It’s been a season of disappointments for heady Ravens roster of ‘stars’

There will be plenty of time in the offseason to send out report cards and walking papers but Luke Jones and Nestor begin to assess the totality of the efforts of the starters and star players of the Baltimore Ravens and wonder what Eric DeCosta and John Harbaugh see. And, more importantly, what Steve Bisciotti will see once the season ends and the bill comes due for a season of constant disappointment and under performance across the roster.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ disappointing season, highlighting Lamar Jackson’s early exit due to a knee injury and the team’s subsequent struggles. They questioned the roster’s effectiveness, citing underperformance from key players like Rashad Bateman, Ronnie Stanley, and Derrick Henry. They debated the need for coaching changes and the impact of injuries on the team’s prospects. Nestor expressed skepticism about the team’s future, particularly with Lamar Jackson’s declining speed and the high salary cap commitments. They also touched on the broader issues of team management and player contracts.

Ravens’ Season Meltdown and Lamar Jackson’s Injury

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Ravens’ disappointing season, including the benching of Eric Henry and the firing of John Harbaugh.
• Luke Jones mentions Lamar Jackson’s early exit from the game due to a knee injury and his subsequent discomfort.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of Lamar Jackson’s injury on the team’s chances, especially with upcoming games against Green Bay, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh.
• Luke highlights Lamar Jackson’s frustration and the team’s struggles despite having a significant lead without him.

Impact of Lamar Jackson’s Injury on the Team

• Luke Jones emphasizes the significant impact of Lamar Jackson’s injury on the team’s performance and outlook for the rest of the season.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s reliance on Lamar Jackson’s physical condition and the challenges faced by the offense without him.
• Luke mentions the team’s poor performance even with a significant lead, indicating deeper issues beyond Lamar Jackson’s injury.
• Nestor expresses frustration with the team’s overall performance and the lack of a cohesive strategy.

Evaluating the Ravens’ Roster and Player Performance

• Nestor Aparicio questions the overall performance of the Ravens’ players, particularly the offensive line and key players like Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, and Derrick Henry.
• Luke Jones lists several players and their performance, noting that many have not improved or have even regressed from the previous year.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential changes needed in the roster, including the possibility of trading players like Rashad Bateman.
• Luke highlights the importance of addressing the offensive line and pass-catching issues to support Lamar Jackson better.

Coaching and Management Changes

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential changes in coaching and management, including the possibility of firing John Harbaugh and Eric DeCosta.
• Luke mentions the need for a new offensive coordinator and the challenges of managing the salary cap and player contracts.
• Nestor expresses skepticism about the team’s ability to make significant improvements without major changes in leadership and strategy.
• Luke emphasizes the importance of addressing the team’s deficiencies in pass rush and offensive line to improve overall performance.

Future Outlook and Team Dynamics

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the future outlook for the Ravens, including the potential impact of Lamar Jackson’s age and injury history on his performance.
• Luke mentions the need for Lamar Jackson to adapt his playing style and prepare better in the offseason to maintain his effectiveness.
• Nestor expresses concern about the team’s overall direction and the lack of a clear plan for improving the roster and coaching staff.
• Luke highlights the importance of making smart decisions in player contracts and addressing the team’s major deficiencies to compete effectively in the future.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens roster, Lamar Jackson, injuries, John Harbaugh, offensive line, Derrick Henry, Kyle Hamilton, salary cap, coaching changes, player performance, pass rush, Mark Andrews, Tyler Linderbaum, roster evaluation, offseason plans.

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SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, happy holidays. Everybody out there celebrating. We are going to have a Festivus for the rest of us, no matter what the Ravens do, because I have candy cane cash giveaway tickets for the Maryland lottery. Luke gave him out to the bar at Costas on Thursday night, and a fella that’s always at the bar. I don’t even know his name, but I gave him a ticket. He knew Mr. Costas really well. He’s always there. He’s a little bit of a fixture in the norm Society of of Costa sin Dundalk, I gave tickets out, and on the way out, I was with my son after the show. We wound up like eating and talking, and my daughter in law, we had a big nanny, and John Allen left on Thursday, and a guy came and said, Hey, I just won 100 bucks on that ticket you gave me. So we had $100 winner on a candy cane cash at Costas the other day. People really win. It’s like MTV. People really win, but the Ravens have won nearly enough this year. Luke Jones joins us now in the aftermath of just sort of a colossal meltdown of a season, just sort of all the way around, and we’ve already, let’s see, we’ve we’ve benched Eric Henry, we fired John Harbaugh. We’ve discussed Lamar Jackson’s injuries, and we’re going to play Green Bay on a Saturday night short rest, and then Cleveland and Pittsburgh, if the Ravens were to win, and Green Bay’s got their own quarterback issues here. Let’s start at the top with all of this. I don’t know if they lost because Lamar Jackson left the game early, but it doesn’t help their chances. When the $50 million quarterback leaves the game early, you had a chance. Our Luke Jones had a chance to catch up with Lamar Jackson in the locker room after the game, after the loss, Lamar did speak to the media, and clearly very uncomfortable after he took the knee to the back. And, you know, I watched that five times, six times, over and over again. I watched it. I didn’t really see it, like it felt like he was going down, but I thought he had a cramp or just something happened. I didn’t even know that, like it really was a kick, or that it could have been that hard, or it could have gotten him in a way, with all the equipment on that injured him, made him have a torrid all shot. Yeah, I

Luke Jones  02:12

mean full disclosure. And as you know, the press box is in the top corner of the Little Kevin Byrne press box. So I can’t sit here and say that in real time, I knew exactly what had happened to him. I mean, I didn’t know if he had gotten dinged and maybe, you know, potentially a concussion issue, whatever it was. But obviously, you see him come off the field, and you’re right. I mean, you look at the replay. I mean, it wasn’t this massive, like huge knee shot to the back. But that said, as someone who has young nieces who like to use Uncle Luke as a jungle gym, it doesn’t take much, you know, even a four year old’s knee to your back or your stomach can can do some damage, you know. So it doesn’t take much. But he clearly was in a lot of discomfort as he leaves the field. He said after the game he got a toradol shot, you know, so clearly, that’s something you’re doing when you’re trying to feel well enough to get back into the game. He was wincing very deliberate with his movement as he was getting ready in the locker room after the game, you know, getting dressed. You could tell he was very uncomfortable. He did, did speak to the media, and as you’d expect, he’s very frustrated. I mean, let’s face it, you and I spent an entire segment talking about John Harbaugh, the coaching staff, their futures. What kind of changes need to be made, how drastic does it need to be? All of that? But we also do come back to the reality of you haven’t had a Lamar Jackson who’s right physically most of the season, and that clearly is going to impact your football team. Now that doesn’t, doesn’t mean everything else is okay and excuse them. Let’s be clear. They should have won on Sunday night, even after Lamar Jackson left the game, they had an 11 point lead in the fourth quarter without Lamar Jackson, so but, but it’s like I said when we kind of started doing the post mortem on this game, practically speaking, when Lamar gets hurt on Sunday night, and, you know, he said his hope is to play in Green Bay. I mean, I’m not holding my breath, you know, I think he’s, I think he’s hurt like, I’m not saying it’s like the kind of injury that’s going to cost him two months if this were September, but I don’t know if he’s gonna be ready to play in six days in a must win situation, right? So, but so looking at it through that lens, you kind of say from the moment that he takes that knee to the back, whatever hopes you had left for this football team in 2025 kind of go away. I mean, it’s just just the truth and that even if they won, even if they won on Sunday night, are we optimistic about their outlook? You know what? Forget about Green Bay, just the rest of the year, with Lamar now taking a knee to the back and now. Having another injury on top of all the other nagging injuries he’s had. So it’s a big part of the story for this football team, but it’s also, you know, it’s frustrating. I mean, you could tell Lamar Jackson very frustrated after the game. You know, he just finally had gotten to the point where his legs were no if 100% I think that would be a stretch, but he certainly looked way better than he did against Cleveland. In Cleveland, how he looked against the Jets certainly has looked way better than he looked in those games. So for him to finally get to a certain point where you’re feeling better about him physically, and you’re starting to feel like he can at least be a little bit of a factor in the run game and scramble and all that for him just to get hurt again. It kind of goes back to what we said in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh game, where I said, at some point you feel some resignation that this just isn’t their year. And certainly when you have a two time MVP quarterback that’s been as banged up as Lamar has been this year, not just the three games missed, but just less than 100% for most of the season. I mean, that’s just, it’s not where you want to be. That’s obvious. And again, that doesn’t absolve everything else. I reject that premise. I’ll reject the premise that they were one in five solely because of injuries. No, they weren’t. They got off to a bad start even before the injuries piled up. But this when you’re retelling the story of the 2025 ravens, of course, the health or lack thereof for Lamar Jackson is going to be something that’s right at the top of the list for this football team. You

Nestor Aparicio  06:45

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Luke Jones is here. He is Baltimore, Luke, my mic was muted there. Sorry about that. Luke, I thought, I thought I moved you to not any words. Mike, well, it’s Christmas, people like me. Quiet, you said that, not me. I say a lot of things, um, the notion that the roster would be flawed, or that this wasn’t good enough. I and we’ll have the offseason to talk about this. I don’t know how much we will. I don’t know how much we’re going to beat this up a week and a half from now, when the season’s really over instead of when it just feels over, is mostly over. But the promise of the players on the team and the offseason and getting Hopkins and having Lamar in his prime, and having an another angry year of Lamar for getting screwed out of the MVP, and I know just all of the mark Andrews is going to make things right after the drops last year, and Derek Henry’s finally going to get a ring, and Hopkins is going to be a part of it, and Bateman’s going to come on and say flowers is going to be a perennial pro bowler, and Rosengarten is going to rise, and Linder bombs going to be so good that they’re going to somebody else is going to have to give them a lot of money, and just all of the sugar plums of the team thinking that Marlon Humphrey really had something left in the tank, or that Ronnie Stanley wasn’t really a little long in the tooth to give him the deal that they gave him last year, where they are with roquan, dude. They played a whole season. Now they’ve played a season. We’re two hours out on the season being over. And I look at it, and other than Kyle Hamilton, maybe zay flowers and, you know, and ball security aside, security aside, I look at this, and I say, where are there great, who played great this year? And I look at Lamar and and like, I’ll tell you, watching a player get banged up in their late 20s, not 2122 a guy whose ability to read defenses has gotten better, they don’t have the protection that they need for him. He doesn’t have the wheels he once had. I’m wondering if that’s if he’s ever going to look fast like he did when he was 22 I know I’ve been I’m 57 I’m 57 I’m still waiting to be as fast as I was when I was 22 but I do think there’s a point where his superpower is the speed, and if he’s not using it, or they’re not using it, and they don’t have the right players around him, and I think on the offensive line, that would be a great question, as well as the scheme itself and What they’re going to do with they brought Derek Henry in to be that salt and pepper, you know? And when they’re not willing to use it, even with a two score lead at home, and they’ve blown all of these leads, and somehow, when they blow the lead, we talk about the offense, you know what I mean? Somehow, when they blow the lead. We’re talking about Derek, Henry not running the ball. Important, important. There’s no question about that, because if they ran the ball, they wouldn’t have blown the lead. Right? They would, they would have run the time off the clock, but then they don’t do that, and then the defense can’t handle its water. And I talked about this before the Marlin Humphrey tackling of the wide receiver. Receiver who almost caught the ball at the five yard line, and the fact that there was no flag, no thought of a flag, no conversation, and they still lost the game. It’s unbelievable, because they were given every opportunity to win the game on Sunday night. And I think I want to, we’ll fire hardball. We already did that. You go listen to that, and I’ll fire, I’ll continue to fire him again. And that’s going to Fire Monkey and Zach, or they’re going to fires everyone on the staff, right? They’re going to get fired, no matter what I mean, whether hardball keeps his job, because Uncle Steve owes him 60, $80 million whatever it is, but, but there are going to be a lot of changes here. Let’s talk about the football players. Let’s talk about the actual where these guys are, the Starks, the Wiggins, the Hamiltons, the Rosen gardens, the the younger players like because the older players aren’t getting it done. Marlon, Humphrey, Ronnie, Stanley, not it’s not their finest hour for all the money they’ve made in the way they played. I can’t look at this and say, next September, what does the field look not just the coaches. Well, who’s on the field, and why are they there, and what kind of money are they making? And, quite frankly, and this speaks to Eric di Costa being the other son, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the other son of Steve. I don’t think Eric’s getting fired either. So I don’t, they don’t fire anybody. Well, they fire coordinators around here, is what they usually do. So if hardball still the coach in April and Eric still picking the menu, and they have the next great offensive coordinator, and har ball goes and hires, I don’t know Matt Wieser, Oh, that’s right. He I saw, I saw the hardball family tree of you know Matt wiese’s headlines over the weekend in the Atlantic. So I don’t know where it’s going to be, but the players haven’t been good enough. The defensive players, especially with big leads at home. You talk with Derek, Henry all you want, but can’t the ball go over your head. You can’t miss tackles. Sure. You can’t have penalties, even ones don’t get called. I don’t like their players a year into this, you know, I get beat up on the coaches and all that. I don’t like the sum of the parts of the amount of money they’ve spent and the output they’re getting for that, and all of the promise of this greatness gets taken away when you fumble the ball for your zay flowers and you fumble the ball with your Derrick Henry in key situations, or mark Andrews. I mean, I just named their three star players that you’re counting on, and throw Lamar in there, who wasn’t even available. They’ve they’ve been a mistake ridden team, from the player’s perspective, take, take the coaching and do whatever you want, but the players on the field have failed well,

Luke Jones  12:40

and you and I have talked about this a lot, I mean, and this goes back to go all the way back to 2019 you know, throw out 18. I mean, that was Lamar is rookie year. I mean, they made changes on the fly. They had this offense that they’re, you know, the full blown bumper car kind of offense that they ran. But Lamar was a rookie day throw that year out. But 2019 until now. Look, Lamar has gotten most of the attention in that regard, and I understand why he’s the quarterback, right? He’s won MVPs in the same way that people talked about John Elway a certain way until the very end of his career, in the same way that they talked about Peyton Manning until he finally won. Go down the list. That’s what we do with quarterbacks. But we’ve also pointed out, in fairness, that Mark Andrews has been someone who’s come up very small in the postseason. We talked about zay flowers fumble in the AFC title game two years ago, right? So, so that’s been an issue. But yeah, go back to something that you said a few minutes ago. I mean, really quickly. Let me just rattle off the starting lineup right now with the singular question of, has this individual been better this year or worse? And you know, you don’t have to answer, but like just take a second to think about each of these individuals. Rashad Bateman, Ronnie Stanley, Andrew Voorhees, Tyler linderbaum, Daniel file lay Roger Rosengarten, Charlie Kohler, who started, but you know, Mark Andrews is who you think of there Isaiah likely. I mean, Isaiah likely is a contractor. Talk about a nothing of a contract year, someone who’s cost himself money. Zay flowers, we talked about him. Lamar, Patrick, Ricard, Derek, Henry, so that’s the offense. I mean, who in that group would you say has gotten markedly or is markedly better this year than last year, or has at least stayed the same?

Nestor Aparicio  14:30

I look at Wiggins and starch as maybe being the only two guys on the team that I look at and say, All right, their best is still yet to come. You know what I mean? Like I look at them and say, they could block, you know, they were big picks. And, you know, I’m giving them a pass on this. Yeah, the Hamilton’s here. He’s paid, right?

Luke Jones  14:47

Hamilton’s a star, yeah, so. But, I mean, I just named off the offensive guys though. I mean, Bateman is has been a nothing this year, right up. I’m guessing, I’m guessing, you. One of my early predictions for the offseason, as far as from a player standpoint, is Rashad Bateman’s not gonna be a raven next year. I think you’re gonna see them trade him not, not, not gonna say it’s gonna be for anything like great in return. But what would you get for him? I mean, round pick, like, what are you gonna get for him? I don’t know. I mean, look, he had a good year last year, and he’s got a very if you think he can be the guy he was last year, and he was a first round pick. So you have other teams that you know, and he wasn’t, like, wasn’t viewed as a guy who had a fifth, fifth round grade and was drafted in the first round. Some team will like him enough to say, hey, we’ll be intrigued there. But yeah, you’re not, you’re not getting like, a second round pick, or anything like insane for him. But, you know, you go down the list, Stanley, look, do I think Ronnie Stanley’s been awful this year? Far from it, but he hasn’t been as good as he was last year, and he’s going to be a year older, right? I mean, that’s, that’s a concern. That’s a value concern, right? There? Voorhees major disappointment. Linder bomb, I look, I love Tyler Linder bomb. Are you prepared to make him the highest paid center in the NFL, and if not, then are you prepared to lose him and then have another hole on your offensive line? That’s going to be one of the more pivotal decisions of the offseason, right there? What you’re going to do with Tyler Linder bomb there? Daniel file. Layla, I don’t need to say anything about him. The fans have said plenty about Daniel foul laylay Rosengarten, he is someone that I will at least say. I think he’s played better the second half of the year than he did the first half of the year, when I thought he was a big time disappointment. He hasn’t taken the step forward I would have liked to have seen from someone who looked like he was trending to be an above average player by the end of his rookie season. So, you know, he’s a starter. I don’t know what he’s going to be. If he’s going to be much more than that. He’s a starter right which, on their own line, they need that right now, because I don’t know who two or three of their starters are going to be next year, necessarily. You know, zay flowers, we talked about it. Zay’s had back to back 1000 yard seasons, but, man, the ball security is an issue. He’s got to get upfield. The dancing and moving laterally leaves him exposed to being stripped of the football. We’ve seen that happen multiple times this season. Now. You know Patrick record, is he going to be back one more year? No, and Derek Henry has, has he been as good as he was last year? No, but he’s still 1000 yard back, still someone who can move the needle, still someone who should have been in the game on the penultimate drive, but, but, yeah, you look at the defensive side of the ball, Hamilton, you feel great about you know, you mentioned Starks. You know it’s he’s been a rookie starter. Is he ready to become a pro bowl player? I don’t know. That’s certainly. The jury’s out on whether he’s going to be anything close to that kind of guy. Wiggins, I think, I thought he played better earlier in the season, but he’s their number one corner that’s crystal clear at this point in time. So you’re, you’re happy about that. I think roquan Smith is a value concern. I think the Rokon Smith was a value concern last year. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad player, mind you, but is he a $20 million linebacker? You know, I didn’t love the contract to begin with, going back three years ago now, so, but that said, you look at it from a cap standpoint, you’re not you can’t touch that. You know, he’s going to be on the team one more a year. So you hope he’s the best version of himself, but then you look at the D line, I mean, what’s going to happen there? Okay, Travis Jones, check, I like that resigning. And I think they got him for a good value, right? I I think if he had hit the open market, he probably gets more than the ravens are paying him. So I, I sign off on that. But you know, is Matt a BK truly done? Done? Is there any chance he’s going to come back? How’s that going to work out, from a cap standpoint, knowing he has guaranteed money coming his way? They figured that out when they gave Jones the money. Understood. I mean, I’m sure they have a much better picture of what that what the outcome Lamar

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Nestor Aparicio  19:00

money in the offseason is the biggest story above and beyond, whether they’re going to fire har ball and they probably aren’t, and who the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, who are going to be the scapegoats for this? Yeah, because har ball’s going to make sure it’s not har ball, because that’s who he is that really like har ball’s owed so much money that I think he will survive this, whether he should or should not. But then it It then comes down to, what are they going to do with the salary cap situation, all the things that he’s talking about in regard to Lamar, who begged out of the game. Season’s over. He didn’t have a great year. He didn’t have a complete year. He’s getting older. They’re getting weaker as a franchise because of the money and dead money and all the reasons you just described. And they’re clearly getting weaker as a franchise because they didn’t make the playoffs. Neither the chiefs, you know, neither the Bengals. All these teams have felt like they got $50 million Our quarterbacks, and they have all of these pieces that they put around them. Got a lot of hurt feelings around here, you know. And I watched Denver the other day. They don’t look good. Jacksonville’s coming up. Jacksonville could be a one seed. Nobody. How much money could I have made betting on this ish, if I would have picked Jacksonville to be a number one seed in August.

Luke Jones  20:20

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. And I’ve mentioned in passing the last month or so that, like Jacksonville looks pretty good. I mean, for them to get the win they got on so

Nestor Aparicio  20:29

they win at home. This team lost six games at home this year. They haven’t lost at home in a year

Luke Jones  20:34

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and a half. I mean, so they’re just we and we look, we said, we said it. I, you know me, I very much jumped off the bandwagon big time after the Pittsburgh game. That’s as down as you’ve heard me be about the Ravens in a very long time. They’re mediocre, like they’re at best, a mediocre football team, right? I mean, they, they haven’t beaten anyone other than Chicago all year long. And the bears back at that point in time are not the team that you’re seeing now, which, by the way, that Saturday night game was unbelievable. Some great games this weekend. I mean, even the objectively speaking, the ravens, Patriots game was a had a great comeback. Feels fixed. Yeah. I mean, it’s crazy. It’s like the NBA now, right? I mean, the NBA, like, you know, you watch the last five minutes, and one team can be up 22 points, and it doesn’t really matter. It’s it’s going to be a six point game with 220 to go. But I mean this, this team’s just mediocre. What do they do? Well, their defense, while it certainly improved from where it was the first five games of the season, I think it is crystal clear at this point that that was largely done against a motley crew of quarterbacks, right? I mean, JJ McCarthy and shador Sanders and Dylan Gabriel and Tyrod Taylor, like you know, go down the list. No disrespect to those guys, but they’re tua, who’s been benched, right? I mean, those aren’t guys that you’re hanging your hat on playing great against. So, yeah, they got better against lesser quarterbacks, and then when they had to play the varsity again, Okay, second time, they did get Joe burrow. So good for them. But it’s not like they build on it on Sunday night, I mean, and to be clear, I think Drake May is on his way to being a great quarterback. It seems like New England’s got their guy. I mean, they had a four or five year law without Tom Brady, and then they’re cooking with gas again, right? And which feels a little unfair to the rest of the AFC, but that’s just Hey. That’s how it is. Credit them. But you know when, when Aaron Rodgers is throwing the ball over your head, when the Steelers hadn’t done that against anyone for literally an entire month. It’s not good enough. It’s just not good enough. And that’s just what you look at. I mean, the offense hasn’t been good enough for a long time now. The defense better than it was early in the year. I mean, it couldn’t have been any worse. They were 1996 ravens terrible the first five games, but certainly nothing special, special teams. I mean, you know what? I’ve picked on them a little bit. I’m not sure Tyler loops the guy. I don’t know how you come up short on a 56 yard field goal when there wasn’t a whole lot of win like that needs to be. That needs to be a that’s a makeable kick. That needs to be a makeable kick for the modern kicker. Look around the league. Guys are hitting 5860 yarders on the regular now, and Tyler loop hasn’t shown the ability to do that. So let me be clear. I’m not saying I’m getting rid of him now, but the jury is very much out on whether he’s going to be their long term kicker. In my mind, he’ll be their kicker next year, but I’m not at all convinced that he’s their kicker for the next 10 years so, but it just speaks to the special teams not being good enough either. Jordan stouts had a great year. I will give Jordan stout full credit. He has had a Pro Bowl caliber year as a punter. But when you’re when you’re trying to come up with guys that have had great years, and the punter is one of the first ones you name, doesn’t say much for your football team, does it? Nestor, I mean, it’s just, they’re just, they’re not very good and well,

Nestor Aparicio  24:15

that’s my concern. My concern is the totality of looking at this unsettling and scapegoating har ball, which I’m happy to do, because he’s a fraud and a liar. But like that, whoever the new coach is, they hire whoever they want. These are the players they have. And I’m looking at the players, and I’m saying, maybe the players aren’t good enough. I mean, after looking at a year of this and a body of work that maybe I was right about Marlowe and, you know, being the tin man and Ronnie Stanley just hey, you got a lot out of him after the injury. Might not be time to marry him, but they did a lot of things this off season that were band aids, right? I mean, especially on the offensive line, the two guards. Positions where they were with Ronnie Stanley, they didn’t have a lot of other options. He would have been popular elsewhere. They felt like they had to do it to some degree, just like when they traded for roquan Smith, they kind of had to give him a little bit too much money. They put themselves into those circumstances, and even when a Kyle Hamilton or Tyler Linder bomb blossoms in their case, it gets expensive pretty quickly for them. It really does,

Luke Jones  25:26

no doubt. I mean, it’s one reason why I think you and I and a lot of people were so surprised that they gave Mark Andrews the contract they just did. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  25:35

it’s not as though I like him more than I do. I’ll be honest with you, sure, just over the body USAA, and he’s engaged. I don’t care so much about that. He hasn’t been as productive the last couple years. He’s their most productive player, receiver in history and all that. I don’t know. None of these guys you know what you know, and this is I’m gonna be a real jerk. Now, none of these guys are winners. None of these guys have won anything. They’ve all run their mouth. Marlon Humphrey might be well. Suggs played for this team, so he’s not the worst guy, but when I think of leadership and character, I mean for Christ’s sake, they lock me out of asking questions. That’s how little character they have. So like, I don’t horrible lies. If we went back through the course of the year and made his nose like Pinocchio, like, if I had AI and nano Bonanno that could do this, put a video together. Every time he lies, his nose grows because, like, just all the way around. It’s the players, the ethos, the fan base, leaving early, begging people to buy tickets. Just Sashi Brown’s arrogance, Chad Steele walking around like he’s a, you know, got a little piece in his ear, like he’s a FBI agent. Just all of it, the pricing of all of it, the just the brand itself and where they are selling tickets after this year, when they’ve been begging people to buy tickets all of these years, they’re lucky that the commanders haven’t gotten better. You know, commanders played a championship game last year that that brand doesn’t tilt in Bowie in Colombia, to the point where there really are 10,000 empty seats at a Ravens game, and nobody wants to go because couple of seven and 10s and you know, like they we haven’t had anything like that around here. When you think about the rest of the league and how bad teams have been, let’s say outside of Pittsburgh, and let’s say New England over this century, Kansas City to throw them in. But all the other teams they’ve had, you see the Ravens go on the road and have trouble. Teams have trouble selling tickets, filling their fan base like even Cincinnati has come to life the last couple of years, in a way that for 20 years I went there and there was just green seats everywhere, and the Civic feeling about the team has changed, and I don’t know where the Orioles are in this and trying to get your money this year, and you know where that tilt would be, but the ravens are teetering here right now, after this Lamar era, where they’ve been so full of Promise, so full of Ronnie, Stanley, Patrick, Ricard, Mark, Andrews, Marlon, Humphrey, these guys when they were younger, five years ago, when they were all great players getting their money that this didn’t happen against Vrabel and Henry on that Tennessee night, that this didn’t happen against Kansas City, one night that this didn’t happen in Buffalo one night in January at all for them, it feels like they’re on the other side of that hill. Now it doesn’t feel like promise to me anymore, especially after seeing the whole body of work this year, not just the bad coaching, not just the fumbles, not just the blown leads and the bad calls and the crappy officials and all of that stuff, just the totality of the organization, from the sleazy owner to the out of town corporate people thinking they’re running this place, to HAR ball’s tired, to Derrick Henry not running the ball, to Lamar being hurt and being you know, I’ll say it out loud. I’ll say it again and again. I don’t know if he’s ever going to be the player he was in 2022 again, because it ain’t 2022 anymore. It’s 2026 and speed was his game. Speed is his game. And that was taken away this year, and he became ordinary and injured, but ordinary and he

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Luke Jones  29:42

didn’t have a great year. I mean, there’s no doubt. I mean, I and they’re

Nestor Aparicio  29:45

going to pay him $15 million a year more next year after not having a great year this year. Same thing with Mark Andrews, same thing with a lot of these guys, because they’re not having a heart transplant on this team. They’re not, I mean, and my question is, who’s going to play. With Lamar and Kyle Hamilton. I don’t know who the rest of the players are. You know what I mean? I literally don’t. I don’t know that they really want roquan Smith running around next year as a $23 million cap number, right? Like, I don’t know where the RE negotiations are. It’s higher than that. Is it really?

Luke Jones  30:19

It’s because they’ve redone it a couple times that looking at that deal, I think you got to go one more year with him, but you can’t do any more.

Nestor Aparicio  30:28

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But don’t expect him to play to that number. Expect him to be in the average to above average, middle Lineback. I mean, like giving these guys the money, giving Tyler Lindenbaum all that money, won’t make his play any better this year. If you put your shitty guards next to him.

Luke Jones  30:42

And to be clear, I mean, this, this is when you have a franchise quarterback, and this is true in I mean, look at the dolphins right now. They’re going to be paying to a tongue of iloa to go away next year. I mean, there’s

Nestor Aparicio  30:57

no issue in 1718, right?

Luke Jones  31:00

But it’s more than just the quarterback. It’s when you have a quarterback that’s in that tax bracket, you have to be on point with all the other premium deals that you give out. I mean, Brandon Williams, what comes to mind right away with him, overpaid him on a second contract, right? Good nose tackle, but paid him to be something that he just frankly, was not right, and that cost them big time at the, you know, the last year or two of the Flacco era, and you know, that was relatively close to Lamar being drafted so but, but the point is, when you look at that deal, I mean, look what happened with Dennis Pitta. Now that was, that was more extreme because that was a anchor or the hip injury, but you know, you kind of go down the list, and first of all, you only have so many premium, other premium deals you can hand out. That’s why I kind of looked at the mark Andrews one up three weeks ago and said, I mean, okay, I get that you didn’t want to pay Isaiah likely, but that didn’t mean that you were forced to pay Mark Andrews. We’ll see. But the production is not trending in a great direction for a couple, a couple years now. But you know, you kind of go down the list with the Costa now, right? Sure. Yeah. Well, he, he has to own it too. We talked about it. He didn’t have a very good offseason. I mean, like for all the praise of them acquiring a low he Gilman, when they did, Nestor, you and I, were talking in mid May that they needed a third safety, and they didn’t do it until five weeks into the season, when they were already one in four at that point in time. So I’m not giving him a pass. Washington made a nice play for no. He lit $4 million on fire to pay Cooper rush when Tyler Huntley was still a better backup option than him. Now, how much of that was to Costa and how much of that is horrible on the coaching staff, I think that’s a collateral. That’s some where I think you look at both of those areas and say, Okay, you guys missed there. Because I think, I don’t think it was a secret that the Ravens were kind of sort of done with Tyler Huntley after the goal line play in Cincinnati in the wild card game. And I can understand that, but they haven’t found anyone better than than him as a backup. So kind of is what it is.

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Nestor Aparicio  33:12

It is a weird offense. It’s not an offense for Koco’s.

Luke Jones  33:16

And once again, I’ll go back and say this, Tyler Huntley did a good job on Sunday night, like they gave a chance to win, right? I mean, now he’s not a guy that you want. If you’re in a position where you need to, you’re behind and you need to throw it’s not going to go well, but if you can stay on schedule. I mean, they had an 11 point lead that Hall of Fame running back, sure, sure, but, but, you know, and we’re kind of, kind of all over the place here, so I apologize, but going back to what I was talking about, as far as your roster construction, you’ve got to be make sure those premium deals that you hand out, they’ve got to be absolute hits. That’s why, look, the Matta BK injury was absolutely a killer. This was a team that had a questionable pass rush, even with him, and then when they lost him, their pass rush became basically non existent. So that was a big problem. How are you going to address your pass rush? They can’t draft edge rushers. I’ll say this, and I can’t take credit for this. I saw a couple people make mention of this. Think it was social media, or maybe it was an article I saw somewhere wide receivers or edge rushers are to Eric dicostal, what wide receivers were to Ozzie Newsome in terms of the draft, we’ll see about Mike Green. I do have some level of hope that Mike Green is going to become a good player, and I think he’s flashed, but he certainly didn’t come in as Terrell Suggs is a rookie, right? And, you know, a job? Oh, is a job? Oh, played special teams on Sunday night. You know, they drafted a decent Isaac in the third round last year. That’s shaping up to be worse than the ajabo draft pick. He hasn’t been on the field at all, so

Nestor Aparicio  34:55

I don’t hear you mention his name. He hasn’t mentioned his name. Well, he just looked.

Luke Jones  35:00

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At his elbow in August and hasn’t played, right? I’ve had a setback about a month ago, you know, in his rehab. So when

Nestor Aparicio  35:07

you go through the tie espouses and the Sure, a dolly always, and, I

Luke Jones  35:11

mean, oh, you know, away was, at best, an okay draft pick, right? I mean, you know, no better than that. He had a 10 sack season, but not much. You know, collect, you know, the body of work was underwhelming. So, you know, they’ve got to address their pass rush. How are you going to do that? You know, you’re not going to be picking in the top 10. So you look at that, you look at their holes, you look at the salary cap picture. And yes, I’m in agreement. Let me be clear when I say this. It’s a dial with Lamar Jackson, right? I agree. He’s probably not going to get back to the level of athleticism that he had in 2019 right? That’s That’s human nature. He’s going to turn 29

Nestor Aparicio  35:54

not a guy on the field right now that nobody can catch and let me until I see that he’s not special anymore. He can’t run away from everybody like he used to then. He can’t run away from anybody. I mean, because the league is it was amazing that he could do what he did seven years ago, because nobody in history the league has ever been able to do correct expecting to do that at 29 or to expect the next young player to have that skill set to be able to do that. I mean, 29 of the teams in the league wanted to become a wide receiver, a running back, right? So they showed how dumb they were by thinking that, but that that, no question about it, sure. But then I said, if he runs in the linebackers too much, he might need a tour at all shot in the fourth quarter and be unavailable because he’s going to run into linebackers. He’s going to take contact over the body of his work. Now we’re almost 10 years into this now, right? Like, where he’s taken more abuse than anybody this side of Cam Newton or Steve McNair or Steve Grogan back in the day, or Steve Young getting dinged in the head, or any of that. I mean, it’s amazing he hadn’t had concussions and all that. And that speaks to hook slides, that speaks to just how crazy elusive he was, like a water bug. And nobody could bring him not ready to say that, I think that’s over. I think I don’t think he’s going to be quick as a cat. Fastest guy on the field, fast as lightning anymore, and that just makes him fast, like Keaton Mitchell, or fast like anybody else who’s ever been fast.

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Luke Jones  37:19

Keith Mitchell, one of the fastest guys in the NFL, but Lamar had six carries for 70 yards in Buffalo week one. I’m not ready to write him off. That he can’t, isn’t still,

Nestor Aparicio  37:30

but if you stream that, he’s going to get hurt, and that was my original point. Is to Kenny, yeah, how long can he sustain it? Not 1922, games. No, you know, like the amount that’s going to need,

Luke Jones  37:43

I guess they should get rid of them this off season. Then I I’m being facetious. Now, I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  37:47

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look, I’m not saying they’re getting rid of him. I’m asking if they’re going to win with him as a $65 million cap number, with all of this around him, he’s a year

Luke Jones  37:55

removed from having argued one of the most incredible statistical seasons in NFL. Well, you better get some players around him, dude. And that’s look. That’s fair, especially on the offensive line. That’s completely fair. My point is, if we’re going to judge anyone on an injury plagued year, then I then Joe burrows finished, right? I mean, Patrick mahomes is finished, right? Torres, ACL and LCL, Kansas City might as well, you know what I mean. Like, I I think it’s important not to judge too much based on just what we’ve seen recently. That said, Sure, from a standpoint of if we’re going to if the standard is the athleticism that he had at age 2122 2324 knowing he’s going to be 29 next month, I’ll hear that that said, I’m also not looking at what he’s been over the last six weeks since he’s returned from or seven weeks since he’s returned from the hamstring eight weeks whatever it’s been, and thinking that’s who he is now, that’s who he’s been in 2025 no question. And that’s whether he plays again or not the rest of this season, that’s who he is right now, I’m not at all ready to say that make some kind of sweeping judgment that he’s a shell of what he was even last year. No, far from it, that said, and this is where, this is where Lamar has to look at himself a little bit in terms of you just had this season with all these nagging injuries, how are you going to adjust? And I don’t just mean in terms of adjusting his playing style, but how are you going to prepare in the off season? Is there something you need to do differently in terms of not having a hamstring injury in week four. Look, injuries occur, right? I mean, Joe burrow is not a guy who runs around a lot. Joe burrow has been more injured than Lamar Jackson in his career. So let’s acknowledge that it’s not just Lamar here. I mean, Patrick mahomes Just, just tore his ACL, right? I mean, things happen. It’s football. It’s a brutal, brutal. Brutal game. But yeah, I think Lamar, and this is the same thing with any athlete. I remember, famously, Shannon sharp, when he was with the ravens, talked about it at the time that he was at a point in his career. And obviously he was a little bit older than Lamar at this point, but he talked about the fact that he had, he got to a point where he needed to lose five pounds every off season just to maintain the level of speed that he had at that point in time. Now I’m not saying that Lamar needs to do that specifically, by any means. Point is, as is the case with any of us. I’m guessing, Nestor, you don’t eat like you did as a 22 year old, and if you would, you wouldn’t get away with it like you might have as a 22 year old, had some

Nestor Aparicio  40:42

nights at the horn and Horn buffet East Point. Mom, trust me,

Luke Jones  40:45

it’s the same thing for, you know, it’s, it’s more extreme for a professional athlete that as you get older, you’re going to have to take care of yourself even more and more and more and more and and I’m not, you know, that’s not me implying that Lamar doesn’t take care of himself, but you’ve got to be that much more vigilant, especially now, coming off of a year where you’ve had nagging injuries and you haven’t been able to be your your best version of yourself at this point in time. So if he is aware of that, and he does everything he can this offseason to put himself in a position where he’s back to being the healthiest version of himself, then I think Lamar Jackson can be MVP again next year. I have that kind of confidence in him. But it’s not just the case where you’re just going to shrug your shoulders and roll out of bed and show up at mandatory mini camp, and you’re automatically going to be ready to go at the same level that you might have been able to do it physically seven years ago, right? Things change. You know, you have to adapt and you have to adjust. And that’s true for anyone, not just Lamar Jackson. I want to be clear, that’s that is a general statement that any professional athlete has to take to heart. And you know, Lamar, being the competitor that he is, I have the confidence that that he’s going to do that if he doesn’t, then, yeah, 2025 then might be a harbinger of what’s to come here in the future. But I wholeheartedly agree with the point you made a couple minutes ago. You certainly are not in a position anymore where you are going to say I’m planning on Lamar Jackson to rush for 900 to 1100 yards as part of my overall offensive profile. I think, yeah, you need to look at that differently now. And it probably means one you got to get better on the O line, and they need to get better in the pass catching department. You know, is a flower is going to be a guy you’re going to pay $30 million dollars a year too.

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Nestor Aparicio  42:41

I don’t know about that. I have my I like, say flowers as a player. I don’t know if I’m not looking at him as a $30 million I don’t love any of these guys the next three years at their cap number, other than Hamilton, so that, I mean literally, I don’t love any, maybe Starks and Wiggins, I could, I mean, they’re on rookie deals, right? Whatever, yeah. But like, I don’t like any I don’t like lamar’s contract at $60 million

Luke Jones  43:04

like Travis just I like Travis Jones’s deal. That’s a three year deal, right? I mean, if you had signed him to a five year deal, that’s a different animal, but, but that said, What is Travis Jones? He’s a heck of a run stopping defensive tackle, and he’s got more pass rush juice than, say, a Brandon Williams, but he’s not namdi Mada BK either, right? So you need, I mean, they’ve got some major areas to address, and what, where are they going to be picking in the draft? How many cap dollars are they going to have? Are they is a Lamar extension or reworking of his deal going to go smoothly based on history, I’m going to say absolutely not, right. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  43:44

I’m not convinced Lamar is a top five NFL quarterback the next three years. Like, you know, I That’s my given all that you said you don’t want him to run a lot yet, and we need to do this for me. Dude, you brought him Derek, Henry, you mean, like, I don’t.

Luke Jones  44:00

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And he had, and he had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history when they did that. So, you know, I

Nestor Aparicio  44:06

I’m not gonna happen again next year. Derek Henry’s gone, right?

Luke Jones  44:10

No, they extend. He’s, he’s back for one year. I mean, they, they kind of guaranteed his, I think his deals guaranteed next year. Okay, so no, but no, they didn’t. They gave him an extension in the spring, so he’s back for one more year now, thinking cap cuts in

Nestor Aparicio  44:24

different players that they won’t want or why they wouldn’t want them.

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Luke Jones  44:28

I mean, I think, I think Marlon Humphrey is probably gone. They can’t get rid of Ronnie Stanley because they don’t have a replacement. To your point, you’re at Linder. But I mean, and I don’t think Stanley pieces together, it is a jigsaw puzzle well, and and we have to remember part of this is also you’ve got a disjointed roster, like your deficiencies are major deficiencies. So when you if you can address some of those that can make other players better, right? That can make guys look better, but roquan Smith look better with Teddy Buchanan next to him, rather than trying. And Simpson the year prior to that so, but they’ve got a lot of work to do, and it’s going to begin with, what kind of changes do you need to make on the coaching side? And then we will get into the offseason, and what’s going to be a very, very interesting offseason from a player standpoint, in terms of their salary cap,

Nestor Aparicio  45:21

they still lost. They’re still gonna be in Green Bay this week. We’re still gonna be asking questions about Lamar, and Santa is still coming down the chimney this year, and candy cane cash is a part of what I’ve got. I had $100 winner it costs the other day. We are brought to you by the Maryland lottery and our Maryland crab cake tour. We’re gonna be out of plan of fitness this week. I’ve done some great holiday chats about all sorts of things. I mean, I would go through rock stars, business owners, local things, charity turns interesting. People, Dan Rodricks, Feast of the Seven Fishes, Italian Christmas, Polish Christmas, Venezuelan Christmas. We got it all going on here this week, Luke will be enjoying his time. You can follow his work out at Baltimore. Positive there’s any breaking news, you will get it first on the W NST tech service. All that’s brought to you by our friends at Coal roofing and Gordian energy, and a big shout out to my friends at GBMC that have made me feel better for the holidays after my colonoscopy, get yourself checked out. I’m begging everybody out there. 2026 could have been a really bad year for me if I hadn’t done that a couple weeks ago. So keep cancer out of your life. Stay safe. Do what the doctors tell you to do. I’m learning. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke. We’re back for more. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us.