A turbulent offseason for Ravens puts extra focus on draft needs

A new coach. A failed trade. The loss of some key players, including center Tyler Linderbaum. It’s been three months of action and reaction but are the Baltimore Ravens improving this offseason? Luke Jones and Nestor reset the turbulent offseason of general manager Eric DeCosta as the NFL Draft approaches in Pittsburgh on April 23rd.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Execute the Maryland Crab Cake Tour promotion by hosting the event at Faidley’s at Lexington Market next Friday (Giants game day), obtaining fresh tickets from Roz, and coordinating with Marcella and Koko’s for a later-in-the-month activity.
• [ ] Cover the Ravens’ OTA sessions and early offseason program when they begin next week, including arranging access to coach Jesse Minter and other key staff.

Ravens Offseason and Draft Preparations

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the sponsors Farnan and Durham, and Cole Roofing and Gordian Energy.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming NFL draft, which is three weeks away, and the calmness that has settled over the Ravens offseason.
• Luke Jones mentions the visit of veteran defensive tackle DJ Reader to the Ravens, indicating potential interest in defensive reinforcements.
• The conversation shifts to the NFL’s offseason, noting the slowdown in activity compared to the baseball offseason.

Ravens’ Coaching Staff and Offseason Program

• Luke Jones discusses the new coaching staff led by head coach John Harbaugh, who is new to the position after 18 years.
• The offseason program is set to start earlier than usual due to the new head coach, with an emphasis on lifting weights and running.
• Jesse Minter, the new defensive coordinator, is preparing for his first practice, and there is curiosity about how he will run the defense.
• The conversation highlights the importance of the draft and the need for the Ravens to address holes in their roster, particularly on the offensive line.

Ravens’ Roster and Free Agency

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ roster, noting the departure of key players and the uncertainty surrounding Matt Judon’s return.
• The conversation touches on the Ravens’ cap space and the potential for making value signings or trades to improve the roster.
• Luke Jones mentions the importance of the 14th overall pick in the draft and the need to draft a player who can contribute immediately.
• The discussion includes the potential impact of the new coaching staff on players like Lamar Jackson and the defensive unit.

Lamar Jackson and Offseason Training

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss Lamar Jackson’s offseason training, including his community work and boxing workouts.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of Lamar Jackson adapting his training methods as he enters his age-29 season.
• The conversation highlights the need for Lamar Jackson to stay healthy and maintain his running ability, which was a key part of the Ravens’ offense.
• The discussion also touches on the importance of other players like Marlon Humphrey and Roquan Smith adapting to the new coaching staff.

Ravens’ Division Standing and Future Plans

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ standing in the AFC North, noting that the Ravens are still the division favorites despite their current roster holes.
• The conversation includes a comparison of the Ravens’ situation to other teams in the division, such as the Steelers, Browns, and Bengals.
• Luke Jones mentions the importance of the draft in addressing the Ravens’ needs and improving the team’s overall roster.
• The discussion concludes with a focus on the upcoming draft and the potential for the Ravens to make significant improvements to their roster.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Baltimore Ravens, NFL draft, offseason, Jesse Minter, Lamar Jackson, Matt Judon, offensive line, defensive tackle, free agency, new coaching staff, OTAs, cap space, roster holes, pro days, owners meetings.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:02

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. I am wearing my Farnan and Dermer gear. Here. There are the comfort guys. Actor Zach dermos could come on the show this week. He loves sports, man, I like talking sports. People love sports and have a little history, especially the younger types. So I’m looking forward to that. And if you have any, I would say heating because it was cold on Saturday, or air conditioning because it could be 80 later in the week. Our friends are the comfort guys. They can keep it. I keep my place at 7071, because I’m skinny and I got skinnier in South America. I get cold. But if you want to do 67 or 68 you can do that. You know, whatever, whatever comfort is for you, our friends at Farnan and Durham are confined for you. They are the comfort guys, and we are very appreciative of all of their sponsorship of our sports coverage. If you’re on the wnst tech service that’s all brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy. You know about the Shane boss thing Luke is always on this thing, the Crosby thing. You and I did all the two segments, and by the time we did the second one, and I was in, I think I was in Montevideo or, no, I was in Machu Picchu. I think when we did the Crosby thing, last thing we did, like the last ravens thing we’ve done around here, we’re gonna move off a baseball for a moment here, because the football team’s gonna draft in three weeks. I know it’s hard for you because you love football, but baseball’s really your thing, and wrestling is really your thing. But don’t tell anybody what’s Wrestlemania?

Luke Jones  01:32

What is it? What? Two and a half weeks out, mid April, moving

Nestor Aparicio  01:37

it right, like Final Four, and it used to be right, okay, so that’s why you’re not wrestling up. But I know that you dig football, and it’s the big banana and all of that, but I know you love even more so than I when we go to two and a half weeks and don’t do a football piece, there’s not a whole lot of that that we do. So I just want to step back in. I’m back from South America healthy, even though my got my wife sick, and it’s awful. Where are you with the Ravens right now? I mean, it’s calm, calm down a little bit. Other than Jesse Minter working the hose out in left field, it’s calmed down a little bit, right? It had. It’s calmed

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Luke Jones  02:17

down a lot, a lot. I mean, it really has. I mean, I will say this. I mean, I thought it was interesting that DJ reader visited the Ravens last week. You know, a veteran defensive tackle who has had a good career, you know, I thought that was interesting. I mean, there’s some

Speaker 1  02:31

BK leakage too, right? That made maybe, yeah. I mean,

Luke Jones  02:35

there’s, there’s nothing definitive, but, I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  02:39

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it’s, well, that’s the reader thing. Is sort of that position, right? So, yeah.

Luke Jones  02:42

I mean, yes, yeah. I mean, he’s a little more of a note readers, a little more of a nose tackle, and he’s wide Matta, BK, more three, three technique, and can kick outside a little bit here and there, but, but they had that. I mean, they, they visited with David and joku not long ago. So, you know, they’re kicking the tires on guys. And that’s not to say nothing’s happening, but you get to the point where you’re three weeks out from the draft. I mean, it’s, you know, yeah, you know, the focus has changed, right? I mean, pro days that are going on, which, as I’m now, it’s funny for me, because I always kind of explain this to people in my life, even where most of the year, ravens are my major focus, right? I mean, football’s King. Football’s King in Baltimore, football is king in this country. We get that. But even, even just with the baseball offseason, how that is not just for the Orioles, but in general, it’s not the behemoth that football is right, but this is actually one of the rare times in the calendar when the NFL does slow down a little bit, other than for people who are so hardcore into the draft. So you know, free agency, the first, second, third, fourth wave of free agency in the in the rear view mirror. Now there’s still value signings that’ll be made. I’m guessing the Ravens will still make a couple value signings at some point here over the coming weeks, but the focus is really on the draft. Obviously, this week the owners meetings, you know, we’ll see Jesse Minter will be part of that, as the coaches have the breakfast press conferences and all that. But it does slow down right now. And I think for the ravens, when you have an off season that they’ve had where, you know new head coach for the first time in 18 years, your your roster has undergone some, you know, not unprecedented change, but they certainly had a lot of guys walk out the door, maybe a few more than normal and free agency, you know, but, but they always lose guys. The Crosby thing happens, you know, you’ve got a almost a brand new coaching staff, save for a couple holdovers here and there. They’re very much as a sense of, oh yeah, the offseason program starts next Monday, and. And that’s two weeks earlier, because they’re a team with a new head coach. So I think there’s a sense of curiosity for and the first few weeks of the offseason program, we know it’s just lifting weights and running. I mean, they’re not doing any true football stuff just yet, but there’s very much a curiosity and an excitement to not hearing Jesse Minter in a press conference, but seeing him out on the field running his first practice is,

Nestor Aparicio  05:29

when is that? When’s he gonna put a whistle on?

Luke Jones  05:31

I mean, it’s gonna be a little while still. So, you know, April, what sixth or seventh, whatever it is, is the start of the offseason program. And then they get into, you know, they lift weights, all that kind of thing. So they do that for the first few weeks. And then they’ll have, at, I assume, it’ll be a similar structure, but again, it’s, it’s a different head coach, so how’s it going to look exactly? But they have football school where guys will come in and, you know, it’s a little more catered towards the younger guys, but, but, but you get into the draft and rookie camp and but, but as far as what we’ll be able to see, you know, OTAs, we’re still, we’re still ways away from from that, but just getting these guys in the building, I mean, if you’re Jesse Minter, there are still prominent players on this team that he hasn’t met With in person. Right now. He’s talked to these guys. He’s texted him. He’s done zooms with a lot of them. You know, he’s met guys. I mean, guys are in the building. It’s not like it’s a complete ghost town, but there are individuals who haven’t been in the building since the end of last year that he’s texted with, and he’s maybe FaceTimed with and and stuff like that. But he’s actually going to get a chance to be in a room with these guys. So there’s absolutely curiosity with that. I mean, we’re still a ways out from the media getting to see that dynamic, but that’s going to be happening here, and that’s why, you know, for Jesse Minter and these coaches, I mean, these last few weeks, we don’t see it, but they’re drinking from the fire hose a little bit in terms of getting everything in place. You know what your systems in place, wanting you know all how your meetings are going to go, how your practices are going to go, like all that stuff they have to they want to have all that stuff ready to go. So when players get in, there’s no wasted time, right? They have a finite amount of time they can have with guys this time of year, so they want to make the most of it. So I think all that stuff, well, you know, it’s not something that you’re necessarily thinking about. 24/7, there’s definitely a curiosity that to that I’m, I am way more interested in OTAs for the first time, and I couldn’t tell you how long Nestor, I mean, just being perfectly honest, you know, OTAs, when you’ve covered a team for a long enough time and it’s the same head coach and same this same that it’s kind of sort of babysitting, not, not, not, I’m not saying that to be patronizing or anything like but you’re kind of there to make sure that someone doesn’t tear up their knee and is carted off, right? I mean, that’s kind of why you’re there for the early, the earliest of the early workouts. So, but this year, there’s, it’s way different. How’s Jesse Mintzer going to run a press run up practice? How’s he going to run? How’s he going to conduct himself for a post practice press conference when I don’t know his team fumbled the ball six times during practice? You know, like, I’m just making it up, but there, there’s a lot of new, there’s a lot of fresh and, yeah, I think there is a curiosity to that that, frankly, just isn’t there. When you’ve had a head coach for the same head coach for the better part of two decades, and now you don’t have that same head coach, and it is a brand new guy. So I’m really intrigued to see what that’s going to look like as we, you know, get on the other side of the draft and start to get to some of the on field stuff that we’ll be able to watch.

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Nestor Aparicio  08:49

Certainly, the one thing on on the Ravens that that hits me is the Matta BK thing, because we just talked about Shane Boz and giving him all the money, and how that works when you give all the money and it doesn’t work and there’s an injury, or when it’s career threatening or and very nebulous, right, like whatever the HIPAA thing is that Har ball would move to right now to say it’s it’s a big concern, given the money and where they are and the position and what they lacked in regard To pass rush and what they picked up in Hendrickson, but what they didn’t get in in Crosby, and where they are with the 14th pick, they’re not a better football team than they were, even when they got eliminated against the Steelers. I guess we’re looking at almost 1112, weeks ago now, right?

Luke Jones  09:38

I mean, I don’t know. I hear, I understand the point you’re making. But if we use, if that’s the standard, then a team’s never better the next year, right? Or at least the right

Nestor Aparicio  09:48

way they get better would be Matt a BK coming back and having a hell of a draft and on the 14th, no question about it.

Luke Jones  09:54

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I mean, that’s that’s going to be very important. They need to get better. Oh no, no question. No. Let me be clear. Yeah. Yeah, and in that way, you’re right. I guess I’m just looking at it through the lens of but, but every you would say that about most teams right now, at least the teams that are smart, right? I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  10:09

well, the ones that go sign a bunch of

Luke Jones  10:11

people better, right? Like the Raiders. Like, okay, the Raiders went out and signed a bunch of guys. They’re better with Tyler, Linder bomb right now. But does that mean the Raiders are remotely good enough still. I mean, who knows, right? I mean, check back with me when, when we see what Mendoza looks like at the next level, right? So, but yeah. I mean, there’s they have a lot of work to do. I will say this and and this is where it’s funny, because I pushed back. I started pushing back at what you said. But this is going to make it sound like I do agree with you. Don’t do

Nestor Aparicio  10:40

that. I would say, when we agree,

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Luke Jones  10:43

well, I would just say this for where they stand right now, when you’re talking the end of March and early April, they do have a few more holes right now than they normally do there. I don’t think there’s any question about that. The uncertainty with Matta BK whether there’s growing optimism or not, right? I mean, we don’t know. I’m not going to sit here and say he is or he is not,

Nestor Aparicio  11:03

but he might be, and he wasn’t in

Luke Jones  11:04

December, right? And if he’s back then. Man, that pass rush with Trey Hendrickson on the edge and Matt a BK rushing from the interior. Man, that’s you got something there. There’s no doubt about that, especially with Jesse Minter running the defense now, but and Anthony Weaver as well. But I think when you just look at them collectively, and it begins with the offensive line, they do have more holes right now, three weeks out from the draft then generally we see most off seasons now, they can still make moves, they can still make trades. They can still make signings. They have cap space. Now we can look at that cap space a few different ways. You want to maintain some of that, hoping that you get something done with Lamar Jackson, because any contract extension with them, having done that restructure that they did, they opened up a bunch of space. But ideally, if you worked out a contract extension, whether it’s this week, next month, or in June or July, you would actually add to his cap number for this year, because that would make it easier to manage for the long run. So you’d like to maintain cap space, but they have cap space. They there if there’s a move out there that they feel makes sense for them, and that’s why it was interesting to see them meet with DJ reader, or to see them meet with David and joku, right? I mean, we we know that the Ravens have made a habit in recent years of signing a veteran free agent after the draft, because you get to that point, you know a few days after the draft, when the deadline passes, that it no longer counts against the comp pick formula, and we know that that’s important for them. So there’s still things to be done, but I will say, yeah, you kind of look at where their roster is right now in the present, they do have a few more holes than they normally would have at this point, and that’s where you don’t love it, from the standpoint of when you’re going into the ape into the draft in a few weeks, and yes, you have the 14th overall pick. You still don’t want to be drafting for need to too dramatically, right? You have a few areas where and look best player available. I’ve said it for years, it’s best player available that satisfies a need. We know that, because if it is literally best player available. First of all, that’s a subjective thing anyway, but if you did that, what’s not to say that you wouldn’t draft a position that you aren’t, that you’re very deep, right? So we know that need always factors in, even when they say it doesn’t. But you look at the O line, honestly, I’d still look at corner, wide receiver. You know, knowing that zay flowers is, you know, a year away from his fifth year option. And, you know, go look at what Jackson Smith and jigba just made. Zay flowers isn’t him, but zay flowers is, I’m telling you, zay flowers is easily going to be a 30 million plus receiver. So whether you’re prepared to do that, or whether you need to go draft another wide receiver as a contingency plan. If what happens with a flowers is what happened with linderbaum, right? So, so you can look at that position, defensive tackle. You know whether Matt ABK is going to be back or not, certainly is. Is a big factor there. So, but I just look at the O line. I mean, who’s the starting center, who’s the starting right guard? I mean, we don’t know right now, right guard. I mean, I think they’re hoping Emory Jones can be that guy, but you better bring in some very serious competition. I’m not just, not just handing him that job. I mean, get out of here with that thought. You know, he’s got to earn it. So that doesn’t mean draft a first round guard, because if you draft a first round guard, then, okay, that guy’s, you know, going to beat out Emery Jones. But you know, do you draft someone in the first round that’s kind of guard or maybe center, right? I mean, like, do you draft someone that has some positional versatility? The one thing, and I won’t bore you too much with the offensive line draft prospects and and I’m not going to sit here and and pretend that, as I’m now focused on the Orioles and baseball coverage, that I’m studying those guys intimately. But you do look at some of the first round names on the O line that could be an option at 14, there’s some guys that, you know, there’s some perception and some debate about, you know, guard or centers, guard or tackle, right? I mean, so do you draft someone like that and then just kind of say, hey, wherever we have our biggest need, we’re going to slot that guy in. That’ll be our, that’ll be the Kyle Hamilton of our offensive line, you know, our Swiss Army knife. So, but, but, yeah, you do kind of look at these, these areas of need, and they’ve addressed some of them, certainly. You know, they safety looks like it’s in pretty darn good shape. Now, I mean, I said to you that that, you know, that was one of their, one of my favorite signings that they made in kind of that second wave of free agency was drafting Jalen or not drafting signing Jalen Hawkins away from the Patriots. I think, I think he’s going to be an upgrade over a low he Gilman, quite frankly. So you know, they’ve addressed some of those positions, but, man, you still look at the interior of that old line, and I know you and I were fine with the John Simpson signing, but I didn’t love it. I’m not going to sit here and try to make John Simpson out to be more than what I think he is. I think he’s an okay starter. I don’t think he’s any better than that. I didn’t miss him

Nestor Aparicio  16:25

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when he was gone, so I find that he did. Yeah, he’s a

Luke Jones  16:28

good dude. Like, I like him. Like I he’s, I think you’re gonna be able to depend on him, but I think best case scenario, he’s an average starter for you you need that can’t be your anchor, for your interior, you know, like a couple years

Nestor Aparicio  16:42

of your $60 million quarterback, yeah, exactly.

Luke Jones  16:45

So a couple years ago, I mean, John Simpson was the weak link to the interior right and it worked because you had Linder bomb at center and you had Zeitler at right guard. So we’re gonna have to see how that plays out. But all that being said, they do have the 14th overall pick. And as I stated before, they do have some cap space, so they do have flexibility here to continue to make the football team better. And as Eric da Costa would say, if he were listening to our conversation right now, he would say, we’re still not playing another football game for, what, another five and a half months. So there’s still time. So it’s definitely, you know, that point in the calendar, though, where free agency, you know, certainly monitoring free agency with any regularity that that’s in the rear view mirror at this point in time. And now it’s Hey, you go through these pro days, and you know, your 30 visits and all of that, and we’re going to see who they draft. And you’re hoping, because this is the first time since they drafted Kyle Hamilton, that they’ve drafted this early in a first round, you’re hoping you’re going to come away with a guy that is, at a minimum, a plug and play rock solid starter. I mean, that you draft someone at 14, you better be ready to play. They’re going to need that guy to play. So, you know, I mean, I guess, I guess there’s a scenario you drafted, if you draft a corner that maybe he’s not a day one starter, because you’ve got Wiggins and you’ve got Humphrey, and you brought back woozy a but, you know, assuming, and this is, I’m not going to place, you know, I’m not going to bet my mortgage on this, but, you know, you kind of look at where they are, you kind of look at the prospects in this draft. It’s tough for me to to say that go anywhere but O line right now, you know, to kind of, because it’s their biggest need. But that’s not to say that that’s what they’re going to do. But whoever it is, man, it needs to be an impact player for them, because, yeah, they are kind of in a position right now where few more holes than normal, even this time of year, knowing that, yeah, you still have the draft and, yeah, you can still sign some veteran players here and there, but there’s, there’s some more work to be done. And I think Eric da Costa recognizes that. I don’t think he has his head in the sand about that.

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Nestor Aparicio  18:59

He’s Luke Jones. I am Nestor. We’re talking a little ravens football here. So I schedules, you know, come out around the corner, right that that’s late. We’re there. They’re placing games now. They’re doing all this stuff. Sashi is out in Phoenix, the owners meetings. I would be in Phoenix right now. Be nicer there. I promise you that. Looking having a orange juice over Camelback Mountain, out there at the Biltmore, I would think for them, they’re still the best team in the division, right? I mean, as we sit here, we look at it and say, whatever their holes are, the Steelers have bigger problems. The Browns are the browns, and the Bengals are the Bengals. So for that, it’s status quo in that they’re still the division favorite and they still have a Lamar Jackson, he’s been kind of quiet, right? I mean, it’s been a quiet I mean, I don’t follow him on IG or, you know, whatever, but, like, nobody’s been arrested, nobody’s going to jail. Nothing weird to happen. Their biggest scandal has been the one brought on by their general manager three weeks ago.

Luke Jones  19:54

Yeah, I mean, the max Crosby deal, yeah, with Lamar. I mean, I’ve seen, you know, he’s done. A little bit of community work down in Florida. I saw him do a couple of events with kids, you know, football and all that, which is cool to see. I see that he’s been doing boxing workouts, which reminded me of Jamal Lewis once upon a time. I did see that, yeah. So, you know, I thought that was interesting. I mean, one thing I said to you, not sure we’re ever going to get clarity on this or anything like that. But I said it at the time, and I say this as a guy that is a big believer in Lamar Jackson overall. I wanted to see how he was going to attack this this offseason, coming off of a year where he was banged up and he had some injuries, and you know, how do you how do you approach it? Do you maintain the status quo of what you’ve always done? Or do you change up your workouts? Do you do some different things? Not saying you work harder per se or but do you work differently? Do you adjust? Do you do some things differently just because, hey, I want to address the fact that I had a hamstring injury, or, you know, whatever, I wanted to see how he would react to that. Because, I mean, let’s face it, regardless of what’s going to happen with his contract in the coming weeks and months and the next couple of years. You know he’s entering his age 29 season. I mean, Lamar is not a young man anymore. When it comes to the NFL in general, it’s not old, like he’s not washed or anything crazy like that. But you talk to any player who had a long career in the National Football League, whether it’s a quarterback like Tom Brady eating avocado ice cream or someone like Ray Lewis, who played 17 years in the league, right? I mean, you know, a long career, you know. So I think you recognize that as you get older, you have to be that much more vigilant and that much more diligent and taking care of your body and working out and finding ways to stay healthy over the long term and to do different things. And you know, whether it’s dropping a few pounds, whether it’s adding a few pounds, right? I mean, there’s all different ways to look at it. I mean, to me, I think it’s going to be fascinating to see what a new coaching staff has in mind for Lamar Jackson, but I certainly don’t want him to give up on running altogether, right? I mean, you know, you don’t want it to be that he’s running, you know, 10 design runs a game, but I think it’d be a disservice to him at a disservice to this offense, if you eliminated that, but he’s got to get back to his legs feeling good, right? I mean, his legs weren’t right for most of 2025 and that was a detriment to the offense. There’s no doubt about that. So this isn’t like anything complicated. You know, it doesn’t mean he has to take up boxing, for example, but it’s just, hey, you know, being a little more introspective about your career. I mean, Lamar, he may not admit it publicly, but just like any athlete, I mean, he’s not 21 anymore, he’s not 22 anymore, he’s not 23 anymore, he’s going to have to do things differently as he gets older, just like any athlete, you know, that’s how you train, when you train, how hard you train your diet, your nutrition, all those different things you got to look at and and let me be clear, that’s not me implying that he was doing wrong things, and that’s why he got hurt this past year. It’s football. The injury rates 100% over time. We know that. But as you get older, are you constantly finding ways to gain an edge, right? I mean, I use this

Nestor Aparicio  23:20

example to include Derek Henry Rand is

Luke Jones  23:22

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probably good for I mean, Derek Henry is a great example that I always use the Shannon Sharpe example. Shannon Sharpe talked about how he got to, like, age 30 in his career, and he knew at that point he tried to drop about five pounds every off season because he needed to

Nestor Aparicio  23:35

be fast enough he couldn’t keep up with the guys. I would think, the Odell Beckham’s and the D hops and those guys coming in have all been a really good influence on Lamar. I mean, I haven’t talked to Lamar in four years thanks to Chad steel, but like, I’m assuming he’s four years more on the road to 30 than he was on to teenager when I

Luke Jones  23:52

met him. Yeah, so and again. This isn’t to imply that he was doing things wrong, but it’s just, hey, when you have the kind of frustrating season that he had, that the team had in general. And by the way, everything I’m talking about here applies to the Marlin Humphries of the roster and the roquan Smiths of the roster. And, you know, someone like Ronnie Stanley, who is way closer to the end than the beginning. Now, I mean, like, this is everyone you know, this is just that’s life in the NFL if you want to have a 10 plus year career, you know? I mean, that’s, it’s hard. You know, there’s a reason why the average career length in the NFL is only, what, two or three years. I mean, it, it’s really, it’s tough to do it just from a competitive standpoint, and it’s so physically demanding. Like these guys, they’re in car crashes every week. Even quarterbacks, maybe not car crashes every week, but they still take their share of hits. So, you know, I thought that was interesting, but you know, now it’s a matter of you’re getting closer and closer to guys getting back in the building. Certainly, if you’re Jesse Minter and you’re this new coaching staff, you want to see the amount of buy in that you’re hoping for in terms of guys showing. Up and being there consistently, you know, starting with your quarterback and going on down right? So we’re going to see about that. But as we know, with the contract not being resolved and that being a thing until it’s not a thing, and Lamar fans who don’t like hearing about that tough. I mean, it’s an issue until it’s not. I mean, it’s just the truth. Doesn’t mean he’s going to hold out or anything crazy, just but it’s there until it’s not. So, yeah, how much is he going to be around? What does that look like? What does the offense look like? You know, same thing with the defensive side of the ball. I mean, I think the defense, it’ll be probably not as dramatic of a transition, because Jesse Minter, you know, this system is all Baltimore roots, right? I mean, it’s, it’ll be different, but it’s not going to be night and day, you know, Jesse mentor, compared to Zach Orr, I wouldn’t think, but yeah, there’s curiosity with all that. And now that, other than the draft, you know, the free agency, that part of it, the bulk of the roster building, has been done. You know, all eyes are on the draft, and then, yeah, let’s start to see these guys on the field and see what it looks like. Because, man, those guys, you know, Lamar on down, regardless of you know, whether they’re happy about a new head coach or miss John Harbaugh, or any you know, any of that they have, they all have a sour taste in their mouth from what happened this past year, that was not fun for any of them. So, and they’re the ones now where you can’t point the finger at John Harbaugh anymore. You can’t point the finger at Todd monkey or Zach Gore anymore. So for these players, it very much is a case of All right, we’ve changed up the coaching variables now it’s on. You go out there and make sure what happened in 2025 doesn’t happen again this year. Draft month

Nestor Aparicio  26:43

is ahead. Where’s the draft this year? Look,

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Luke Jones  26:45

it’s Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh.

Nestor Aparicio  26:47

We could drive. In fact, they’re sure you don’t want to go. I’m 1,000% sure you could with one trip to Pittsburgh every year. Yeah, okay, yeah.

Luke Jones  26:55

Well, you heard that they’re actually, they’re closing schools for a few days. I know. I think they’re doing remote, and I think it’s for that, you know, the downtown, or, I guess I should say Don tan, right downtown, but yeah, I mean, the draft in Pittsburgh. And just a reminder of, you know, the curiosity, which, hey, Sashi Brown, I mean, is there going to be an update on Baltimore hosting the draft here at some point? That’s a good

Nestor Aparicio  27:18

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question. I hope somebody asks him, yeah.

Luke Jones  27:21

So I’m sure, I’m sure that will come up. Because that’s, that’s come up in the last couple, you know, couple years ago, when I was there, that came up as well. So, but, you know, we’ll see, and, you know, we’ll find out, I guess, if there’s any uniform changes, or any of that kind of stuff going on, I mean, I, you know, I saw they put out, you know, it was the 30th anniversary the other day of you know, the Raven’s name being announced, right when art modell did that. And there were a few people that pointed out there were a lot of images of the Flying bee logo in that video. Let me be clear, I haven’t heard anything. So this is I’m not even like hinting that I know something. But there were a lot of people wondering, is there something? Has something been worked out? I would say this, you know, they had that purple alternate helmet, which, you know, it’s got the kiss bird on it. It just looks weird to me. I like that logo, but it’s weird for a helmet logo. I would love to see in a hypothetical world where they worked out an agreement that there’s no more lawsuit or any issues legally with that, that original logo, slap that logo on that purple helmet. I think that’d look really cool, like as an alternate helmet. I think that’d be cool. I don’t know if we’re gonna hear anything like that, let me be clear, but because I mentioned new uniforms or anything like that, I did see a few fans, and I think our pal Chris pika, even retweeted something mentioning that. So who knows, maybe we’re gonna find out something. But tis the season for that kind of stuff, by the way, the Titans. Did you see

Nestor Aparicio  28:50

they’re, they’re the Oilers. They’re

Luke Jones  28:53

the Oilers. Now, which you and I’ve talked about the, by the way, that it’s

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Nestor Aparicio  28:57

the foreign and Dermer oiler blue one. You looks good, but I like Right? The Oilers should be let rush make a comeback. The Oilers don’t need to make a comeback. Yeah, I know you.

Luke Jones  29:07

We have you and I are very on the same page about that. As much as possible, I’m looking at

Nestor Aparicio  29:13

oiler logo. So, I mean, I’m an oiler fan

Luke Jones  29:14

8

as much as I like that uniform and like, though that look, it feels icky to me that the Tennessee Titans get to use that, right? I mean, that should be like the Texans should be able to have a throwback that looks like that way more so than the Titans. But that’s just me. That’s the Baltimore

Nestor Aparicio  29:34

Colts roots. It speaks to the lack of class of Amy Adams, which falls in line with the lack of class of her father, which, every time I put something Oilers on, I think, man, these were the sleaziest people in the world that own that team, but, but I met bishati too. So, you know, I I’m on to my own thing. Here is you will be covering OTAs. I will not. You will be out with Jesse Minter finally, and they’re gonna start bringing some people. They’re gonna start making some new. Is the next couple of weeks too, right? You’re going to be, yeah, yeah.

Luke Jones  30:02

They always, they’ll have something the first, you know, should be next week. They’ll have, at least, they make a few players available. They’ll have the strength coach available. You know, it’s still, you know, it’s kind of a slow drip with the faucet at first. Again, they’re just lifting weights and doing that kind of thing. So, you know, it’s, it’s not until after the draft, you know, we get rookie camp, and then a couple weeks after that is when OTA start, and that’s when it starts to look like football practice again. So we’re still a ways out, but we’re getting

Nestor Aparicio  30:30

closer right this time of year, because the baseball team would, would just be awful, and we couldn’t. There was so one thing to express to Rubenstein and Katie Griggs and these people is like how awful April’s were here, because everybody brings their orange birds out and we’re gonna lose 98 games. I mean, that went on for 30 years here. So the fact that we have a baseball team that’s relevant, capable, Pete, Alonso, Shane Boz signing players games every night, chance to win disputed balls and strikes, even when you can’t argue with a computer. As Kevin Brown said, I’m happy sticking to baseball for a little while, just a little while. Is that all right?

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Luke Jones  31:12

Yeah. I mean, I you’ve heard me say this so many times, it’s okay for football season to go away for a little while, like it’ll be all right, trust me, especially baseball season, it’ll come back and and everyone will be amped up for the draft in a few weeks. And look, I’m looking for I like covering the draft, but the three weeks leading up to it, I’m kind of focused on baseball. If I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not. I’m not waiting with bated breath to see what everyone’s Pro, Pro Day numbers are and all that like, I’ll let the professionals handle that. And you know, meanwhile, let let’s see how, let’s see how Shane Boz is doing earning that contract, and let’s see how Pete Alonso is doing, waiting for his first couple home runs in orange and black. How about that?

Nestor Aparicio  31:56

Luke Jones, I love covering the drift. I don’t want to go to Pittsburgh. No, it conflicts with Wrestlemania, probably. He is Luke Jones. I am Nestor. Big thanks to our friends at foreign foreign and Dermer as well as the Maryland lottery. I’m going to be doing the Maryland crab cake tour. I have a handful of these Harlem Globetrotters, but I’m getting fresh tickets from Roz for this newest promotion. Next Friday. That’s the giants are in town. We’ll be down at faidley’s at Lexington market, also putting something together with my dear friend Marcella, and the folks over Koco’s will be there later in the month as well. And cost us. We’re going to be out crab caking eating. I’m going to cost us tonight watch the ball game. That’s the truth with my buddy Stan Jablonski. I’ll be at Pizza John’s on Thursday with all my high school buddies too. So it’s a big week around here. Big thanks all of our sponsors. It’s good to be back on the beat feeling a little bit better. Got my wife sick. Pray for her. Let’s get her up and running. She’s about to vacation as well. So month ahead, baseball every night, football draft coming around the corner. We’re back into sports season. He’s Luke, I’m Nestor. We are W NSD. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive you.