The ability of the Ravens to lure quality veteran players to Baltimore continued with the addition of oft-injured, two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander to a secondary that now feels more bolstered. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the ability of Lamar Jackson to help in the recruiting process and the reputation of the organization to be able to snare talented guys who want to win a Super Bowl.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ acquisition of cornerback Jaire Alexander from the Green Bay Packers. Alexander, a two-time Pro Bowl player, signed a four-year deal with incentives, despite a history of injuries. The Ravens’ secondary now includes Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins, and potential additions like veteran safety Trayvon Mullen. The deal is seen as a low-risk, high-reward move, especially if Alexander stays healthy. The conversation also touched on the Ravens’ depth, the importance of player health, and the team’s reputation for attracting talent.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Jaire Alexander, Baltimore Ravens, Pro Bowl cornerback, Lamar Jackson, secondary depth, injury history, mandatory mini camp, veteran safety, Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins, TJ Tampa, Ozzie Newsome, Eric DeCosta, Super Bowl potential.
SPEAKERS
8
Speaker 1, Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:02
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 taso, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. Happy Summer to everybody out there trying to stay cool. Now, after trying to warm up the last month or so, we’re doing the Maryland crab keeper. We’re just getting warmed up. It’s the Back to the Future scratch offs. You will have these next Thursday at readers crab house. We’re going to be up in Reisterstown. Had a beautiful day out in Randallstown at the Y this week. You’ll be hearing that with John Hoey and Councilman Julian Jones, as well as Barry Williams. You’ll hear all of that here and my pal Jerry Schlichting from clean cuisine doing a good turn for Justin Burke’s cancer ride going on across the state in August. We’ll be talking more about that later. We will be out and about at Costas in Timonium, the brand new location at the track. Make sure you use the back elevator. Come into money and road, park your car. Go have a good time at Costas. Don’t go for the crabs. They only have the crabs in Dundalk, I’m feeling a little crabby after the Orioles melted down eight to nothing and lost the game on Wednesday night, but football was the, really the big news on Tuesday, Wednesday, around here, the only two days of practice, practice. So it was so important that Lamar showed up, and they all showed up because it’s mandatory mini camp. Luke Jones, it was mandatory that he be after because I don’t want you losing your press pass for not going to practice. How are you? How was how was the day? Not indoors? Stormy, not what you want. Typically on the outdoor set when they get back together about five or six weeks from now, right?
Luke Jones 01:28
Well, the big news was someone who didn’t take part in practice, but did officially sign with the Baltimore Ravens, and that’s Jaire Alexander, two time cornerback, Pro Bowl cornerback from the Green Bay Packers, who was released not long ago, and I we talked about him in passing a couple times. Lamar Jackson, his former Louisville teammate, interestingly enough, had made a plea, a playful plea, but a plea nonetheless. And I think a plea that indicated that, yeah, the Ravens were in on Jaire Alexander, but he said, Go get America and Well, Eric, the cost of went and got him on Wednesday. And I think as we talked about this, the injuries are the big part, right? I mean, he’s played more than seven games in a season, just once in the last, you know, going back last four seasons. I mean, played four games in 2021 2022 stayed healthy. Was a Pro Bowl player. Then was a Pro Bowl player in 2020 when he stayed healthy. But then the last two years, seven games each, so
Nestor Aparicio 02:30
been Marlon Humphrey when he plays right, like like that, right? He’s been that good, right? He’s
8Luke Jones 02:35
his last two seasons in which he stayed mostly healthy. He’s been to the Pro Bowl now, the fact that he was available to the ravens and of course, indications are there was a Lamar discount here, he did have money, more money on the table elsewhere, but the fact that you sign him four years base with a couple more million in incentives that he can reach through playing time, that was not an indication of his play. That was an indication of his availability or lack thereof. So I like to steal a lot. I said all along, if you can get him for three or 4 million and then a max value of, I think I said eight even, and the max value for this is six. I mean, why wouldn’t you do it? Because you look at the makeup of their secondary they’ve already lost our Darius Washington, so we’ve kind of talked about, okay, you have Kyle Hamilton and your rookie first round pick, Malakai Starks, but you’re lighter at the safety position at the moment, and I still think it’s very much on the table for them to add a veteran safety at some point in time. But now that you have Marlon Humphrey, you have Nate Wiggins going into his second year as a first round pick who had a solid rookie season. You’ve now added Jair Alexander, and I think part of this equation is still jadovia, who’s a who is similar to Alexander, not in the sense that he’s been the Pro Bowls because he hasn’t, but at his best for Cincinnati a few years ago. I mean, he was a number one corner so, but he’s also had some injury. So I think you look at this in terms of, you know, kind of looking at these guys collectively, and you say, all right, Jair Alexander is probably not going to play 17 games. Probably not going to play 17 games. But, you know, Marlon Humphrey saved for 2023 has stayed mostly healthy in his career, mostly durable, and he certainly rebounded last year. And you have Nate Wiggins, who’s 22 years old, yeah, that’s a pretty good that’s a pretty good threesome and Foursome, if you add a woozy a at the cornerback position that’s before you get to TJ Tampa, who I still think they like from a big picture standpoint, and some of their other younger corners on the roster. So, you know, I Marlon Humphrey made the comment that there’s no such thing as I forget his exact wording, but he was alluding to the fact that they have so many cover. Corners now, but we also know Ozzie Newsome, for years and years, always said you can’t have too many corners. They’re in much better shape at that position. I mean, they really are. When you think about one of the very few weaknesses that this team had at the end of last season, you would say Brandon Stevens playing on the outside right. I mean, teams picked on him, as well as their defense played overall. That was still a spot where you said that could be better. That’s why they didn’t resign Brandon Stevens. So you let him go, and you’ve now brought in two veteran corners who, yes, both have an injury history. But if you can get enough out of those guys, and for me, the big key isn’t Jair Alexander to play 17 games, however many games he plays in the regular season. The key for me is he’s healthy come January, right? Everything they do is about January. We talked about that the other day, just thinking about roster building and this team’s mindset and going through the regular season, and who they play early on, and when’s the bye week, and all the different factors that you think about, how healthy are you? But this is all about January, and when you look at this thing on paper, got a pretty formidable group of corners here. The big key is going to be, how healthy can they stay? But again, for $4 million this is a heck of an upside signing, and, you know, we’ll see how it works out. But it’s hard not to look at this deal and think that the Ravens didn’t get better on paper as it pertains to their defense. Nobody
Nestor Aparicio 06:29
wants to sink money into players that they’re not sure about, right? I mean, we talk about pitching in baseball the time where it’s, you know, it’s like a ghost. You can’t trap it in the NFL availabilities, just you know, guys could turn an ankle of practice and be done, as we found out a couple months ago with with our Darius Washington. But my thought about the health for him and where he is and his availability, this is a great fortune for the Ravens if he can stay healthy, because he’s a guy that would have I was a quarterback. He’s He’s a starting caliber cornerback when he’s ready to go. To your point. They didn’t have one of those around here five or six years ago, but seven years ago before they drafted Humphrey, right? I mean, so like it, you were always about the depth of the secondary, the depth of the secondary. They’ve clearly taken that seriously. But this is good fortune for them, and also their reputation is a place with Lamar and where players want to go, that they can recruit players the Bengals don’t have that. You know, there’s other places where they can’t recruit players like this, certainly not at a discount.
Luke Jones 07:34
Well, I mean, could the Bengals recruit with Joe burrow and their wide receivers? Sure they could. But does their front office, and more specifically, their ownership, have the willingness to still spend money and still spend to the cap and all that and and that’s always come into question. So yeah, the Lamar effect here is huge. I mean, I said all along, my biggest doubts with Alexander, beyond the injuries, and I still, I’m still skeptical as far as how healthy he can stay. That’s why I said, even if he only plays, I don’t know, eight games, nine games, 10 games in the regular season, can that at least include him being right and healthy and upright for January, even if he misses time in October? Let’s say, Well, this where we could
Nestor Aparicio 08:16
8bring in Tyler O’Neill said guys that get hurt usually stay hurt. Sure we don’t say that about Ronnie Stanley. We haven’t said that about Marlon Humphrey. Those are guys who have been guys who have been hurt. They’re kind of where gyre Alexander is. I mean, Stanley was half foot out of the league. I mean, especially with his big body and all of that, there’s no reason to think if Alexander is out there running around right now in June, that he’s not healthy now, and that’s that, then you got a hell of a discount on a good player, first round draft pick. He said he was a teen or draft pick. He’s a serious guy, right? And he’s a guy who’s who made it. He didn’t flop. He just, he’s been inconsistent with his
Luke Jones 08:49
elf, yeah. I mean, think back. I mean, it’s not long ago. You go back to May of 2022 when the packer signed him to a four year $84 million contract. I mean, this was top of the market cornerback money, just three years ago, but it’s been the injuries and the ravens to their credit for as much as we talked about the Steve Saunders, 2021 all the injuries they had. I mean, just a historic level of injuries, just about they had the they enjoyed the exact opposite last year. I mean, think about it. Who ended the season on IR of any consequence for them now, say flowers had a three or four week knee injury at the worst possible time. That was some bad timing. But I mean, think about who missed time during the season. Michael Pierce was on IR for what, five or six weeks. A couple other guys here and there, they were as healthy as you could possibly be. So you’re hoping, first of all, you want to try to duplicate that as best as you can. And our Darius Washington was a reminder that that wasn’t going to happen. But you’re hoping that some of your training methods and strength and conditioning program that you know, some of those things that you’ve. Done and you’ve tweaked over the last three to four years, can make a positive impact here. And part of this is also they, they’re not bringing in Jair Alexander as as the Packers signed him three years ago to be the number one corner. I mean, he really when you look at this thing and, you know, it’s kind of overly simplistic to just rank them 123, but he can kind of be their number three corner, you know, if they want to try to keep him on a little more of a snap count, you know, Humphrey starts in the base, Wiggins starts in the base. But base defense is nickel. In this day and age, you play three corners, I don’t know, 70% of the time, if not more than that. So, so if you kind of have him be that third guy, you can keep a woozy a into the mix. You know, take them out here and there, rest them a series here and there. You might have a player that one can be very, very effective. And two, you might be able to keep them healthier that way. So again, it’s $4 million it might not work out, but if it doesn’t work out, a $4 million one year deal, does not cripple you in any way. I mean, they’ve, they’ve given $4 million to plenty of players who couldn’t even just point black, couldn’t
Nestor Aparicio 11:10
play. Let Marcus Williams, uh, let’s start with that. They gave him four times that. So, yeah,
Luke Jones 11:14
yeah. So, so that’s where, I mean, there’s, there’s nothing to dislike about this deal. I mean, we can sit here and be skeptical about how many games he’s going to play. And I certainly, I have questions about the cumulative impact of multiple injuries in recent years. How does that impact someone as far as how well they can play? But again, for what they need, for what they’re asking here, for what the anticipated role is. I mean, this is, this is a good fit in that way. So, you know, you hope he’s bought in the fact that he took less money, I think is a good indication. Wants to be here, wants to win a championship, wants to play with his former teammate at Louisville. And you also have the factor of when it is a one year deal, there’s plenty of motivation for a 28 year old to say, I’m not done. I want to have a great year. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to stay healthy, going to do everything I possibly can to be a good teammate and fit in, because regardless of how we play as a team, I’m going to be hitting the market then come March. So I want to have my best possible season. So again, for the cost, I think it’s impossible to dislike this deal. I saw some some sentiment and conjecture on social media. You know, is this the move that gets the Ravens over the hump? And I just, I hate that categorization, because it implies that their roster has been lacking when they’ve had their these January shortcomings. And I just don’t think that’s been the case. I think their best players need to play like their best players in the biggest moments. But when you add another talented player to your secondary, it it should make your defense more complete. It makes your defense deeper, it makes you more formidable on the back end. And I think really, when you think about what happened with ardarius Washington and how that impacts your secondary right? When they drafted Malachi Starks, you heard me talking about three safety alignments, three safety alignments, three safety alignments, where they could play three safety nickel and Hamilton would slide down and play the slot. You know, they could, they could have done the same thing with Malachi Starks doing that. But now, while I still think they’re going to add another safety at some point, and in the meantime, they’re going to evaluate Sanusi, Kane Bo braid, Jalen armor, Davis was getting some looks at safety rather than corner. You know, they can continue to do that early in training camp, but I think what this means now, when you look at their group of corners, they’re much more about they’re back to being much more of a three corner nickel kind of team. They might be a four corner dime kind of team, right? And, you know, we’re going to see how much Trenton Simpson stays on the field in sub packages. So they could be in a lot of dime. But now you’re in a position where you have Humphrey Wiggins, Alexander ouzier, TJ Tampa had a good spring, you know. So, so you’ve got four, maybe five, cornerbacks that you can trust, and that’s not even counting armor Davis, who another injury, you know, injury plagued kind of guy who hasn’t been able to fully develop in that way, but they’ve liked him when, when he’s been healthy and available. So you need deep depth. But because I’ve mentioned, some of these guys have had some injuries. But you know, again, when you add Jair Alexander on the cheap like this, I mean, there’s nothing to dislike about it. It’s just going to be the question of, how does he fit? And the biggest one, how healthy can he stay? And like I said, for me, this is not, oh, he must play 17 games. This is much more. Let’s have him navigate a season, keep him healthy. If he has to miss a game here or there, or misses a few games in October or November, but he has a good chance of being available for January. That’s what that’s all that matters. I mean, that’s all that matters for this team now. Was January. I mean, we’ve talked about that for years, and I’m not going to change my tune. In that way, they are more than capable of winning a Super Bowl. But I thought they were last year. I thought they were two years ago. I thought they were in 2019 so, so that’s where I, you know, the whole idea of one player getting the Ravens over the hump. You know, I don’t subscribe to that notion. I think it’s collectively, their stars need to be stars. And we’ve talked about that and beat that horse to death at this point in time. But again, Jair Alexander coming in for this kind of price tag. I mean, you have to like it if you’re the Baltimore Ravens, especially want your defense and your secondary to take the next step after improving midway through the year the way they did,
8Nestor Aparicio 15:42
he’s made $72 million already. So, you know, taking a discount for a year to go try to win a Super Bowl with his buddy to go get a contract, which Ronnie Stanley did, right? You know, this is, this is a great signing for them. I mean, you know, we sit here and we wring our hands in February about all the free agents are going to lose, and then they lose, and then you ring your hands in March, say, well, they don’t have cap room. And then you’re like, well, they don’t even have a great draft position because they’re good, but they’ll get a starter, they’ll find a player, and they do, and they find a player in the second round last year in Rosengarten, right? So, you know, filling holes they have, they have a system, they have a way they do things, and it’s been incredibly successful. And then the The upshot of that is when a player like and we can go through the history of the league, whether it’s Steve Smith or whether it’s Anquan Boldin, who was traded here, but those kinds of acquisitions that happen, especially these kinds of acquisitions, this is the one where, if you and I really were putting $1 in the pot back in February, after they get eliminated, after Mark Andrews has run to the hills and doesn’t meet the media, and after Lamar loses his MVP, like all of that, and we would say they’ll do something in June. They’ll get a player. They’ll get a starting caliber former first round draft pick who’s in his late 20s or early 30s. The next one will be they’ll get it. They’ll get a rush edge, right? They’ll get a pass rusher that sounds like any of the names that we’ve had in years past. Maybe it works out. Maybe it doesn’t work out, but they’ll get a 30 something pass rush or two. They’ll add that because they do
Luke Jones 17:18
something like that, or like I said, I still think there’s a veteran safety to be added, but because they’re, you know, they’re, you love their starters, but if something happens to Kyle Hamilton or Malachi Starks, like, who’s your starting safety? I mean, even if you have the pie in the sky idea that our Darius Washington could be back by December, let’s say, I mean, it’s just so But you’re right, and I think you look at this and it’s a big reminder, as cliche as it’s been over the years, and sometimes you roll your eyes, and sometimes you have angst, and sometimes you’re even angry, if you’re a Ravens fan, and you see how the start of free agency goes for the Ravens. But starting with Ozzie Newsome, and it’s continued with Eric Acosta, how many times have you heard them say, we don’t play a game until September. And you look at what they’ve done just in very recent history, 2021 they bring in Justin Houston early in training camp. Go look at how many sacks he had that year. A couple years ago, they brought in Arthur Millett at the beginning of training camp. He ends up being a really useful nickel corner for them. They brought in jadavion Clowney. They brought in Ronald Darby, because they had a need at corner at that point in time. Those guys were added late in August. They brought in Kyle van Noy at the end of September. So they’ve done this in recent years. They’ve
Nestor Aparicio 18:36
done they added two linebackers in the second week of the season 10 years ago. Right? The guy from Pittsburgh, remember, like they and they brought back
Luke Jones 18:44
8the guy, Josh bonds, Josh Barnes,
Nestor Aparicio 18:47
right? I mean, they’ve done things in season that, have they traded for roquan Smith at the trading deadline? You know what I mean. So there is no day off if you’re running the W NSD Baltimore positive tech service brought to you by coal roofing and Gordian energy, right? Like at any point, the notion that they signed him, this is the good fortune that they’ve had and built through having a reputation that when a player, former pro bowl corner is released in Green Bay, not only do they have somebody that’s played with him or coached him, they have the ability to get him on the phone, then they have the ability to bring him in and get him at a discount and talk discount and talk him into, hey, do you see we did for Ronnie Stanley’s bank account? Yeah, you got 72 million you might sign a $60 million deal next year if you come in here and play,
Luke Jones 19:32
yeah, no question and whether it’s going to be here or not. I mean, I’m not sitting here saying that, Oh, I don’t say it’s here. I’m saying you’re gonna get paid. But you can, you you have a platform to go get paid, right? I mean, I mean, resurrect your career, right? Exactly, exactly. I mean, and again, this guy can play when he’s healthy, but that’s a major caveat. Again, I’m not going to sit here and just say that it’ll 100% is going to work out, because it might not. I mean, again, 2021 four games, 2022 16 games pro bowl, and then the last two years, seven games, seven games. So he’s missed a lot of football the last four years. So you do have to take that into account. He’s only 28 he’s not 35 but he’s 28 and he’s got quite an injury history. So we’re going to see how this looks. But again, on the heels of losing our Darius Washington, and understanding what that meant, as far as how, what your vision was for your secondary, where I think it was much more three safeties, mix in a third corner and dot and dime. You know, of course, you’re still going to use three corners and nickel, but I think it was going to be a very free safety heavy kind of secondary, and I think they’ve flipped now that it’s going to be a very heavy three corner secondary. So, and you’ve got, you’ve even got some depth there, because, again, you have a Wu Ze, you have TJ, Tampa, you know, you drafted two corners this year, but they were six round picks. I mean, I think one of those guys will stick on the back end of the roster, and we’ll see about the other guy, maybe on the practice squad. So, you know, you have armor Davis, you have some, you know, a couple second year safeties that you’re going to take a look at. But like I said, I still think a veteran safety could be added, that could be in the mix, but you’re now in a position where the addition of that veteran safety isn’t quite as critical in terms of, like, I don’t think you need to go spend money, real money, on the on the absolute best safety that might be available. It might be the guy that’s the third or fourth best safety that’s available that you think is a good fit for you. So, so we’re going to see that. You know that, but, but it’s true, the roster is never set. I mean, it’s why I try to be very clear when we get to final cuts on whatever it is, most years, August 30. August 30. August 31 September 1. I always try to make a point to say it’s the initial 53 man roster. It’s not the final 53 man they’re
Nestor Aparicio 21:49
always messing around with veteran players about guaranteeing their contracts. At that point, they’ll have some 30 something hanger on that they don’t want to get. They don’t want to vest. So they’ll, you know, they’ll, they’ll hide them. You know, there’s just they know how to play the game. They they don’t get caught making clerical mistakes. They do get caught with John Harbaugh cheating and get people out on the field when he shouldn’t have them out there. But when it comes to clerical stuff, when it comes to them losing draft picks and not knowing or they’re going to draft like the Vikings did one year, or screwing up a contract and letting somebody slide out the side door like the Carolina Panthers have done, or not knowing the rules. They’re never going to they’re never going to take a backseat to anybody when it comes to that part of pro personnel. And that’s a George cokina thing. That’s an Eric Acosta thing. They know the league, and they know availability. And more than that, they assess value. They rarely overpay for players, right? Like the Marcus Williams thing and the the Earl Thomas thing. If I run into to Eric to cost at the coffee shop, like we used to back in the day, we read it to him now and have some other things to say to him, but it would always be about, you know, What’s the surprise? What’s the thing you got up your sleeve? Who’s the player that, if they become available, you could get and they fulfilled a pretty nice little Willy Wonka tree over the course of years, that when a player is out in the marketplace and they COVID him, and it’s not some $30 million cap number, it’s somebody who’s in this precarious position to trying to resurrect their career and has potential, they’ll bring them in. They’ll bring them in, and that’s what they’ve been known as from the beginning, right, moving forward, right?
8Luke Jones 23:25
But it’s so funny to look at the timing of that. How when are the team that’s trying to make a splash at the beginning of free agency? That’s when it tends to be Earl Thomas. It’s when it tends to be Marcus Williams, which, you know Marcus Williams his first couple years. The play wasn’t bad. He had some injuries that they couldn’t have foreseen, and then last year completely fell apart. Odell Beckham, you know, I mean, Beckham was such a unique circumstance. I mean, they were, they’re trying to mend fences with their superstar quarterback, right? So we even, I even talked about that in passing the other day when we were talking about DeAndre Hopkins that, you know, Beckham was, yeah, that was the Lamar tax basically, you know, that was a Olive Branch, and Lamar to to get him to talk a little bit more. And they got a deal done, what, two and a half, three weeks later. So it was a one year deal. Did it? Did it cripple them in any way? No, of course, not. So it’s the same thing with this, which I air Alexander, he might tear his ACL in week three. And I don’t say that to be morbid. I’m just that can happen to anybody. We know that, right? I mean, that’s, that’s football. It’s, it’s cruel. It really is cruel. But he might, he might play five games all year. He might not be available in January. But for $4 million I’ll, I’ll do that bet 10 times out of 10 knowing what kind of player he’s been when he’s been healthy in recent years. So we’re going to see. And again, like I said, they’re in a position with their depth that Jair Alexander doesn’t need to be a 6570 snap guy every single week. I mean, they can. They can pick their spots a little bit and rotate him in a Woozi a you know, there’s different. Things you can do on that front. So I just think this is this made so much sense when you saw the price point. And my skepticism was much more that some other team was going to throw more money at him, and the reports indicate other teams were throwing more money at him. And he said, Hey, I’ll go to Baltimore. I’ll play there, you know, I’ll play for Chuck pagano in the secondary, and Zach Gore, and I love Lamar. I mean, is my boy at Louisville. I mean, that that was the mindset here. And you get it done for 4 million and, you know, you throw him a couple more million if he can stay healthy and he’s playing and not missing games, and he’s a big part of your defense, then, I mean, this is great in that regard. So, you know it again, there’s no downside here. Yeah, the downside is his lack of availability. That’s why he was available for 4 million. If that wasn’t an issue, he couldn’t afford it, right? He No, he’d probably still be a packer, right? For sure, right? And, you know, and I know he’s had, you know, he, he, he’s a unique personality, you know, that might be the best way to put it. You know that there’s some I don’t want to say exactly, because I don’t, I’m that, not that familiar with him, to say this, but there’s some, some element of a Marcus Peters in him that, you know, he’s had some personal
Nestor Aparicio 26:20
dad would call it a hot dog, but that that, that’s an old fashioned term. It’s probably worse than that. In the modern era where you’re making $70 million you’re not just a hot dog, you’re malcontent, you know, on various days, difficult to coach. How about that? Can we use that?
Luke Jones 26:36
I mean, he, remember, he had the weird thing where he went to the huddle and, you know, he wasn’t one of the team captains in overtime and did the coin. You know, it’s just a weird, like a bizarre, weird kind of thing, but
Nestor Aparicio 26:47
8there’s a level of emotional immaturity here that I don’t miss at all. Whether it’s Justin Tucker, whether it’s guys dropping N bombs in the locker room, whether it’s just, I don’t, I don’t miss any of that part of the drama, because you and I stick to the football for the MO unless Justin Tucker’s out getting dirty rub downs, then we have to talk about it. But like, in a general sense, they’ve had all sorts of troubled cats out there. They’ve had guys die this time of the year of drug overdoses, and kick that to the curb. They’ve had all sorts of issues out there. But they play football. They play football, you know what I mean. So that’s this is a garden variety problem for a player who once had it, a, you know, a maturity issue, or whatever they would say about it. That’s most of these cats, because they’ve been coddled since they were 12. And it took me a long time to kind of view it from the outside, to say, what is a choir boy in the minds of Eric Decosta, none of them can they play, put the tape on, and we’ll figure the rest out. And if they get arrested, we’ll call the NFL and they’ll do an investigation that never comes out. And, I mean, that’s they. They have it covered. They don’t worry about such things as drinking and driving and, you know, blowing dirty numbers for cops in the south in the middle of the night drive and I saw the Henry rugs thing the other day. That’s the cautionary tale, right? That’s the other side of this. But even that doesn’t stick to the Raiders, it didn’t cost them a ticket. They cost them a fan. And they know that. They know that that’s so problem players, we don’t even talk about that really anymore, do
Speaker 1 28:20
we well, I mean, I think it drafted a
Nestor Aparicio 28:23
kid in the second round. We mentioned it for a minute. If he goes out and has three sacks against buffalo, we’ll never talk about it again until he gets arrested, and then we’ll talk about and say, Oh, you shouldn’t draft those. You should be drafted more quiet again. I speak both sides because I know how they really are and how the fans would like this to be white, clean and neat and above the board and Justin Tucker never I got people on my thing say just Tucker still not guilty. Fine. Have at it. Have your wishes if you need pictures and video for it. But fans are fans, and I don’t think they care about Jerry Alexander’s emotions or emotional immaturity a couple of years ago. They care about him being hurt that you know, if he’s available and they’ll cheer for him, I don’t think there’s any. I don’t think they we talk about that zero tolerance policy, that’s just their bullshit. They just make that up. They just say it, and then they do whatever they want to do, and then we react to it, and they cackle, and then they try to win, and that because it’s all about winning for them well.
Luke Jones 29:21
But I would also say on the flip side, you can have the best character guy ever. If he can’t play, he’s not gonna be on the team long, you know. I mean, it’s,
8Nestor Aparicio 29:29
you know, Mark Andrews is a great character guy. He dropped the winning I mean, like, so, that happens
Luke Jones 29:33
so and to be clear, when I was talking about, I mean, you know, gyro, the suspension he had in Green Bay. Well, again, it was over. Like, it was a weird thing with the coin toss. He was, you know, went out there. He wasn’t a captain. Tried to call the, you know, it was more like a erratic kind of thing. But that said, and I made the very loose, you know, admittedly lazy comparison, let’s say to Marcus Peters. Marcus Peters worked out great here for two, two and a half years in. In the last year when his place started to decline, and I think he was a little more frustrated. He had had the injury the year before, then it started to dissolve.
Nestor Aparicio 30:08
I remember sitting in the Cleveland press box after Ozzy dealt for him, and having and hearing Ozzy just go on about, oh my god, we got this guy. He’s like, um, he’s maniacal, he’s great, he’s motivated. He’s pissed off for great. He was all of that when he came in. That’s what they want. They want this guy to be. F you Green Bay. You know, you didn’t want me. I’m going to go over here and win with Lamar, and I’m going to wave a healthy wave a middle finger, and I’m going to bring the Lombardi trophy to Green Bay and parade it around for you. That’s the way these guys think.
Luke Jones 30:38
8Yeah. So you, you, you hope that motivation can be channeled in a very positive way, in 2025 and if you get good play out of him, and he has a good season, he will be set up nicely, whether whether he resigns in Baltimore or goes elsewhere. And you hope it can be a player that can help you win a Super Bowl. Like I said, I don’t, I don’t. I hate the, oh, this is the guy that gets him over the hump, because they’ve had teams that have been more than capable multiple years. You know, when Lamar has been healthy. You know, the only year where Lamar has been healthy where I’d say, you know, not counting his rookie year. I mean, that that was, you know, they weren’t a Super Bowl caliber team at that point, but 2020 when they lost Ronnie Stanley, when you talked about it at the time, you know, the time of that injury, you thought their Super Bowl hopes might have just died right there for that season. And you know, they had issues there. But they’ve been in that position. They’ve been in this position where on paper, they look like one of the Super Bowl favorites, or one of the Super Bowl favorites this year they should be. They they have that kind of roster both sides of the ball. They have the best regular season quarterback in the NFL the last couple of years, you know. So everything’s there. You just have to go do it, and you hope that Jair Alexander can fit in and be part of that. And for $4 million you know, it’s not even a gamble, you know, it’s that’s a no brainer deal to make for $4,000,000.08 you know, 678, million, 10 million. Yeah, then I’d say, man, you’re spending a lot on a guy who might not be there for you. Four, I’m willing to take that bet. You know, I’m eager to take that bet. And if it doesn’t work out, you know, you you still have Marlon Opry, you still have uh Nate Wiggins. You have a woozy day. TJ, Tampa being his second year, and, you know, had a nice spring. We’ll see how he develops. So, you know, it’s not as though this is a, this isn’t a desperation move. This, to me, is much more of a luxury move, because he’s going to play, I mean, he’s going to play a lot if he’s healthy, but insurance policies what I call I mean, I just think this is a great opportunity. And again, it’s something that makes Lamar Jackson help happy because he loves the guy. And you have a deal that you need to do with Lamar Jackson, whether it’s this week or next February. You know, before that cap number goes up astronomically, it’s something that makes your quarterback happy as well. And that’s important, right? It’s important to keep number eight happy. I mean, that’s just, it’s the truth. When you’re talking about your franchise quarterback, you want to do all you can to make your team as good as it can be and keep your quarterback happy in the process, process, if you can do that for $4 million I mean, my gosh. I mean, like I said, it’s not even something, you know, it was a no brainer, and we’re going to see how it
Nestor Aparicio 33:21
works out. When did they get back together again now that we’re done? Because this was kind of a weird mini camp, and Lamar wasn’t around, and Cooper rush and he showed, I mean, you only went out there twice this week that that undo itself feels a little unusual, that John’s giving them, you know, the easy way out, and they’re not out there Thursday, when it finally got hot and, like, just all of it like that. You know, John likes practice, and John likes to run them around out there practice, by the way. Do you see flacos thing about the two days that it’s not long enough that? Did you see Flacco spouting off? Because it was pretty good. I did
Luke Jones 33:53
not see that. I saw his, you know, his comments a couple weeks ago about the whole mentoring quarterbacks? No, no, that
Nestor Aparicio 33:59
was good. This was this week wacko. Go find it on Darryl writers page or whatever if you want. Flaco basically said, these young guys, they don’t know about two a days. Let me tell you what. You know, I did two real two a days. These guys, we’re out there an hour and 15 minutes. These guys, they wouldn’t know what to do with two a day. You know, like Flacco went on and on and on about it. It was hilarious. It was so Joe. Oh yeah, I love that. Joe’s still playing and gets to be a sage, 40 year old guy to say all the smart stuff that he’s told me 20 years ago, that made sense. Then it makes even more sense now that you know he could show off his ring and say, I mean, well, think about getting on 1718, years in the league now for Flacco, right? This is 18th season.
8Luke Jones 34:39
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s hardball is 18th year, yeah. I mean, it’s, you think about this. Joe Flacco was drafted about a month and a half before Jonathan Ogden officially retired from the NFL. Jo has been in the Hall of Fame now for what, 12 years. I mean, think, think about the timeline there. I mean, who Joe played for and how. How he is still hanging on here. And look, we’re going to see how it’s going to play out in Cleveland. And you know, if they want a veteran guy, then it’ll be Joe, but if they want to go with the younger guys, and Joe probably will be gone at the end of the preseason. But you know, it’s, it is, it is fun to hear his perspective. And you know, I liked, I really liked his comments a couple weeks ago with the mentoring thing. Because how big of a storyline was that with Lamar seven years ago? And I always thought that was unfair to both of those guys, you know, the way that it was categorized, you know, I mean, Joe was the franchise quarterback, albeit on his way out at that point in time when they drafted Lamar. And the idea was, in some people’s minds that that Joe should just like, like, he should just step, step aside and bow to a rookie and all this. But on the flip side, it didn’t mean Joe was being a, you know what, to the rookie quarterback. You know that he showed him by example what it meant to be a pro, and, you know, helped him when he could. At the same time. They don’t exactly have the same skill set either. I mean, Lamar Jackson plays quarterback very differently than Joe Flacco and and that’s totally fine, let’s be clear, right? But, but, but just hearing him make those comments a couple weeks ago about the you know his his role as a 40 year old quarterback in a room with a couple rookies, and you know Kenny Pickett, who is a veteran, even though he’s been in the league, you know, four years, or whatever it is, and that’s it. But just to hear him talk, it just reminded me of all that. And I thought, you know, it’s it. It’s really one of those questions that is a there, you know, someone asks it, and it’s very easy for you to step in it, depending on what you say, either you’re not a mentor, and that means you’re selfish, or you are a mentor and that means you’re not competitive and you’re not trying to win, and you’re not, you know, you’re not really that guy anymore. So, you know, I just thought that was funny. But yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 36:53
Cleveland Browns at ravens, September 14, 1pm, week two, the Ravens will either be oh one or one and Oh, based on the Buffalo game, Flacco will be their quarterback that day, right? September 14,
Luke Jones 37:04
right? I would tend to think so, but I don’t know. I don’t know that for sure, though. I mean, I don’t know it’s the Browns man. I mean, seriously, I say that to sound funny, you know, it’s a little tongue in cheek, but it’s also true,
Nestor Aparicio 37:20
8it’s the Sean Watson still on their team. He is right. He’s still on the roster. I mean, the big secret to go throw footballs three weeks from now. I don’t know. I really, I don’t know.
Luke Jones 37:29
There’s been a lot. It’s been very vague in terms of because remember, he had right, he was having Achilles, and then it’s he retorted,
Nestor Aparicio 37:37
right, yeah, he’s not available, so, so that makes it a lot easier that he’s not healthy. Well, yeah, right, but I think
Luke Jones 37:44
there’s some it’s vague. There’s some gray area as far as where exactly is he in that recovery. Now, he was like, he wasn’t on the field taking part in OTAs, I mean, but I have no idea. Like, is he definitively, absolutely out for the year, or is he someone that will start the year on P up, and maybe he can be back week six. Do do they want him to do they want him to come back? I mean, I think that feels right. That feels pretty evident. They don’t at this point. But at the same time, if he’s truly healthy, you can’t just keep him off the field, right? I mean, you’ll get the Union after you very quickly. So that whole thing, look, I love Joe, but that quarterback situation is an absolute mess. And and you add to it should or Sanders just got pop going for 100 miles per hour, 40 miles over the speed limit the other day. So you know
8Nestor Aparicio 38:33
that these guys can’t even drive and stay the hell out of trouble. It’s amazing. It’s just amazing. You know,
Luke Jones 38:38
we just, I don’t know, man, if I, if I were in the NFL, I would just have a driver, like, and I’m not even talking about, like nightlife, like alcohol related or anything like that. To me, it’s just like, oh, just have someone drive me around. You know, like
Nestor Aparicio 38:50
they have cars that drive themselves. Now, Luke, word that, you know what I mean, so,
Luke Jones 38:55
8but yeah, but no. I mean not to get too far off track. But yeah. I mean, here in Joe and, I mean, I think about it, even just for my own, you know, the start of my career covering the ravens, it’s going to Westminster, 830 practice. It was two hours and 45 minutes. You’ve had, would have availability on the field.
Nestor Aparicio 39:14
Air conditioning out there on the field, though, right? Of course,
Luke Jones 39:16
always right, yeah, air conditioning. And then you’d go back to the Best Western you’d file a couple stories, you’d get some sound up on the website, you know, call into the station all salad days, and then you’d eat lunch, and then you’d go out there at two o’clock for either special teams practice, which would not be the most exciting, but you still needed to go cover it, or they would have a full blown second practice with your full roster, and, man, I’d get home at 550
Nestor Aparicio 39:45
I remember your suntans were really good that time of year, though. Yeah, you really get you got good son, you know, if nothing else, yeah, yeah, yeah.
8Luke Jones 39:52
But like you were lifeguard, I would get home, and this is just lazy me standing on the sideline watching and reporting. Rewarding. I would be exhausted at the end of the day. So for sprint, right? Exactly, that’s what I’m saying. So for those guys, even if you’re the kicker, you know, even if we’re talking about Matt Stover or Billy Cundiff or Steve house, go running around out there, back in those days,
Nestor Aparicio 40:15
it was fatiguing. Everyone slept well that night on those half little beds out at the Best Western right?
Luke Jones 40:20
And that’s and that’s what’s funny. When you get to the point where you could talk about that, you have younger reporters on the beat, you’re just like, Man, you guys, you don’t realize how good you have it. You know, you didn’t have to be sweating through your shirt, dude. You didn’t have to cover the three o’clock afternoon special teams practice on the field at McDaniel where it was 95 degrees. I mean, you didn’t deal with that, so you’re fine.
Nestor Aparicio 40:43
Well, there was, there was some shade. Maybe there was no shade. Luke Jones is here. I’m putting him into the shade for the next six weeks. The Orioles are out of town. There are in New York this week. You know, if it was good, you and I, man, bam, bam, bam. We go back and visit that rat that was as big as us up in the Bronx, if we want to, from 10 years into that. Yeah, you know, I wish the Orioles were normal. I wish David Rubenstein because, because you and I would be in New York this weekend watching baseball, because that’s what I’m built to do. But the Orioles will be in New York this weekend. We will be here. I might be, I don’t know how might be out with Keith Urban for it’s all over. My buddy Mark Bryan from Hootie and the Blowfish checked in with me. I was actually listening to a Hootie and the Blowfish song, when a text went off from the guitar player from hooting the blowfish was a little strange. I text him back. We did a half an hour. His band is playing on Friday night down in DC at the Atlantis part of the 930 and I MP thing. He’s got a solo gig. So Mark Bryant from hooting the blowfish will be here. Also have Jack Hughes from Wang Chung. So Wang Chung and Hootie and the Blowfish coming on the show this week, 80s and 90s. I’m making it all happen around here to prove that I’m a rocker, but I’m an old rocker. He is Luke. I am Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking ravens, football and Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.
