The give and take of NFL free agency

Luke Jones and Nestor assess damage of Ravens early losses in give and take of NFL free agency

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

year, ravens, marlon humphrey, derrick henry, player, lamar, bk, good, running, money, market, teams, draft, free agency, deals, cap, gus, thought, talking, pay

SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor J. Aparicio

Nestor J. Aparicio  00:02

Welcome home we are wn St. Am 1570 Tacit Baltimore, Baltimore positive we are positively into that weird tampering week. We promise to tamper with the Maryland crabcake tour schedule. I swear and put this thing together. I’m just working on this crazy little documentary. I’m working on this opening day thing. I’m working on sunning, myself in Sarasota, amongst other things. But there’s things happening and every minute of every day I’m getting another wn St. Tex, and it keeps beginning with former ravens Luke Jones joins us now not from Owings Mills, although he wasn’t Owings Mills with just a matter BK who got all the money. Nobody else is getting any of the money all the other money’s coming from the TV contract and all the Scott Hanson we’re watching around here being split up amongst the other 31 teams that are coming in here and someone said to feeding at the carcass. I thought, boy, that’s rough dog. Look, it’s you know, we knew this is coming. I mean, like, Come on, dude. We’re professionals around here. We’re not outrage people and idiots out on the interwebs not realizing this is happening and rumor ring that Derrick Henry’s headed here on a bus tomorrow. But it’s been a weird couple of days all the way around. I was texting with Chad recently, you know what happened to the kid in Green Bay running backs just get thrown out back doors. And we’re not even like to the front of free agency yet. It’s still the tampering period. It is. But

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Luke Jones  01:23

it’s funny. You mentioned the running backs that markets moved much more quickly than anyone would have thought though. Now, is it as lucrative as it was 10 years ago or 20 years ago, relatively speaking? No, of course not. But that’s been interesting to say to see and who knows. I mean, there’s

Nestor J. Aparicio  01:38

been there’s been an acceptance of the artificial deflation of the

Luke Jones  01:43

past but but but you look at some of those deals that have been done. I mean, there are a few of those deals where I would absolutely say No, sir, no, thanks for that price for that specific runningback. So who knows Derrick Henry the Ravens could be a fit as you look at the dance partners that are out there. Aaron Jones, who released by the Packers would not count against the comp pick formula as we should know that matters for the Ravens. So yeah, we’ll see how it plays out. But getting back to the Ravens free agents what we saw on day one is about what you expected to see. And when I say day one to your point none of its official yet. It’s day one of the negotiating window the quote legal tampering, and it’s about what you would expect other than probably the only thing that I was surprised to see was Patrick Queen not finding a home right away but that doesn’t mean he’s not leaving it doesn’t mean he’s not getting paid. It’s just that wasn’t a deal that was consummated right away. But you look at the guys that the Ravens did lose chinos stone stain in the AFC North going to Cincinnati I think it’s always juicy or when a player stays in the division in the same way that a Steeler or Bangor brown comes to Baltimore it’s always a little more interesting. He

Nestor J. Aparicio  02:55

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Barbara wasn’t thrilled with that.

Luke Jones  02:58

Oh, what with? Yeah, say Quan Barkley going to Philadelphia? Yeah, kind of a weird, a little weird feud on Twitter or X, whatever it’s called. But, but, you know, you go down the list of the Ravens free agents that have found homes elsewhere. Gus Edwards, going to the Chargers reuniting with Greg Rome and reuniting the Joe Ortiz. John hardball to Jim Harbaugh. That’s not shocking. I think if Gus Edwards was going to come back it was going to be on the cheap it was going to be as more of a complementary role because we saw how that looked this past year with him being the lead guy you know wasn’t wasn’t what you wanted to see in terms of a lead back so he’s out the door I think of the of the names that that departed on Monday and again none of this is official. I think the one name that stood out to me as far as someone that I think the Ravens all things being equal had some hope that maybe he’d be back would have been Ronald Darby who ends up going to Jacksonville two years value up to $10 million. So you know what the base value is hard to say. But it’s it’s markedly more than he got with the Ravens this past year but he played well for them you know, he filled in we talked about it Marlon Humphrey missed about half the season and Ronald Darby was the primary substitute for him and he did a nice job but so think

Nestor J. Aparicio  04:18

that they’re really high on Humphrey. Just listen, I mean, I’ve met the kid I’ve dealt with like I you know, I’ve said it out loud you know, you know Alabama mouth Vanderbilt trophy case as far as the NFL goes, but like the injury and the fact that whatever reliability and not comparing Ronnie Stanley to anybody else, but it feels to me when they let a Darby go over. That amount of money it either says they didn’t love him, but sort of the the tape didn’t lie. He was out on the field, right. As to what he is. I mean, his ceiling is nowhere near where Moreland opera ceiling, right. We can all agree. I agree on the player Marlon Humphrey. I’m one Wondering about the injured getting older, now filthy rich player as to what you’re gonna get out of that player. And what they expected they expect him to be elite do they expect him to play to that number? And like I don’t know, I I sort of don’t, because I’m old and getting gray. And I’ve watched every really fast guy when they’re 22 and 23. And where they are when they’re 29 or 30. And what you expect from them, and a leadership way, becoming a safety becoming more of, you know, playing situationally. Jimmy Smith being a great example of a guy they loved. They loved him when he had one leg. They were still running him out there because they loved him. I don’t know where they are with Marlon, you’re in the locker room, somehow I’m not allowed anymore. So I can’t I don’t get to ask these questions. Well,

Luke Jones  05:44

are they as high on Marlon Humphrey as they were two or three years ago, you know, at the beginning of this contract extension he got in 2020. No, but you just look at the dollars and the cap structure. If they cut him today, it would actually cost them money on their cap, you know, it would be over it’d be like $24 million in dead money. And it would actually be an acceleration to the point where some money their cap space would actually shrink a little bit. So

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Nestor J. Aparicio  06:11

you’re saying is they have to live with him? I got that another year. Right? What do they really think they’re getting out of the player. I mean, this is where when I knew football coaches and stuff he you always sorted DNA about like, last step, but like, Hey, man, he’s still really good. We’re paying him too much. But we can’t replace him for you know, like, cut his pay in half and bring him back great. But like, that’s still not gonna He’s not going to be happy. And that’s not going to make him a better player. I feel that way about Stanley. I feel that way. But like Stanley is never going to be what he was, Humphrey. I’m questioning it now. I don’t know. Maybe he’s even questioning it now. Especially when speed your game? Yeah,

Luke Jones  06:49

I think you just to me kind of took the words right out of my mouth as far as how I think they view him at this point in time. Clearly, he had the injuries this past year, the foot surgery in August had two different calf injury. So you know, it’s not as though he had this catastrophic ACL catastrophic Achilles injury where he has a lengthy rehab or anything like that, but he missed roughly half the season. You know, when you look at the games he missed, and some and parts of games that he missed. In fact, it could be even a little bit over half the season in terms of snaps, I’d have to go back and look, but I think there’s still an expectation that if he’s healthy, that he’s still gonna play at a high level. I mean, he made the Pro Bowl in 2022. It’s not like this guy is five years, four or five years removed from his best season, in the way that Ronnie Stanley is at this point in time. I’ll make it clear. I

Nestor J. Aparicio  07:36

think he’s a gifted guy, and we talk about Kyle Hamill at this point, you know very early on that’s what Marlon Humphrey flashed that, you know, sort of greatness for a minute, you know, and that’s why Matt a BK this week, I’m not a one hit wonder, you know, they all carry that chip with them to say, am I going to get better am I going to get worse because they all want to be Aaron Donald, but Aaron, Donald’s Errol Donald, because like Phil savage introduced me to him in Mobile, Alabama, 12 years ago, instead. And 12 years later, he’s never taken a game off. What I mean, like that’s, that’s where it is, let alone being injured and having all this nd you know, in Marlins case, running his mouth just a lot. And just I like it made a lot of money. And a lot is expected of him. I mean, we expect him to be Rob Watson. Right. I mean, like, literally, kind of sort of, I think he could come back and play well, but I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Luke Jones  08:29

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I mean, I I bet on him coming back and played it playing well. Now, is he going to be an all pro selection, you know that that’s where you you start to get into, okay, where does he rank in the hierarchy? But like I said, it from a cap standpoint, it’s really, if you’re down on him, and I’m not saying when I say you, I’m just saying in a general sense, if you’re down on him to the point where you’re starting to wonder if the value is really there. You’re kind of looking at next year being where Okay, is, do we move on next year? Do we look to draft his replacement, whatever,

Nestor J. Aparicio  08:59

more reasons that you might want to be around for the next year?

Luke Jones  09:04

Yeah, but but at the same time, let’s be clear, if you have concerns about Marlon Humphrey, you should have more greater concerns about Ronald Darby, because you look at his injury history. I mean, as he stayed healthy for the Ravens last year, but there was a reason why he was available in late August last year. It’s because of his injury history. So from that standpoint, through that lens, look, I would have liked to have had Ronald Darby back as my number three corner as my outs my top outside corner. That’s a reserve that would allow me if I want I can move Humphrey inside to the nickel spot, in certain situations, depending on where how you’re going to deploy Kyle Hamilton, but but for Humphrey, even a post June 1, you’re you’re looking at okay, you could save a little $11 million on the cap, still $11 million in dead money then, and oh, yeah, you have to replace them. So. So from that, from that standpoint, it’s very prohibitive. And that’s why I said early in the offseason, not not your suggest And I saw this on Twitter, I saw people spitballing about it as you’re kind of looking at, Okay, what’s your cap? You know, how healthy is your cap situation? What can you do? What are the potential moves all that? Well,

Nestor J. Aparicio  10:10

you’re not going to corner in a draft that you really think you’re gonna go play with.

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Luke Jones  10:14

I mean, gnarly, not 30th I mean, it’s already

Nestor J. Aparicio  10:18

drafting a tackle dude like, right? I mean, we don’t exactly right. So so like, I’m just saying even at 30 Even, you know, whatever they get, they’re not a day one garden corner. They’re not getting a starting corner in April. So they’re gonna go to the Darby market and maybe they think well that’s where we’ll find our market we’ll find a corner off the edge of a roster who’s 30 I mean they they’ve done this for years I mean, you have to do it you’re going back to Fabian Washington for you know I mean you have to do it and good years and bad years you could you wrote a lot about corners right you know around here and wide receivers and when guys get injured speed guys get injured. It just you can’t replace them and I’m wondering who okay so to my thought on this with Darby and others is just they really do believe Humphries is going to be okay. And gonna be really good and you know that we still have one we still have a guy Yeah, yeah. And

Luke Jones  11:16

even if it’s a case where you say Brandon Stevens and him are one in one a in whichever order you want, right? I think they’re at least that comfortable with where

Nestor J. Aparicio  11:26

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I don’t think they’re branded Stevens high like LaDarius Webb high like where he’s in line to get the next big, big load of money because they don’t have the load of money to give right that’s

Luke Jones  11:36

right. I mean, they’re at a point at this point in time and Eric even touched on this because Monday before the negotiating window open they did they’re just a matter BK press conference you know with Eric Koston Zach or was they were flanking meta BK you know, if Eric alluded to this, you have a certain number of guys won. They’ve got to be those elite guys that you want to pay, right those guys that you want to give top of market money even though the matter BK deals already aging pretty favorably when you look at what Chris Jones got. And you look at what Christian Wilkins got a going from the dolphins to the Raiders, you know, the MATA BK deal, assuming he continues to play it at a high level. And what we saw in 23, is a reasonable facsimile of what you’re going to get even if it’s not going to be 13 sacks, but say, eight to 10 sacks per year, at the very least, you’re gonna be okay with that number with his age and his production, and you’re seeing where the markets going on that front. But the point is, you don’t want to just artificially identify, Okay, this guy’s one of our better players, we’re gonna pay them lucrative money. No, they need to truly be elite guys, when you’re talking about where the Ravens stand, or where Cincinnati stands with Joe burrow. And you know, we’re gonna see what happens with T Higgins because, yeah, they’d like to keep T Higgins but they have Jamar Chase. And can you pay to wide receivers, lucrative money like that? So every team figures this out because every team has players that they fancy are their elite talents. But what I’m saying is, it better be an elite talent and to your point and this has nothing against Brandon Stevens. If we’re looking at this time period, where presumably Marlon Humphrey not this year, but maybe next year and certainly looking at him moving forward is no longer going to be in that elite cornerback money conversation. That doesn’t mean Brandon Stevens is stepping into that because oh yeah, you got to pay Kyle Hamilton top of the market money at safety and you’re doing that now with Matt a BK at defensive tackle. And so so it’s always a moving target. You know, you’re always

Nestor J. Aparicio  13:41

What if they’re gonna be 13 and 14 years from now those guys can be playing top class and the way that this past year, Ronnie Stanley, Odell Beckham, Marlon Humphrey they paid they had guys making a lot of money that weren’t, but Hamilton Lindbergh, they had players stepping up and row Quan and Lamar suited up made it all the way through to those are your top class guys. And that’s how you win 13 games but you there there are questions going into this year. Sure. With the money they’re dragging with Stanley the money they’re dragging with Humphrey to say they were but are they are. And that’s the difference between Marshall yond at the end of his career, who still it was a was right. And even Ray at the end of his career, still had something to offer. You know, you have anything to offer if you you can’t protect my quarterback and you’re my left tackle and you really don’t have anything to offer your quarterback and you’re 88% and 30 years old, because you’re gonna get crushed. Well,

Luke Jones  14:43

Marlon, Marlon Humphrey is not that old, but your points well taken and I mean, that’s part of this and everything you just laid out the margin for error shrinks at this point in time when you look at beginning with your quarterback and again it’s it’s not a Lamar thing. It’s any elite franchise quarterback that’s making top of Mark Get I mean, look at Philadelphia with Jalen Hertz. I mean, they just signed say, Quan Barkley, and there’s a thought with Jalen Hertz. It’s like, Hey, you better you need to play wait more like you did in 2022 than you did this past year. I mean, it’s

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Nestor J. Aparicio  15:11

always the Falcons have a franchise quarterback now, right? They do with Kirk

Luke Jones  15:14

Cousins. And it’s amazing. You know, they last year they said, Oh, no, we don’t need Lamar. We’re good with Desmond Ritter, and well, they have a new head coach, as a result of Steelers

Nestor J. Aparicio  15:24

got a Super Bowl champion for free. They just handed it to him. You know,

Luke Jones  15:29

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they did a Super Bowl champion a decade ago. But that is true. But but but you just I mean, you look at it. It’s just whenever you have when you’re paying a franchise quarterback top of market money like the ravens, Lamar, and again, this is no different than anyone else. Your margin for error with the rest of your roster building shrinks, and when you look at it, and this is where I tell everyone take a deep breath. You know, day one year they lost five players I get it and the only guy they brought back was Malik Harrison, who’s a reserve special teams guy right I mean, that’s where he is versatile player, nice player, but certainly not a guy that moves the needle, but you have to look at it through this lens. When you look at where the ravens are cap wise, you look at just a matter BK becoming the latest of their list of guys that are making either top of market or near to upper market at their respective positions. Geno’s stone third safety, John Simpson, yeah, I get it. He was their leading. He played more offensive snaps than anyone on the team this past year. But their fifth best starting offensive linemen of this past year. Ronald Darby they’re number three corner Gus Edwards, who at best was going to be a number two running back for them in 2024, even though we don’t know who their starters is going to be yet, and Devin DuVernay, who we didn’t even mention, I was surprised to see do Renee get what? Two years up to $8.5 million? Look, he’s a nice return player but you know, return specialists. But in this day and age, I was surprised to see him get one I don’t think Trevor Lawrence said he’s a weapon. Right? Right. I mean, I mean good for him. I’m happy for him, you know, nice kid and he was a two time Pro Bowl return specialist but not the kind of guy I’d be targeting on day one, a free agency to say the very least so everybody

Nestor J. Aparicio  17:09

loves to you know, stone to right. Yeah, well, I

Luke Jones  17:12

mean, hey, Gino stones can be a starting safety for the Bengals and Loki he earned he played well, so Well, for the Ravens this year, to the point where this was as much about opportunity for him as it was to go out and make a little bit of money, right. I mean, the Ravens certainly weren’t gonna pay him two years $15 million to be to remain as their number three safety like he was. So he goes somewhere else. But the guys I just named, they’re either backups or guys that you’re looking at. As you know, in the case of John Simpson, he was the weak link on the starting offensive line. So he used to say just a guy. I mean, right? I mean, these are all players that if you can’t replace these guys, then that doesn’t say much for your drafts the last couple of years that doesn’t say much for your ability to go out and find value. Free Agents, and day three draft picks and undrafted free agents and things of that nature. And look, the Ravens say what you want about them, they they’ve been very effective with that part of their roster over the years. So, you know, yeah, there were a couple guys in there. I would have liked to see them bring back to RB if they could, you know, all things being equal in a perfect world. Yeah, you’d love to keep Geno’s stone. But, you know, these aren’t, these are not the names that are gonna make or break their 2024 season. And that’s what I’m trying to stress here. We have this conversation every year. Fans who have amnesia, panic this time of year, but the ones who remember, and the ones who know how this time of year typically works for let’s face it, not just the ravens, but the teams that are perennial, perennially good teams that are contenders year after year after year. You didn’t see too many of those all that active on Monday, there’s a reason why you see the team’s active that you do on Monday. And it’s typically because one they have cap space. But why is that? It’s because they weren’t very good. And they’ve moved on from players and and all that. So, you know, other than the teams that have a quarterback on a rookie contract, you know, what you’re seeing is typically lesser teams that are active at the beginning of free agency. And, you know, we’ll see how it plays out. And I do expect the ravens to make a signing or to, you know, it’s not as though they’re going to sit it out entirely, but they have to be more value minded, you know, they have to be more bargain minded in terms of what they do. And that’s why I thought it was so interesting to see the runningback market move as much as it did. And at the end of the day of day one, you have Derrick Henry and Aaron Jones sitting there. And you know, it’s got to be at your price. And as I said to you all along

Nestor J. Aparicio  19:44

the street is just a whole bunch of names of people we know right? Like literally right? And for all the fantasy players all the names matter because they touch the ball and people know who they are. So a lot of names.

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Luke Jones  19:54

Oh, sure, no question, but at the same time, it was a lot of names that have already found dance partners and Mo worst case is looking at a lot of them, not at the price that I’d be looking at them. So, you know, we’ll see what it looks like with Derrick Henry does does a team like the cowboys who lost Tony Pollard? Do they jump in and try to sign a name, which is the thing the Cowboys used to do. But they’ve been a team even that, for as much as we make fun of the Cowboys, they have not been as active early in free agency in recent years. So, you know, you’re you’re trying to figure it out. And as I’ve said to you all along, I people listen to me and think, Oh, you don’t like Derrick Henry, or you don’t like veteran running backs? No, it’s not that it’s I don’t like veteran running backs at a price where I am paying them for what they’ve done in the past. I’m trying to I want to pay a guy for what I think he’s gonna

Nestor J. Aparicio  20:43

make me worse. You know, I

Luke Jones  20:46

mean, there were some reports out there. And look, it’s no one reputable that that I would hang my hat on to know for sure that the Ravens could be you know, they could be in on him. If it’s 6 million a year, 7 million a year, something like that. I think more than okay with that. I don’t like the projections that were out there where you’re paying them two years, 20 million. You know, you’re paying a running back 10 million a year, who’s 30 years old? As great as Derrick Henry has been, that is an outlier. And you’re gonna bet on him continuing to be an outlier as he gets older. And there’s more and more. Derrick

Nestor J. Aparicio  21:20

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Henry can have a really good season this year with the Ravens. That’s it. That’s an that’s a question. And this is this is just me throwing it out. And Eric, if he’s listening, he can hear it out. The Odell Beckham thing that they did last year and gave him all that money, they would get a whole hell of a lot more mileage and a whole lot more help for Lamar. If Derrick Henry’s lined up healthy behind Lamar, I mean, how was Lamar got hurt for a couple of weeks, they’d have a chance, like and I and it’s not that I think so much of Derrick Henry, I do, but I just think like that kind of guy is he’s very unicorn ish to me for what he can do. And a guy that you you don’t want to tackle after three o’clock on a cold day and late in the season when Lamar hasn’t been a great, you know, giant, you know, buff going to plant a buffalo going and playing in a hailstorm in Kansas City, whatever. I don’t know dude, they gave Odell Beckham the you know, the phone book last year to come in here and Preen around and you know, catch as many balls as Nelson Aguilar you know, I, I keep going back and you and I have definite differences of opinion. And despite what Jack still remembers, or diecast I was in the locker room every single week in 2019. Mark Ingram, to me felt like a real insurance policy that nothing else is felt like for Lamar, and probably because the kid kept getting hurt, right? I mean, and Dobbins he was there for a minute there and training camp. They’re certainly in the gym yet last time that was allowed in the building, he’s yelling out of the gym. I’m gonna be back yelling at the media like what? Like, I love the kid he couldn’t he didn’t get there. And I just think there’s an insurance policy for Lamar there that it’s over a million and a half dollars if if we’re arguing six and sevens are good idea, but eight or nine is a bad idea. I don’t know, man. I don’t. And no offense to Josh Jacobs, who I love Chad recently, my friend who represents him and Josh has been a good kid, but on the show and like all that stuff I to meet Derrick, Henry’s a different kind of cat. And I think you want you get off the bus feeling a little different. Derek, I’m just saying. I would have said that in October.

Luke Jones  23:35

At the same time, you probably would have said the same thing about Dalvin Cook two years ago. And you saw he’s done now. You mentioned Mark Ingram that that was true. And I agree with you wholeheartedly in 2019. How do you look into that as in 20? Yeah, I mean, I hear everything you’re saying. But you still you’re talking about taking a calculated risk. And with a position that he is already defying, he already for a few years now is defying conventional thinking as far as how runningbacks age and at some point in time, he’s not going to look like Derrick Henry anymore. And that’s where I say, Okay, six or seven, maybe as high as eight, maybe I wouldn’t love it, but I’d at least say okay, but if you’re getting more into that, I mean, Well Gus Edwards

Nestor J. Aparicio  24:20

being a great example like goes out to the chargers, like no offense to Gus Edwards, but it always sort of promised something that I felt like the offensive line delivered as much as Gus Edwards delivering fourth quarter a couple of years ago but you can you know, you can you can argue that maybe I don’t remember the GUS boss in that way running people over and he did, but it never looked like Derrick Henry to me. Yeah, I mean, like, if Derrick Henry’s three quarters what he is it’ll look like concept boards to me to me on his best day. That’s how I feel about it. Oh, I

Luke Jones  24:51

hear you. But you still have to value a player. I mean, you’re kind of look, you’re presenting it through a lens of player A or Player B but it’s like okay, player A what price relative If you’re on salary cap, which you mentioned the offensive line, that’s still a massive part of this, and we don’t know what their offensive line is gonna look. Hey,

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Nestor J. Aparicio  25:06

I’ll hear you. I listened to you last week and I believe before Jason Derrick Henry, they better figure out how to replace it.

Luke Jones  25:12

And that’s my big thing. And maybe some of their thinking is okay, we might take a step back as an offensive line. And maybe we feel Derrick Henry for one more year and you don’t have to give him two years but it’s one good year. Basically what Mark what Mark Ingram did for them that Okay, again, I don’t want to present this as though I hate Derrick Henry. I don’t I think Lamar Jackson would. Derrick Henry is a really, really fun idea. But we also have to acknowledge at some point in time, he’s not going to look like Derrick Henry anymore and

Nestor J. Aparicio  25:41

well feels like much more fun idea than Odell Beckham who was never going to catch 80 balls here. Like a like you have to get off the bus Odell Beckham you have to look at,

Luke Jones  25:52

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but Odell Beckham that we can’t look at that move in a vacuum that move was very much there was a Lamar Jackson tax to that look

Nestor J. Aparicio  26:02

I’m not gonna sit here and say oh, he was not how grown up organizations usually work but

Luke Jones  26:07

I’m gonna sign your franchise quarterback Yeah, yeah sign your franchise quarterback you know we can go back and play the tape from last year or two years ago because you were more of a Lamar hater and I wasn’t an apologist but I was a realist from the standpoint of errors so it’s strong I’m going a little WWE on you but at the same time what did I say to you over and over okay, you’re not going to resign tomorrow to do what to go draft a quarterback and stink for the next three years like

Nestor J. Aparicio  26:31

he’s one of the best in the league well you’ve also anyway game around at which point it

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Luke Jones  26:38

but the point and again back home to Derrick Henry it’s apples to oranges it’s different positions. I mean, the valuation $15 million for wide receiver is not the same as $15 million dollars for a running back 15 million million for wide receiver doesn’t even put you in the top five for compensation. I’m

Nestor J. Aparicio  26:53

thinking about touching the ball I’m thinking about values. I think I think they gotta

Luke Jones  26:58

throw the football quarterback. They’ve got to be able to throw the football I mean they have to you know people can’t keep one and not you but when when I hear people keep talking about running back running back running back steam finished first in the league and rushing last year. I mean, unless Derrick Henry is going to come in and average eight yards per carry or something crazy which by the way keep Mitchell who they didn’t even have to spend a draft pick on did that last year so again how much do they really truly need a dominant running back when they have Lamar and the Lamar effect on that running back position? Are

Nestor J. Aparicio  27:30

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you talking me out of the running back again? I find that’s a great that’s no sexy but let’s start

Luke Jones  27:37

again and these are not It’s not yes or no the proposition is never YES or NO IT’S THE what player at what price and that is more my argument against spending a lot of money on a running back and by the way, I’m really I’m much more I don’t want to say much more I’m as intrigued let’s say of Aaron Jones who just got released I’ll be it had a season where he had some injuries this past year for the Packers but has been a very productive running back is also considered a good locker room guy very highly respected in Green Bay. You don’t know he’s a guy that if you sign him he’s not going to count against your compact formula. So there are other options I mean, we’ll see how it plays out but in general I was just surprised though to see the runningback market move as much as it did i If you had told me all the all those running backs would have a home after day one of the negotiating window again unofficial we all get that anyone listening but if you had said that and Patrick queen is still negotiating with teams yeah I would have thought it’d be the other way around I would have thought Queen might have been a guy I thought would agree to terms and the first hour or two a free agency and and to be clear that doesn’t mean the market is cool on him it just some guys are you know they’re their agents are working on certain things or waiting things out whatever it

Nestor J. Aparicio  28:53

is yeah two teams bidding against each other You’re still you’re still winning. Yeah, yeah,

Luke Jones  28:58

but I was just won the war yet. Yeah, I was just surprised. I mean, you know, keeping it in talking about the AFC north I mean, how about the Bengals I mean, the go sign Zack Moss from from the Colts who I think is one of the better value signings of all the running backs that can be out there and they released Joe Mixon so you know that I wasn’t necessarily expecting that on the first day of free agency. So yeah, we’ll see how it plays out but the runningback market has moved. We’ll see where the ravens are with Derrick Henry we’ll see where they are with Aaron Jones or we’ll see if they wait it out and go go via the draft but you know, the early prices as is usually the case guard market kind of exploded right i mean see see some of some of these guards getting high high into the eight figures internal

8

Nestor J. Aparicio  29:44

settler may have known something huh?

Luke Jones  29:46

Or the or the Yeah, or the Ravens did although at the same time I mean Zeitler wanted to be a raven, you know he wanted to he wanted an extension even last offseason hey, look,

Nestor J. Aparicio  29:57

we spent three days here thinking about a BK was going to be tagged and boom, they say, you know, so like to think that you know where their hearts and their heads are when they go home with their wife and say, Do I really want to play in Jacksonville for money? Or do I want to be here? And a matter because case, you just put a bow back on that you were out at the press conference every day. I would just say for him, if you think the market for for Chris Jones and the other guys and what that market exploded to say, could you squeeze a few more nickels and gone to Atlanta the way Kirk Cousins did or whatever, maybe maybe that market would have been better. Or maybe this was the market for him and his agent, when they hit that three hours before closing deadline last week, it said back go home and think about it, go make some calls, come back to me on Friday, we’ll figure it out. Because he couldn’t go anywhere. And he didn’t want to go anywhere else. And the next thing you know, he’s got a press conference on Monday, and they’ve got a deal. On the end, the Ravens have cap relief. And we wouldn’t have predicted that we didn’t predict that on Thursday. Right? So to think that Zeitler goes out and shops in the way that Lamar went out and shop and it comes back. And but it does feel like that’s not in play. And certainly Patrick queen and other things. They just don’t have the money, right in that way.

Luke Jones  31:11

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Yeah, I mean, you’ve got a, you can create more cap space, but there’s always a cost to that. And there’s always you know, you can renegotiate deals, but then that has a cost. You pay the piper three, four years down the line with what accelerations look like and dead money and all that. So, you know, it’s part of it. But, you know, I think we’ll see how it plays out. I mean, I’m guessing Zeitler is gonna get a nice contract from somebody based on what we’ve seen from to me. Okay, younger guards. Yes. But lesser guards in terms of I mean, look at John Simpson, you know, even with the jet. I mean, he got two years up to $80 million. I mean, look, I love John Simpson, nice guy good story revitalized, rejuvenated his career coming from the Raiders to the Ravens this past year. But, you know, up to and again, when we say up to we know it’s phony money, right? Let’s say it’s not two years. 18. But let’s say it’s two years, 14, you know, whatever it is, is he a $7 million? Guard? I’d say no, no, I think he’s like, you have either internal options, you know, with some of the young guys they have, or there’s going to be there are always guys like John Simpson gonna be available at some point. So you know, what, we’ll see where it lands was Zeidler we’ll see where Patrick Queen winds up that that’s going to be pertinent for the Ravens in terms of a comp pick. And yeah, we’ll see if they do sign a veteran running back. And again, I’m not opposed to the idea. I’m opposed to throwing a ton of money at that idea. Because Derrick Henry at age 30 is not necessarily going to be Derrick Henry at age 26, let alone talking about even what he was last year or the year before. I mean, it speaks

Nestor J. Aparicio  32:52

to who the Ravens think they can get at 62 and you know, where they are in the second and third round in this draft because they you know, nobody does this better than they do it and projected out and think it’s you know, like whatever they’re doing there is a plan except for the Earl Thomas thing but other than that every other thing is had a plan. Luke Johnson has a plan he’ll be in Owings Mills whenever called upon. We will be in Sarasota when called upon next week as well as well as Orlando so we’re gonna be on the road a little bit this month protecting the Maryland crabcake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery conjunction with our friends at window nation out my window nation. Windows siding doors doors is the key part there. I am not a certified master installer but I know 1866 90 nation our friends at the wise markets also put us back out on the road. So you know we were putting the crabcake tour together we’re doing it to families on Fridays our friends at Jiffy Lube are in Liberty career solutions keep my water clean. We’re a farms back in this this this baseball season so please go support our sponsors. We say that often. We play commercials around here on the radio side. And certainly I have it all at a Baltimore positive.com But we are breathing in so we can breathe out into April and beyond for new baseball ownership onto the draft into free agency all of it at wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive