravens made it clear that Ellerbe was the top priority besides Flacco. I was a little bummed at first, that is until what I saw what he signed for, 5 years 35 million. Don’t get me wrong I like Ellerbe a lot, but he’s not worth 7 mil a year. Ellerbe has a lot of potential to be a great linebacker, he’s fast, quick, a good tackler, and pretty decent in coverage. The problem with Ellerbe was always durability, the dude just never stays healthy.
Paul Kruger: (Signed with Cleveland)
8 Mil a year? No way were the Ravens going to come near that for a guy who wasn’t even a starter. Kruger is definitely a really good pass rusher, still not sure he can be an every down linebacker/d-end, and we shall see I guess.
Cary Williams: (Signed with Philadelphia)
Started off the season pretty rough. After a not so great performance in the Sunday night game against New England, Cary Williams came on pretty strong and stepped up big after Webb was lost for the year. A game sealing interception in the AFC Championship and a touchdown saving deflection in the Super Bowl, Cary Williams played beyond expectations. With Webb coming back and the emergence of Corey Graham, not to mention Jimmy Smith, Chris Johnson, and Asa Jackson. Cary Williams became expendable.
Bernard Pollard: (Released)
Definitely the most shocking of all the losses. With Boldin at least there were some expectations that he could be a cap causality. The Pollard release kind of came out of left field. Was it a cap move? Was it because he was a locker room problem? Whatever the case he’s gone. Pollard was probably one of the most physical players on the team, he lit dudes up, and he provided an intimidation factor like no other. He was never the greatest in coverage and attracted more yellow flags then you’d like to see. Only 28 years old and had just signed an extension last year, which doesn’t make sense to me, but apparently they know something I don’t.
Ed Reed:(Signed with Houston)
As of this writing it’s only been a few hours since this went down. Ed Reed is a legend no doubt and I was hoping he would stay for the right price and that right there is the key. Reed is one of the smartest players of all time, the guy is like the Peyton Manning of safeties, but I say why overpay a 34 year old safety that can’t hit anymore.
So why so serious people? Everyone besides Ray Lewis is replaceable. I know it sucks losing all these guys in a very condensed period after winning a Super Bowl, but it will be the best thing in the long term, not that this year is just going to flushed down the toilet. We still have Flacco, Rice, Torrey Smith, Jacoby, Suggs, Ngata, and Pitta. Not to mention 12 draft picks and who knows how many more free agent signings (already signed Chris Canty and Marcus Spears, two really good run stopping D-linemen). Will everyone chill out a little now that the Ravens signed
Courtesy: USA Today
Elvis Dumervil? I would like to think so. How about moving up in the draft to take Tavon Austin? That would be exciting yes?
What if we miss all the players we lost and wind up going 7-9? That would suck, but we would get better draft picks. Flacco, Rice, Ngata, and Suggs were players taken in the 1st round (Rice in the 2nd) after losing seasons. Not that I’m rooting for a losing season, I want to go 19-0 every year. I’m just saying if the Ravens did have a losing season it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
I could probably go on and on about this whole thing, but I’d like to keep this under 10,000 words. So in closing I’d like to say to irrational Raven fans to chill the fuck out! If any of you people could do Ozzie Newsome’s job better than him, then you would be doing it. I know change can be scary, especially this much change which is a lot even for the Ravens. Trust Ozzie Newsome, he has the TEAM’S best interest at heart and his track record speaks for itself.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I’m not telling anyone what to think, I’m merely presenting facts. If I was able to change just one person’s mind then this whole column was worth it. I’ll be back next week and God damn I need some sleep.
