It’s never the biggest week of the year for the Baltimore Ravens, who rarely delve deeply into free agency but this week will reveal the future of Ronnie Stanley and the offensive line. Luke Jones and Nestor prepare for the tampering period and the options of both sides in a weird window of negotiations and news. You’ll want to be on the WNST Baltimore Positive Text Service this week!
Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discuss the Baltimore Ravens’ upcoming free agency period, particularly the fate of Ronnie Stanley. Jones highlights the recent trade requests from players like Trey Hendrickson and Miles Garrett, indicating a busy market. He notes the Ravens’ quiet start contrasts with other teams. Jones emphasizes Stanley’s importance, mentioning potential suitors like Kansas City and New England. They debate Stanley’s value, considering his injury history and recent performance. Additionally, they discuss the potential trade of Mark Andrews, estimating a fourth-round pick as reasonable compensation. The conversation also touches on the Ravens’ other free agency needs and the impact of losing key players.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ronnie Stanley, free agency, Ravens, left tackle, contract negotiations, NFLPA, cap space, injury history, offensive line, Mark Andrews, trade value, salary cap, roster needs, player retention, tampering period.
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 it is a free tampering tamper. As the football Gods get going, there feels like football’s been shut down ever since, like Justin Tucker got accused the third time. It feels like it’s been a couple of weeks. Luke Jones is here. He will be monitoring all things. If you are on our wnst tech service, you know how good we are. If you’re not, get on it, 410-821-9678, just text the word join or W, N, S, T, and you’re in all the details up at Baltimore, positive Luke Jones is here. He is Baltimore, Luke. You can find him out on the interwebs over the weekend, he will be Deacon Jones on Sunday and tampering Luke on Monday. I you know, the the ravens are always not the headline of free agency, right? Like they they’re on the outside. We talked about Justin Tucker and all that the owners meetings are for a couple of weeks. But this free agency period for the Ravens. It’s kind of quiet. And what’s up with Ronnie Stanley a lot of other places, it’s like a hell raising week, right? It really
Luke Jones 01:08
is. I mean, just look at this last week. How many guys trade requests, whether we’re talking about Trey Hendrickson in the division, in addition to miles Garrett already wanting out in Cleveland. So you have a couple edge rushers that, in a vacuum the Ravens would love to have, but you’re not holding your breath that you’re going to be able to work something out with an AFC North rivals. So, but you have that. You have DK Metcalf, you have wide receivers, I mean, debo Samuels already on his way to Washington, you know, pending the start of the new league gear. So there’s a lot of that going on. And that’s not to say the Ravens won’t add a veteran or two at some point in time, but it really does feel like one way or the other, Ronnie Stanley is the first domino that’s going to fall here that kind of shapes their off season. Putting aside the Justin Tucker saga for just a moment, right? I mean, we know that that is there, that’s going to continue to be there for the foreseeable future, whether he sticks around or whether whenever they release him, right? But in terms of just making strict football decisions, the Ronnie Stanley one is the big one here. And you know, we heard Eric Acosta and John Harbaugh Express optimism at the combine a week and a half two weeks ago about their chances of Stanley being retained and returning. But we also know that Ronnie Stanley has been a long time ravens player rep for the NFL. PA, this is a generalization, and there are always exceptions to the role, and certainly you’re talking about a nine year business partnership between the sides. But generally speaking, the union isn’t at the business of giving incumbent teams hometown discounts to stick around and hey, we’re on the cusp of at least the tampering period. Even though, let’s call a spade a spade, tampering has been going on since at least the combine, if not before then. So I think they’re very much as a sense of, if Ronnie Stanley hits the market, it’s gonna be really tough to keep them, right. I mean, Kansas City just traded Joe, Joe toonie. They’re all pro left guard who they had kind of used as a last resort to tackle, and we saw how that went against the Eagles in the Super Bowl. So could the Chiefs shuffle around enough cap dollars to make a run at Ronnie Stanley? The Patriots? You listen to any patriots reporters, I mean, Ronnie Stanley has been one of the big guys they’ve talked about for the last six weeks in terms of making a run. So
Nestor Aparicio 03:36
that’s, by the way, that’s pretty pathetic if your franchise is waiting on Ronnie Stanley to fix you. You You know what I mean? Like, I I’m not saying that the Ravens would cut date with him. I don’t know that they’re going to have a better solution than him. And let’s go back a year. Let’s go back a year. Sure, Morgan Moses and Kevin Zeitler, and how they felt about those guys at that point. Zeitler was a guy that was not injured, not old, not tired. It played pretty well. They felt like, you know, he was a good dude, a kind of guy that they let him go, and it was over a lot less money than Ronnie Stanley. And I look at Ronnie Stanley and say, Well, do we not value him enough? Here’s how much I value Him, Luke. And for our audience, it just woke up that’s just discovered me in the last 10 minutes the day he got injured. During the first injury, was that pre play wasn’t that like 1920 21 it was somewhere
Luke Jones 04:23
in there, 20 the first year with the pandemic. Yeah, yeah.
Nestor Aparicio 04:27
So when he got injured in that game, I looked at my wife and said, they can’t win the Super Bowl without that guy. Now that’s a young Lamar and a younger Ronnie Stanley. It was a different compliment of players around him. He didn’t have the wide receivers and all of that, but he had still played. Well, it’s still been a, you know, MVP caliber kind of guy in 19 but the loss of Marshall yonda affected them. There’s no doubt about that. And replacing him, I don’t see Ronnie Stanley as that guy, but maybe I’m wrong. I mean, I don’t know who they would play with next year at a discount. And. Say it’s going to be just as good. I don’t know how much they love Ronnie Stanley. I really don’t. We’re going to find out, though, aren’t we? Yeah, well, I
Luke Jones 05:07
you indirectly bring up the point that I’ve really wrestled with a lot over the last, you know, since the season ended. I mean, even going back to last year. I mean, keep in mind, you mentioned last year they cut his pay, right? You know very well, having whether you’re talking about the Ravens or any number of other teams, most guys lie when you say, you wake up my pay, right? Well, but, but the other side of that is you’re prepared to cut that player if they balk. Because the first time you ask a player to take a pay cut and he says no, and then you say, Okay, we’re good. The next guy and the next agent knows that you’re not going to stand your ground there. Part of that whole song and dance when you ask a player to take a pay cut is you’re willing to walk away. So the ravens, a year ago at this time, did cut his pay, did void the last year of his deal, which allowed him to become a free agent a year earlier. And look, the perception at that point was, oh, there’s no way this guy can play on on the last couple years of what hit, what had been a five year, $98.5 million contract. Yet, a year later, after, to his credit, a really good contract season, first time in his career, he started all 17 games. He played not at an elite level, but played well enough to be a pro bowl alternate, and so he did everything he could through that lens, practiced, didn’t take vet days, as he was apt to do even five six years ago, and did everything he could. So he’s earned the right to a payday Now, that said, and you just alluded to this, you have to understand what you’re paying, what you’re paying for and what you’re getting here. Look, Ronnie Stanley just had a contract that, as I said, acknowledging the last year of it was voided. He was paid very handsomely for not being available or effective, or as effective as he could have been, because of the injuries for a large chunk of that five year period. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 07:06
he made 40 or $50 million without playing. And then last year, played cheap, but played better. And the question is, did you give some of it back? Do you want more of it back now? Yeah, he’s a three year 60 to $75 million player, on Tuesday, right?
Luke Jones 07:23
Literally, I mean, I It’s funny. You mentioned that because I’ve, you know, I’ve been asked this question a lot, you know, where, how far would I go to keep Ronnie Stanley? Well, how far will
Nestor Aparicio 07:32
the New England Patriots
Luke Jones 07:33
get? And that’s right, and that’s all that matters, right? I mean, you have one team if he hits market, that’s why I said, if he hits market, I think he’s gone right. And if I’m wrong, that’ll be wrong. I’ve been wrong before. I think he has to
Nestor Aparicio 07:44
hit the market to get his real value. I don’t think the demons are going to over compensate him or pay him more than the Patriots would potentially. Pam, then the question is, Hey, dude, he might really like it here. He might see himself as a Ring of Honor guy, Lamar guy, I can’t win in New England. I like it here. I like the people I you know, if he loves it here, we’ll find that out too. I mean, he did last year to take a pay cut, but that was all predicated on him being able to have today, yeah, and he was, you know, I’ll give you, I do this with sponsors. I’ll give you a little back now, but later on, you got to pay me when we’re worse, right? I mean, so I think that that’s there’s emotion in this, right? There is there always,
Luke Jones 08:25
especially when you’re talking about someone who’s been with you as long as the these two sides have been together, right? I mean, you’re talking about nearly a decade, you’re talking about one of your longest tenured players. So there’s always some of that you’re talking about someone who suffered a horrific injury that basically cost him two full seasons, right? I mean, it was from midway through 2020 really. You know, he played week one in 21 and then he was done, and then it was, what? Week five, week six, whatever it was in 2022 when he was back, right? So that’s a long time, and there is a lot to the rehab process there, and there’s a lot of sweat equity that goes in there. There’s a lot of mental strain on the players part, I think, when he can’t perform at a level that he’s accustomed to performing, and also he, you know, there, there is a human element here. No, you’re not going to give the money back, because you signed a contract, and if you got hurt, you’re entitled to that money. No one’s suggesting otherwise, but there’s still very much a sense of letting your team down, letting your organization down when you get hurt and you can’t play. I’ve heard numerous players say that, right? That’s human nature, when you sign up for something and then you you can’t perform, right? You’re not out there, or you’re not performing at a high level. So a year ago, this was at a very different place, because he was coming off of a 2023 season where he had some injuries, and he flat out, said, I mean, he he was very critical of his own play. So a year later, this is a different cause, but, you know, different case, and he’s in a better place. Health wise, performance wise, but I think you also have to recognize this isn’t Jonathan Ogden in his prime. This isn’t Ronnie Stanley five years ago in his prime, pre ankle injury. So how far are you willing to go? I think you’ve heard some reports coming out of the Combine estimating his value probably be infringed top five tackle money, considering he’s the best tackled to hit the market here, if he does indeed hit the market. So you’re talking north of $20 million a year, average annual value. Now that’s that’s a very broad way of looking at it. What’s the guaranteed money? Right? What’s the the guarantee? What’s the guarantee the first couple years? All of that so
Nestor Aparicio 10:39
well, it’s also hard to figure out whether Is he a one year player or two year right? Give him as a three year player, and that’s
Luke Jones 10:45
the thing. I mean, you could sign them. Look, you could give them a deal that says five years, $100 million and it looks very similar at face value, to the deal he signed five years ago. But how much guaranteed money is in that? Is that really a two year deal and then a team option, Team options after that. I mean, that’s, that’s the big key.
Nestor Aparicio 11:02
Well, as a union guy, to your point, the union guys always have to get, they always have to to raise the bar, yeah. And
Luke Jones 11:09
I think, I think for him, I mean, it’s really the guarantee. And look, look, you know, we mentioned New England just as a very obvious one. There are probably 10 other teams, at least 10 other teams out there that all things being equal, they’d like to have Ronnie Stanley if they could sign them. Right? So I think that’s where this is challenging. But if you’re the ravens, all right, you know, I think at the start of the off season, there was a thought of, you know, would this be two years 40? Would this be three years 55 would this be three years 60? But like, what’s the, what’s the first year guarantee? What’s the guarantee? It’s signing, you know, but if it’s going to go more than that, I think you do have to be prepared to say, we, we shouldn’t do this, right? We love the guy. We know. We don’t want to be in a position ideally, where you’re replacing your left tackle at the same time. You can’t pay him like he’s Jonathan Ogden back in 1999 you know. And obviously relative, because the cap is so much more than than it was even five years ago, let alone talking about before that. But I think where you should take a little bit of solace if you’re a Ravens fan and you’re looking at the situation, it’s exactly what you just said. I mean, look at where they were with their offensive line a year ago. At this time, look how many conversations you and I had. And it wasn’t, was it this hot take? Oh, they’re doomed with their own line kind of tone, but there was very much a concern and very much an unknown about how you’re going to proceed with your offensive line. And then how did their offensive line turn out this year? They figured it out. Was it the best in the league? No, but they played at a high level. They played at a high enough level. When you have Lamar Jackson,
Nestor Aparicio 12:49
I would, I would come back and say, oh, yeah, world and penalties, okay,
Luke Jones 12:52
I understand that, yeah. But they still had a they still had an effective players. I had an incredible offense, right? And look, it wasn’t a perfect offensive line. That’s why I said. It wasn’t number one in the league, but they were in terms of how they performed relative to the overall performance of the offense, of the offense, you know, I think you could argue they were at at worst, at worst, top half of the league.
Nestor Aparicio 13:18
I think that the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line was not good enough to win the Super Bowl for them. And over 19 weeks, it proved to be right, even though they got to the Super Bowl that that was their Achilles, right? So in an offense with a $50 million quarterback, that’s better than our quarterback, quite frankly, and that’s pretty good so, but they didn’t put enough in front of him to win a Super Bowl, and they’re six, seven years into this thing now, where they won a couple times, lost a couple times, but the offensive line was their undoing. I don’t feel like last year’s offensive line was the Ravens undoing, or would have been, had they have gotten to play Philadelphia, maybe then they wouldn’t have been good enough and lost to the Eagles in the Super Bowl, but they didn’t. We have to worry about that. They couldn’t even get there, but it wasn’t because of the offensive
Luke Jones 14:02
line. Yeah, yeah. I think that’s a fair way to put it. So that’s where you look at it. And and, you know, the chiefs can be a cautionary tale, then, right? I mean, it’s not just this year. I mean, think back to 20, you know, 2020 when they lost
Nestor Aparicio 14:14
to the box, when Orlando Brown was the apple of their eye.
Luke Jones 14:18
Yeah, right. So there’s some precedent to them targeting a Ravens tackle. So I think so much of this, for me, hinges on, you know, it really pivots on, where are they with Roger Rosengarten, right? If you think Roger Rosengarten, if you truly think he can play left tackle, and then the question is, you need to go out and find another Roger Rosengarten, or you need to go sign a veteran right tackle for you know, the next Morgan Moses, for example, if you really feel you could do that, and with Lamar and his ability to escape pressure and understanding you’re getting younger there, understanding that you can take those dollars and devote them to whatever else you want to. Allocate them to, hey, you’ve got a Kyle Hamilton deal you need to do. You’re gonna have to pay Tyler linderbaum, as we’ve talked about, Linder bomb. You know, there’s a good chance a year, year and a half from now, he’s going to be the highest paid center in the league, because that’s kind of how this works. Uh, so that’s where you have to judge this. I mean, I I think your point,
Nestor Aparicio 15:16
you’re going to have a 19 $20 million center two years. Yeah,
Luke Jones 15:19
right. I mean, create Humphrey, who’s number one right now, and that deal was signed, what last off season had one before that. I’m trying to think of fairly recently. You know, you would think, with the cap going up and with Linder bomb having been a two bowl, two time Pro Bowl safety himself, he’s going to be, you know, he’s going to be gunning for that to be in that kind of territory. So that’s where you look at this and say, All right, I’m willing to extend to a certain point with Ronnie Stanley, but I’m not just giving him a blank check, because again, this is where we come back to this injury history. And he’s going to be 31 here. So guys that are hurt in their 20s generally don’t, you can’t generally project them to suddenly stay healthy in their 30s, right? That that’s illogical. So that’s where I look at this thing and say, okay, you know, if it’s 20 million a year for two or three years, and it’s not a crazy guarantee at signing where I could get out of this after two years, if I, you know, if I needed to, I’m okay with that. If it’s going much higher than that, I think you have to be willing to walk away. And that’s not ideal. And then the biggest question of the off season becomes, all right, who’s your left tackle? You know, even, even if you say Rosengarten, okay, who’s your right tackle? Because,
Nestor Aparicio 16:36
well, changes our conversation dramatically. If Ronnie Stanley is a patriot on Wednesday. Sure,
Luke Jones 16:41
you know whether it’s and again, I the Patriots are are the most. You know, they have the most cap space. So if he’s truly making what’s solely a business decision, and winning doesn’t matter at all, which I think he wants to win, but you can
Nestor Aparicio 16:58
100 and 10 million or something, exactly, he’s made a lot of money, and I don’t know he doesn’t, so it doesn’t have to be, you know, this side, he’s not changing anything about the way he’s going to live the rest of his life. Sure. Other than, are you happy? Are you happy? Going to work? Can you win a championship? Because once you made $100 million you can’t lose. You’re a winner. Yeah.
Luke Jones 17:17
I mean, you know. And again, you don’t expect them to play for peanuts, but you know that that’s where it is interesting to see what other teams jump in. I mean, the Patriots, you know that there’s not much appeal right now of going to New England if you have any interest in winning, even if you like Drake May. I mean, that’s just the reality of where they are right now. But you look at someone like Kansas City, who you know, and they don’t have a lot of cap space. So let, let’s be clear on that one, but if they can make a really, really, really competitive, competitive offer, you know, he might look at that and say, well, but I’ve tried it with the Ravens multiple times, and I’ve come up short, maybe I’ll go join, you know, I’ll go join the evil empire. Right? Again, we’re spitballing here, and it could be as simple as the Ravens find striking a deal over the weekend, but you know it, it’s tough when you get to this point. It’s one thing to talk when you’re two or three or weeks out or a month out from free agency, but you’re, uh, just days hours away from hitting the market. Man, that’s when it’s really tough to to get something done. And I think that’s where, you know, that’s where the reality is at this point in time. And that’s not to say the Ravens can’t get it done. I think, I think their optimism a couple weeks ago was genuine. I do think all things being equal, Ronnie Stanley would like to stay in Baltimore, but, you know, he’s also a, he’s a NFL pa rep. He’s a union guy. The cap has gone up and it’s gone up and it’s gone up some more over the last few years. So all these deals are relative. And you know, when you look at value, the cost of business is going up. So I think there is a price point unlike say, you know, like Stanley five years ago, before the ankle injury, where you just said, at that point, it was kind of sort of a blank check for him, right? This isn’t a blank check scenario, you know, this isn’t a blank check scenario, like it is for Lamar Jackson, right? You, you know, like it will be for Kyle Hamilton, most likely. So, you know, I think you have to be sensible here in recognizing what you’re paying for, even if that ends up being a painful decision where you have to pivot and you have to figure out left tackle. And let’s face it, one thing you have to kind of look back on and understanding your point about 2020 when he got hurt, and the comment that you made at that point, and I vividly remember doing radio with you the next day saying, I don’t think the Ravens can win the Super Bowl. And, you know, they, they’ve had really good teams. They’ve been close. They’ve gone to an AFC title game with Stanley not being an elite left tackle. So you do have to understand, by the way, who played left tackle? Was it in 20? Oh, that was Orlando. That was Orlando brown that year. They moved him over to the left side after Stanley got hurt in 21 when Stanley played in week one in Vegas and then he couldn’t play. That was Alejandro Villanueva Villanova that year. Oh, that. That was the year where their offensive line was a colossal problem. So but the point is, over the last five years, how often have they really had elite left tackle play, and you still see what they’ve been, at least from a regular season standpoint, and getting to January and being in these spots, and to your point, and I wholeheartedly agree, they didn’t lose in Buffalo because their offensive line play right? I mean, they dropped the ball right? They turned the ball over three times. So you can’t do that. So that’s, you know, that’s, that’s kind of a limited, you know, kind of simplistic way of looking at it. But again, that’s where I look at this, and say, I’m willing to go to a certain point for Ronnie Stanley, but if this is going to be 23 million a year, and you’re having to give them four or five years. You’re having to give them more guaranteed money. That’s where I look at that and say, I don’t know if he’s going to be that guy. And as much as I tip my cap to how he played in in 2020 4am, I going to bet on him doing that again and again. You made the mention of the value piece. The Ravens lost a lot of value in that Ronnie Stanley contract this past year. They gained some back, because he played better than what was he a seven and a half million dollar, you know, salary, something like that, whatever it was, he played like a $15 million yeah. So they got some of that. They got some surplus value. They got some value back. Are you willing to run the risk that you’re going to hand that back and then some if you overextend yourself here. So that’s the question right now. It’s like
Nestor Aparicio 21:47
having the last beer at the bar. You know what? I mean? Like, you know, it’s like one more? Or do I not? Luke Jones is here? He’s Baltimore, um, the rest of the league, especially bad teams. You know, bad teams have money. To your point, he’s crap. Oh, we got all the money in the world. Look out, you know, give it to Matt Judah on, you know, I do think that this is the fool’s gold period, right? It’s almost like the day after the draft. The top 10 teams always won the draft because they took the best players, but they’re the worst teams in the league generally. So there was a little bit of a booby prize. When you go out and you’re the one that got the $98 million safety signed, or whatever it is, thinking you’ve transformed your team. I don’t know if the Ravens have ever won a second a week of March like you know, to go out and sign somebody and say, Man, that really worked out that was great. And a lot of times, even the players they’ve lost this time of year, this organization’s, I don’t need to speak of their arrogance. I think you’re well aware of their arrogance, that they just believe will skip comp picks, you know. I mean, like, you know that player is good, he’ll go sign there. We’ll get comp fix for him. He’s gone that, and they accept that, and maybe harder in other places, where General Managers lose their job every three to five years, and there’s new socks around here, where these guys all know everybody’s secrets inside the building, and they all have jobs for life. I would say for them, this is they don’t feel like they don’t feel like they need to win this week. There’s no headline they have to have. They just need to have a good football team by the end of the week.
Luke Jones 23:26
Yeah. I mean, and again, the Stanley piece is really driving this. But if you lose him, that doesn’t mean, mean you’re going to go out and throw a ton of money at another left tackle, right? I mean, he’s perceived to be the best left tackle hitting the market. You mentioned, you know, big splashes. I mean, three years ago, they made a big splash signing Marcus Williams, and, well, they’re going to release him this week officially, and we’ve known for months he’s going to be released, so it’s not news. So yeah, and look, that doesn’t mean that you can’t make a savvy signing. I mean, Derek Henry, they didn’t throw big money at last year. They threw some money at him, and that worked beautifully for them to the point where they’re going to have to, you know, that’s, that’s something else that I at least should mention. In passing the saquon Barkley extension certainly makes the price for extending Derek Henry, who is three years older. I mean, he’s not going to get safe on money, we know that, but probably makes that, you know, tacking on a year or two to his deal. Maybe a little more complicated, a little more expensive.
Nestor Aparicio 24:23
Well, I did see a Derek Henry oiler jersey on sale. It had a 99 cent bid. So if he’s going to stick around and get you one, you want one,
Luke Jones 24:33
right? But, but, I mean, but those are, historically, those are the kind of signings the Ravens make. I mean, they’re not going to go out and sign lucrative, big pieces, and generally, when they have, it hasn’t always worked out well. I mean, that’s what it’s funny to hear some of the discourse this week about safety, and obviously, because, you know, Kyle Hamilton is tremendous, but you’d like to put him back in a position where you can move him around a little bit more. I. If you do that, that that’s dependent on adding another safety, whether it’s via the draft or a free agent. But Let’s call a spade a spade. Nestor, over the last 10 years, the Ravens track record with free agent safeties. It it hasn’t been all that high. Okay, I’ll give you Eric Weddle, that worked out well, but Tony Jefferson, you love the person he didn’t play like the contract that they gave him. Earl Thomas say nothing more, and Marcus Williams. So my point there isn’t that. No, you can’t go out and sign a safety, but it’s a buyer beware kind of scenario to make sure you have someone that’s going to fit. So I think if you’re the ravens, and again, Stanley is the major caveat here, and acknowledge the the Tucker thing right now, although no one’s going out and signing a kicker on the first day of free agency anyway, you know, even if, even if there’s a veteran kicker that they might have their eye on, just in case, but I think you look at the ravens, the rest of their roster, they have plenty of positions they could do some work on right corner. They certainly could stand at another corner. But you do have Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins. That’s a really good start there, even though you’re going to need a third whether that comes in the draft or whether that comes in signing some kind of veteran on a value deal five days in the free agency, you know. And we’ve seen them do that. We’ve seen them sign Brandon Carr and guys like that over the years. So that’s certainly doable, but you kind of go down the list, corner, Edge rusher, they could always add to right? I mean, Kyle van Noy is a year older. Adafe always in a contract year. You’re, you know, your young guys are completely unproven. Haven’t done anything to really instill much trust. I mentioned safety kicker, you know, I already mentioned that. You know, you could always look at another guard. You know, what’s going to happen with Patrick McCary? We’ve talked a lot about Stanley. What’s going to happen with McCary, right? I don’t think, I don’t think you’re given McCary lucrative money, but someone else might give him pretty decent money after the year he just had. So are you willing to let him go and say, All right, we’ll go with FAU Lele, and Voorhees was our starting left guard the first three weeks of the season, until he got hurt. We’ll look at that, and we’ll try to draft a guard on day two, or something like that. So, you know. But So my point is, you can kind of go down the entire depth chart and every position other than running back, because they have Derek, Henry, justice, Hill, Keaton Mitchell. They’re, they’re pretty set there, right? It’s not really much of an argument to make for adding another running back, but you could look at every other position you know, even tight end, because what’s going to happen with Mark Andrews, right? We’ve talked about that. We’ll see what happens. There could be a resolution here very quickly, one way or the other with Mark Andrews. So could you add a tight end if you’re trading Mark Andrews, even if you’re going to extend likely? So my point is, they have plenty of areas that they can address, but you know their most pressing needs? Again, it’s really dependent what happens with Stanley and left tackle, and then what that could mean for right tackle with Rosengarten moves over, if Stanley, Stanley ends up walking. So, you know, they, my point is, they can cast a pretty wide net here, and generally speaking, when you’re talking about having a bunch of positions you want to address, but you’re not in dire straights that you must add someone at a position that’s kind of, excuse me, that’s kind of where you want to be. And again, left tackle, that’s the big one. It’s the big one, one way or the other. Yeah, we’re gonna have a resolution here, and that’s either going to be their overwhelming, overwhelmingly biggest need, or they’ll have them signed. And then, okay, what else can you do? But, you know, you look at every other spot on the field, you know, they, they need to add a number three wide receiver, right? They tight end, I already mentioned, you know, you could add another guard, defensive line, interior defensive line. I think you could add some depth there. You know, what’s going to happen with Brent urban? Michael Pierce is another year older linebacker, you know, I think you really want to see, hopefully Trenton Simpson is ready to put that last year behind him and become a starter. Because you can’t, I don’t think spending money on another inside linebacker is the, you know, the the optimal option here. So, you know, you can kind of look all around, and you can add a police here or there, back up quarterback, you know, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Josh Johnson’s going to be what, 39 if he’s not already. So are you willing to just have him be your backup again? Or are you going to look at another option there? I don’t think you’re spending much money on that, but it’s still something you need to do. So, you know, they do have quite a few, I struggle to call them needs, but they do have quite a few positions where they certainly could stand to add and augment and fortify. So you know that that’s kind of where you’re looking and look that’s probably not a big surprise, because you’re talking about a team that a roster that’s been very balanced and very good. Overall the last couple years, right? It’s why they’ve been so successful in the regular season. So what exactly can they do to get over the hump? I still think most of those answers are going to come either internally or via the draft. To your point, I don’t expect the ravens to necessarily make a big time, colossal move here. But you know what? What does a mark Andrews trade look like if you’re going to make one? So you know that that’s that’s kind of the wild card. What does that look like to you? A mark Andrews trade? It’s right, I knew you’re gonna as soon as I said that, I figured you were gonna ask me. Well, it’s because I do. They do this professionally. I asked professional. I mean, I think everybody knows. I mean, you have to be realistic. I mean, you’re talking about a tight end who’s 30 years old, you know, he’s not in his prime at the same time,
Nestor Aparicio 30:47
it’s a fourth round pick, isn’t it? That’s what it is. It’s not a second, right? It’s not no,
Luke Jones 30:52
no. I mean, especially, I mean, he’s in a walk here, right? He’s going to be 30 in September. He has had a little more of an injury history here recently, although he’s he was pretty healthy, very healthy as the year went on this past year. So, you know, I think some of it you gage up against, okay, if you let it play out and you let him play for you in 2025 what kind of contract is he going to get on the open market? Probably not so lucrative that you get a third round comp pick. You’re probably looking at at most a fourth round comp pick, and maybe not even that. So if a team offers you a fourth now in this year’s draft, you might be tempted to do that. So, you know, I struggle with the idea of just giving them away. I don’t want this to turn into an Anquan Boldin scenario where you trade them for a seventh round pick like the Ravens did over a decade ago, and we know how that went. You’ll miss Mark Andrews. You know, regardless of how anyone feels about what happened in Buffalo or postseason track record, you know, this guy’s helped him win a lot of games over the last five, six years. You know you’re not the all time touchdown scoring leader in ravens history without doing something right? So I think we can find some reasonable middle ground here, of saying, you know, if you get a fourth round pick kind of an offer for him, then I think you probably do it. But at the same time, you acknowledge, hey, this is going to change the makeup of our of our offense. One we better get something done with Isaiah, likely in his contract year, and he’s going to have a bigger role. But what else does that mean? What does that mean in terms of target distribution? Does that open up more for the wide receivers? Does that open up more for Charlie Kohler as the number two tight end? Do you draft another tight end in, you know, date day three, right in the way that they did with Kohler, and likely, so, you know, there, there are a lot of tentacles to that, and there’s an acknowledgement of, yeah, if you do trademark Andrews, if you do part with Mark Andrews, that’s going to change your offense. I mean, he’s, he’s been Lamar Jackson safety net. I mean, Lamar has even said that he’s called him my safety net. You know, when things are kind of break down, he’s the guy I look to. So if you’re going to part with that, and I understand, if you’re going to going to from a cap standpoint, you have to acknowledge then, yeah, your offense is going to have to evolve here, and you’re not just running it back, and you might even have some early season growing pains as a result of that next year, I don’t think their offense falls apart because, you know, Mark Andrews hasn’t been their entire offense. You know, Lamar runs the ship, right? You know, drives the car here, but that, but that would be a pretty striking change, so I think you need to at least tread carefully in proceeding. And I’m sure, you know, they’ve thought about it. I’m I would hope they’ve talked to Lamar about it, if you are indeed moving on from Mark Andrews. And I’m sure they have, but yeah, I think, you know, at fourth round that feels, that feels reasonable to me, right? I mean, for someone who, you know still caught 11 touchdowns last year, I mean, he had the bad September, we get that, but you take away September, and you kind of, you know, play out the rest of the season. His numbers, they were very Mark Andrews, like after that. So you know how much of it was the ankle. Remember, he had the car accident in August last summer, and I think that impacted him as well. So I know this is still a good player, but I also understand if you say, Hey, we can’t pay him, and likely, and Isaiah, likely is four and a half years younger, so I think that’s where you look at this thing and say, it makes sense to move on from Andrews and get something done with likely, hopefully sooner than later. You know, that’s something you’d like to be proactive about. If you’re you are going to make this move, but, you know, I think that’s the big question. But no second round pick or anything like that. No. I mean, you’re talking about someone in a walk here. I mean, we, we see, you know, we saw what. You know, it’s a different sport, but look how little the Orioles had to give up for Corbin burns, right? You know, in a walk. Gear, and you’re talking about a Cy Young Award winner there. So when you’re talking about any player that’s in a walk here, you’re not going to get lucrative compensation. That’s why I kind of laugh when I hear the Seahawks talk, you know, with the DK Metcalf thing, what the reported asking price for him is a first and a third, and you’re going to have to give him a new contract, I’d be skeptical if they ultimately get that. I mean, maybe they will, because DK Metcalf is a heck of a talent when he’s healthy. But, you know, I for a tight end who’s 30 years old, I you’re probably not going to do much better than a fourth maybe there’s a pick swap involved. Maybe it swap second round picks with a team that has a much better second round pick. You know, you can get creative with some of these deals, but no, you’re not. You’re not getting a first round pick for Mark Andrews. You’re not getting just the second, you know, a second round pick alone for Mark Andrews. It’s going to be compensation that’s going to be less than that. And you kind of have to weigh, you know, what’s going to be worth it for you to do that, understanding that, yeah, you’re going to be walking away from a player who’s been really important to part of your offense for a long time. Here’s
Nestor Aparicio 36:05
what Jones it is, tampering period. It’s free agency. It’s the NFL. We’re inching closer to baseball season. We’re going to be in Toronto, Canada as the well, I’ll be the ugly American. You can be the guy that keeps us safe as we go and hang out with Getty Lee, by the way, speaking of Canadian musicians, Rick Emmett of triumph joined me for about an hour this week talking about his new project and album and his music. Also had some wise Canadian words for the Americans in regard to politics and in regard to coming to Canada. He by the way, he told me this hat. Wear this hat and I’m good. So I’m going to wear this hat when I cross over the border at Niagara Falls. You got your passport stamp? You ready? I mean, since you cost us this Florida trip next week, I’m going to be after you Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the whole thing. I mean, if the Orioles win one of these big spring training games on Monday or Tuesday, I’m going to be upset with you. Let’s
Luke Jones 37:01
at this point, let’s just hope they get through those games without any more injuries. I mean, now we’re talking about Grayson Rodriguez with this tricep. Tyler O’Neill was scratched in the game, even though it sounds like it’s, imagine that, yeah. I mean, it’s just, you know, Peter King
Nestor Aparicio 37:13
and I have been going back and forth. The football writer, Peter King and I, we were texting a couple weeks ago. He’s a big red zone fan, right? Yeah. So he hit me. He’s like, he’s gonna hit 41 home runs in 94 games for you this year.
Luke Jones 37:24
Hey, with the new left wheeled wall? I mean, that might be the the idea, but, yeah, I mean, it’s, you’re, you’re at the point now where just, like, just start the season. I mean, get, get to late March. I mean, you don’t want guys getting hurt in these, you know, these practice
Nestor Aparicio 37:37
games, stupid games, yeah, but that’s why we’re not going next week. They’re just stupid preseason case. We have the important Ronnie Stanley debate here the next couple days. All right, Luke will be monitoring all of that while we’re ignoring baseball, because it’s what we do. I will be following Towson basketball. We’re going to be over CVP Charles village pub on Sunday at noon. I’ll be back on Monday at six if they win, and then Tuesday at seven if they win that one, we’re doing the show next Friday at Charles village pub. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I will have the magic eight ball scratch offs. We gave away some of those at Faith Lee’s on Thursday. Had great, great guests. On Thursday, I had Megan McCorkle stop by. She was great. We talked a lot about the the Lexington market, everything going on down there as baseball season returns, American Cancer Society. We also talked to a police officer and and his staff about preparing youth for tomorrow, so we’re still serving the community out there. My thanks to everybody. Invited us out for the addies on Thursday night as well all the advertising agencies, they loved my long hair. I am Nestor. He is Luke. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. Have a great weekend, Baltimore. We’re Baltimore. Positive. You.
