The mystery of the missing Marcus Williams

It’s been quite the week at The Castle in Owings Mills. The Ravens got embarrassed by the lowly Browns and Jameis Winston, highly-paid safety Marcus Williams was benched and no one’s talking. Oh, and Lamar Jackson hasn’t practiced, Michael Pierce went to injured reserve and the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals are waiting over the next five days. Luke Jones and Nestor break down some midseason drama for #RavensFlock.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Maryland crab cake tour, trade deadline, Deontay Johnson, defense needs, Marcus Williams, pass rush, cap space, defensive line, offensive depth, trade possibilities, Super Bowl caliber, player acquisition, injury concerns, defensive improvement, trade value

SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

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Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, tassel, Baltimore, Baltimore, positive. We are positively taking the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road. We’re gonna be on the road throughout November into December. I’m wearing my cocoa shirt. We’re gonna be Cocos. I got the date here December the fourth, so that’s the day that Mike prosigliano will come out and they’ll spike my eggnog, get my eggnog off to the right start in early December. Our friends also at Jiffy Lube MultiCare taking us out with the Maryland lottery on the Maryland crab cake tour and the oyster tour is in progress. All of that brought to you by friends at Liberty pure solutions. One 800 clean water. They keep my water clean if you have well water, if you have any plumbing needs. Our friends at Liberty pure solutions, they solve those problems. And of course, curio wellness and far and daughter, when my back’s been a little creaky for being up watching the Yankees lose the World Series, I have some move products from my back to make me makes me feel nice. Stop by far and daughter, see what they can do for you. There in their their big golf bag and arsenal of wellness products. Lou Jones, you and I spent the early part of the week talking trade deadline, trade deadline. I don’t think we said trade dead. And Eric Acosta was out dealing for a position on the team that he is referred to as strength. And you know, the signing abatement in the off season, all of that. How are you? How’s your week? Here come the Broncos, and don’t look now, but the Bengals are right around the corner, right? Yeah,

Luke Jones  01:23

lots going on on the field. Off the field. Still not much clarity on the Marcus Williams thing. But lo and behold, as we’re now under a week from the trade deadline, the Ravens go out there and make a move, make a move for a name player, give up very little in the process. But as I noted on social media, very much know that times are a changing when the Ravens go out and get a star wide receiver, and yet, I think much of the reaction you saw for it, and we’ll get into it. And I think this is a good move. How can you dislike it? They gave up nothing, basically, to get Deontay Johnson. But many fans, many reporters, many observers, asking, What about the defense? And they’re not wrong in asking about that. So just kind of speaks that this is definitely a different ravens team. This is not your father’s ravens or your older brother’s Ravens. Maybe that’d be the best way to put it, but you bring in Deontay Johnson for a swap of a fifth round pick and a sixth round pick. I mean, that’s nothing. I

Nestor Aparicio  02:27

mean, it’s shocking, value wise, right? Like, and apparently there were two other teams in on the deal. What the hell were they offering? I,

Luke Jones  02:33

first of all, that part of it, I I’m really skeptical, because, I mean, what were they asking for, Deontay Johnson and a pick and giving nothing in return. I mean, you can’t get much, much lower than what this offer was. I mean, this is the Ravens taking a fifth round pick in next year’s draft and saying, Okay, we’ll move back roughly 20 spots. I mean, that’s probably what this is going to equate to. And you get a rental of a former pro bowl wide receiver. Now, Deontay Johnson’s not the best in football or top five, but he’s a quality player. And you can sit here and say, this wasn’t their biggest need, and it wasn’t, but what happens if something happens to zay flowers, right? What happens if something happens to Rashad Bateman? This is very clearly an upgrade over Nelson Aguilar. So, you know, I’m not sitting here and saying that this pushes them over the, you know, this gets them over the hump to get to the Super Bowl. But depending on the range of scenarios here, I think it’s, it’s tough to look at this with very much downside at all. Right, I don’t really see much there. I’m not convinced that Deontay Johnson is going to be a massive part of what they do, because we’ve talked about the difficulty and the number of bounds they already had to feed with the football. But certainly when you’re talking in terms of depth, when you’re talking in terms of someone who can run routes, he might be able to lend a hand at in the return game, that’s something that he’s been an All Pro selection before, much earlier in his career, but you add him to the picture, it just gives you another option. It gives you perhaps a little more diversification. If you want to run three wide sets, they haven’t done a whole lot of 11 personnel. And as I said, at the very least, this is, you know, pretty distinct upgrade from Nelson Aguilar.

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Nestor Aparicio  04:18

So they got four tight ends already. They want to get on the field right? Oh, sure, exactly one of them under center in a key spot

Luke Jones  04:25

right three days ago. And this is where, again, I would, I would exercise a little bit of caution and expectations understanding because of that, because they already have so many mouths to feed offensively, and there’s only one football to go around. We were talking about this. I mean, Mark Andrews was a ghost in this offense in September, right? And that’s someone who’s a multi Time Pro Bowl tight end. They’re just gonna score 50 every week, Luke, that’s all that’s this gonna score, right? And maybe that’s what. And if you’re Eric da Costa, and you look at this and say, Look, we’re gonna continue to look for pass rushers. We’re gonna continue to look at the scene. Safety position. But we also can’t guarantee that a deal is going to manifest itself, right, or that the guys available are going to be guys that dramatically move the needle compared to what we have so well, he and I both felt Derek Henry was a good idea last year, and he couldn’t get it done, right? So to think that you’re going to get as a Darius Smith, or you’re going to get a clown, you’re going to get a pass rusher this week? No,

Nestor Aparicio  05:21

you don’t, don’t

05:22

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know, right? I

Nestor Aparicio  05:23

mean, you shouldn’t be able to do it. I mean, given a fourth, you can give a third, you know, play that game. Oh,

Luke Jones  05:28

and that’s what you have to look at. That’s where you have to look at this and say, How much do we value that player at the asking price, or to up the asking price, because three other teams are vying for that guy. You know,

Nestor Aparicio  05:41

how clearing is the need? How clearing is the need to say, if we get that player, here’s the 30 to 40 snaps they’re going to play, and these are the snaps and the position. We want Simpson off the field. We want somebody off we want something to happen here that we can affect change. Because that’s, that’s the way they look at it out there. They’re pretty sophisticated in how they go at this, right? And if they’re going to go at this and say, What can that player do for me in week 10, what can he be doing in week 1718, 1920, right? I That’s where this would be for them. I don’t think that they just, they have Yannick and gawk ways, as you pointed out, right? Like if they’re looking to get a guy off the street, they’ve already done that. Yeah.

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Luke Jones  06:23

And, and there, therein lies the question, whoever might be available, how much better is that individual than unique and gauque? And when you go down the list of, I mean, David ajabo was a healthy scratch, there’s been so much going on this week that that that, that question, hasn’t he? Well, there is, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  06:42

I mean, maybe that bleeds into this a little bit about how they feel about their own personnel, because it’s really clear this Marcus Williams thing is one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the organization. If they’re going to bench him and and har ball is going to do no speaky and horrible is going to play the power game like he did with me and thinking, I’m just going to keep my mouth shut and never bring anything up of disrespect one way or another. And the player always has the power in this position, because the player’s making more money than the coach in this case. There are many of those, but this, in this case, and he’s a guy, Marcus Williams, that, other than you and I, uttering his salary a little bit. And this and that, like most fans, most fans don’t know he was ever here. He was ever part like literally, because he hasn’t been an impact player at all. Um,

Luke Jones  07:30

he was really good to start out his first year, but he got hurt, and last year he played through some injuries. He was much better the first two years of this deal. Like I, I wouldn’t put this up with the absolute worst deals in French free agent deals in franchise history over the first two years. Now what it’s become in year three, and you know, I, my gut tells me we’re going to see him back on the field Sunday, because Eddie Jackson’s no better, right? I mean, you can kind of look at this thing and say, Okay, it’s not as though you drafted a guy in the first round that is a mark, a market upgrade over him. So I think you’re going to see them still trying to figure this out. Maybe they mix and match, maybe they sub guys in and out. And I still wonder if that’s part of the the origin of what happened. Maybe they told him he was going to be a no longer a 100% snap kind of guy, and maybe he reacted to that in a not so favorable way to be benched entirely. I don’t know. Again,

Nestor Aparicio  08:26

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we have is the babies, right? All we know he didn’t play, and nobody’s talking about it. And that’s, and that’s unusual in the purple Castle, you know, where everything’s just Chad Steele keeps everything nice and tidy and neat and every, every, everybody’s got an answer for everything this is, it feels a little ugly in a week when they lost to the browns, and they have two football games this week, and it’s a position of glaring need. To your point, it’s a position that’s cost them. Yeah,

Luke Jones  08:53

it’s cost them a lot. But, I mean, I approached Marcus Williams in the locker room on Wednesday, he declined to talk. So you know, you hear John Harbaugh’s side of it, truths, half truths, darn, lies, whatever, however you want to classify it, or just not being very clear about it, as you’re continuing to praise the player, but you’re not playing them in a game. You go to the player to see what he has to say, and he didn’t want to talk. So we’re going off of a very incomplete picture, but the trouble still lies with the fact that their past defense needs to get better. Absolutely needs. It

Nestor Aparicio  09:25

wasn’t Marcus Williams fault on Sunday that they lost. He didn’t play. He didn’t play. So for you to go to him, I mean, right? I mean,

09:32

I

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Nestor Aparicio  09:32

I’m not taking his side, hardball side, whatever I’ve seen the tape, um, but whatever it is, it’s not Kumbaya. And sure, this is why John makes the big bucks, is to smooth these things out and make sure that you Who was the guy on the Super Bowl team that got in the fight with Flacco. I always forget his name. He always pops off on social media, the guy that would hit everybody late, that everybody that Bernard Pollard, yeah, yeah, yeah. This turns into a Bernard the fight with he didn’t get in the fight with Flacco. Well, they got into war words. That was, it was by me. No, no, no. Like, like, well, prolo fought with hardball the whole time, and dad died, right, right? Yeah, I

Luke Jones  10:08

didn’t know. I didn’t know what you’re talking about. No, no, no. I’m

Nestor Aparicio  10:11

just saying, like, this. This might be one of those things when it’s two years from now, we’ll, we’ll figure out what happened in week eight. But this is a key player, right? I mean, it’s not like we’re talking about the edge of the roster, or even like where they were with the wide receiver last year who was just a spare piece, right? I mean, this, this is, this was a contract guy that was brought in to be a part of this, and now there’s a rift of some kind that. I mean, I’m not saying that as a reporter, I’m saying that as a fan, just watching and saying, there’s something to miss out there. There’s something awry. Har ball is going to have to exhibit some leadership here. And to your point, defense needs to get better

Luke Jones  10:51

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well and and it’s not. And to the point that you just made, it’s clearly not just Marcus Williams, because he was benched on Sunday and they let Jameis Winston throw three touchdowns in the second half. So look, and I noted this at Baltimore positive.com This isn’t just on one player. This isn’t just on one coach. I think this is a collective problem, and I it’s not just Marcus Williams. I mean, roquan Smith’s not playing like $100 million off ball linebacker this year. He’s not. He’s been a problem in coverage. Now we could talk about whether that’s him. We can talk about whether schemes putting him in the best positions to maximize his talents. We can talk about maybe him missing Patrick queen, and, you know, not to bash Trenton Simpson. He’s a first year starter, and I still think he’s going to be a good player, and he’s actually looked a little bit better in coverage, so maybe, maybe that’s part of the solution, at least in the interim. But, but the point is, Marcus Williams value concern. Bro Quan Smith, this year, at the very least, through the first eight games, has not played like the highest paid inside linebacker in the NFL should play. And even look at someone like namdi Mata BK up front, hasn’t been bad, but has he has been as as great as he was last year. No, and you paid a game record last year. You paid him to be a game record, right? And he, and he’s had, I mean, he’s had future too many penalties. I mean, the sack total that that’s something that can be, especially over seven or eight games that can’t that doesn’t necessarily always give you the best picture of how a player is playing, but when you’re when you’re registering 15 yard penalties almost weekly, it feels like that, and you’re not racking up the sacks in the process, then you know that that’s a problem. So and again, it’s not just on those guys, either. And we can point to Zach or we can point to the assistant coaches they lost, right? I mean, we talked about this throughout the off season. This isn’t just, you know, the same exact defense as last year. And you roll it out, you had quite a bit of attrition, player wise and coaching wise. But Nestor, through eight games, the Ravens have allowed one fewer touchdown than they did all last year. I mean, think about that touchdown passes I’m talking so, I mean, that’s, that’s, that’s alarming, right? I mean, I mean, that is absolutely last year they basically averaged one touchdown pass allowed per game. This year they’re basically averaging two. That’s notable. I mean, seven points right there, without even talking about anything else. I mean, that’s very notable. So it’s jarring. And I think part of the frustration here is they, I still don’t think they can completely pinpoint it, and that’s why I said it’s not all on Marcus Williams, it’s not all on Zach or it’s not all on the other high paid defensive players. I talked about, we talked about this after Sunday’s game, and we’ve talked about this on other occasions, if this team, if this secondary, could just catch the football a little bit better, their past defense would, perception wise, at least look a lot better. I mean, Kyle Hamilton catches that pass on Sunday, they win, right? And I don’t want to be dismissive of all their other issues, but again, you kind of go across the board, and you can look at 456, different variables that are impacting that defense right now. So that’s why you know, as much as I give a thumbs up to the Deontay Johnson trade, and you know should, shouldn’t be something that hinders their ability to add a defensive piece between now and the trade deadline, especially with Carolina paying down a lot of Deontay Johnson’s remaining contract. So it’s not a major financial commitment either, let alone talking about the the draft pick compensation, you know, compensation I almost use in air quotes because of how little it actually is. But they’ve got to figure this out. I mean this, I still will say, even if Marcus Williams hasn’t played up to his contract, and obviously he hasn’t, especially this year, first two years, it was the health concerns and availability concerns. But I would still say this defense on the on the back end, still is way too talented to be as bad as it has been against the past. Yes, and I say that fully acknowledging that, yeah, the pass rush needs, yeah, in my opinion, needs another dude. I mean, I think you have to try everything you possibly can to go get another dude. And that doesn’t mean Max Crosby is even going to be available, let alone you come up with the offer that’s going to satisfy Las Vegas to to part with a talent like that. But talk cap a little bit, because that’s but I just want to interject into that and say some of the players they’re talking about bringing in or out money’s a part of that. Bucha Baker, I

Nestor Aparicio  15:30

mean, there’s a bunch of guys that are better on bad teams, or thought to be on bad teams, that could be moving around in one way, on the defense. Where are they in relation to that, because Williams is a big number. I I’ve spent the whole week this week talking about the cap number, Russell Wilson in Denver, and last week the potential cap hit for the it’s there’s nothing like that going on in this organization as we see it. I mean, especially with the restructure Ronnie Stanley and some other things that happen. But also, Kyle Hamilton is going to be coming online. Linda Bob’s going to get a big contract when his time comes. So they have some players that are going to get paid, as we would say, right, and other players that have been paid along the way. What? What would you say? Is there anything they can’t or or can or cannot do? Clearly, they can deal a second round pick and get a player right? But then there’s, there’s the money part of taking people on, yeah,

Luke Jones  16:21

I mean, right now, and I’m just, I’m pulled up over the cap.com which is a pretty reliable source in terms of, you know, where they are cap wise, you know, it has them at $3.7 million look, they can create more cap space. I mean, they have the deals. When you have a quarterback on a, you know, 50 plus million dollars per year, you can do things with that, right? And you’re not going to cut Lamar Jackson next year or the year after that. So you know that that’s something you can do. I mean, they have a few other deals they could do that with now, Marcus Williams, under normal circumstances, if he were paying playing at the level that he’s being compensated, he would be a guy where you probably would restructure his deal. You don’t want to touch that deal, right in the same way they didn’t want to touch Ronnie Stanley’s deal, say, last year or the year before, because of where he was, health wise and performance wise. So so there are things they can do to create space. There are always, I don’t want to say always. There are usually always ways that you can increase cap space if you want to. But as we know, that’s there’s always a an opportunity cost there. There’s always needing to pay the piper down the road in that regard. And also

Nestor Aparicio  17:26

dead money that they the Ravens aren’t living with a lot of dead money, right? I mean, I mean, there’s any dead mom, you’ll come up with a name or two, but there’s something, right? There’s a guy or two that I don’t know who they would be, who if they cut that was a failure that they had to eat money on I’m I don’t. I’m trying to think the cyclers and the Moses and the guys that were sort of at that point in their careers are all gone.

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Luke Jones  17:48

Yeah. I mean, there’s always some dead money, right? But there’s not a smoking gun of, oh my gosh, they had to eat $20 million in cap space with Russell Wilson. It

Nestor Aparicio  17:58

was 50 and 30. Yeah, yeah. So

Luke Jones  18:01

there’s nothing, but So, so the point is, and look, you mentioned zaderia Smith as an option, and whether Cleveland would be willing to trade him in the division or not, it feels like the Browns would be one of the teams that would be foolish to do that, even if the Ravens presented the best offer, because some teams still have that line of thinking. But go, look at his salary for this year. He’s not making any money in terms of base salary, so that wouldn’t be a problem for someone like him, but for other players where there there’s a lot of money, still,

Nestor Aparicio  18:28

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if the brands are getting a fifth round pick for him or a fourth, you couldn’t give him a fourth or a third. I mean, it would seem to me, if

Luke Jones  18:35

I’d give him a fourth, I wouldn’t even think twice about it. My question would be somebody else

Nestor Aparicio  18:39

going to give him a third, then you know what I mean, browns. What do they care? We play, play us one more time. And Darius Smith, yeah, I

Luke Jones  18:47

hear you, but you also really silly well, and I’m obviously, I’m putting some words in their mouth because they haven’t come out and said that, but it’s the browns, right? And, but we’ve talked about this, we’ve seen this in other sports too, where teams won’t trade within the division, just because, not because it’s, it’s not the best deal, but, but, oh well, we can’t trade with them. Why? Why? If they’re offering you the best pick, or they’re offering you the best package of prospects in baseball, for example, why wouldn’t you trade with someone and go

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Nestor Aparicio  19:15

play for the Steelers, Gino stuff, go play for the Bengals. That’s what they do.

Luke Jones  19:19

I mean, the player, yeah, the players do that, but, but if, if you’re the team, look, if you’re the ravens, hypothetically, in some year, and you’re out of it, and the Steelers come calling, or the Bengals come calling, and they give you the best offer for someone that’s not in your plans, why wouldn’t you trade them? I mean that that that just sounds like kind of a old school, dumb way of thinking, right? So, but again, bringing it back to to your question, there are things they can do to create some cap space. I’m not saying that’s the ideal way you want to do it. I’m not saying that that’s their their first choice, the first preference, but there are almost always means to create some more cap space. But you pointing it out is a very cogent. Point in talking about the fact that you’re going to want to get a Kyle Hamilton deal done as soon as you possibly can, right after year three, is when draft picks, you know, former draft picks, become eligible for contract extensions. He’s going to be there Tyler Linder bomb, same way. He’s going to be one of the highest paid centers in football, if not the highest. Just the wild thing

Nestor Aparicio  20:19

you and I talk about this on the back end of the World Series in baseball, it’s a completely different paradigm in regard to signing players. Whereas giving Kyle Hamilton money, you’ve got cap space, you’re a rich franchise. Everybody’s a rich franchise. The whole League’s flush. Then it’s just about the fight with him, like the fight with Lamar, about am I a $48 million quarterback or 52 and how much is guaranteed. I mean, they’ll get Hamilton done. That’s the difference. You have the confidence. I have the confidence Hamilton Kyle, Hamilton is not going anywhere. They’ll pay him, baseball fan, different you know, that’s where we get our minds into this. And also dead money, Cap money, and what they can and can’t do. I just want to get on our airwaves here on Halloween, before the Denver thing, before the trade deadline, the Ravens can do whatever they want if they if they want to offer a two and a player for Max Crosby right, and pick up his 25 30 million, I don’t know what’s he going to be right? He’s that kind of player right, like they’re going to have to getting that kind of players different than the area Smith from a cap standpoint, and that’s what I’m trying to get my arms around, Max Crosby and star players. And if they had brought Derek Henry in last year, I’m I’m assuming the reason that Derek everything didn’t happen was compensation, not salary. Although you were always of the mindset of that’s too much money, or teams don’t pay not you. I don’t want to get personal with you, but the running backs aren’t you don’t want that cap number on your running back. The Ravens haven’t any problem with it this year. Everybody’s happy with it, even at five and three. But I the money part of these deals the NBA. It’s the biggest part, right? You’re an NBA fan. I mean, when you start dealing NBA players, cap space and player space and all that’s a big part of it that won’t play into that this week, correct? I

Luke Jones  22:06

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mean, I, I wouldn’t think so. And look, you mentioned the baseball example. Keep in mind the the absolute best players in football, who the quarterbacks, right? You’ve got the franchise tag too. I mean, it really is a different dynamic. I mean, there’s no mechanism in baseball to keep the absolute best of the best on your roster in the same way, other than a qualifying offer, which gets you a pick. So I appreciate

Nestor Aparicio  22:28

you saying that, because there’s nothing Mr. Rubenstein can do if gunner Henderson’s dreams to play for the Braves. Like literally, yeah. I mean, like literally,

Luke Jones  22:38

Yes, true. I would also say all of these teams, even the even the small market teams, have more means to sign players than they give off they wish to. They could Right, correct. Not everyone can have a $300 million payroll. Let’s be clear on everybody can have a $40 million player. Everyone could right, no question about it. So you know, I don’t want it, especially for you know Pittsburgh,

Nestor Aparicio  23:01

33 years don’t think that I’m playing, oh yeah, exactly, with these creeks billionaires about whether they can afford, especially Mr. Big pants, Rubenstein and Eric Getty, they can buy whatever they want, in any way they want. They bought the team. So like I’m but in baseball, that expectation is different than where we are this week where nuts are in a crunch, five and three quarterbacks hurt, by the way, we haven’t. We’re 30 minutes in. We haven’t talked about the quarterback being hurt. We’ll do that. And he did run into some linebackers last week, but he leaping, bounding like Superman and all that. But to the trade thing, I don’t want to get all like, lathered up thinking Max Crosby’s coming here and you saying, dude, they’re already paying $20 million players everywhere. They have one of those. His name’s Marcus Williams. They got to get him on the field. Well.

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Luke Jones  23:48

And there’s also, there’s also the question of, you’re talking about a franchise, kind of player, there are the Raiders going to just trade them, right? Or, or is the cost, is the asking price? So over the moon that it’s not practical in terms of the compensation and what you have

Nestor Aparicio  24:04

to pay. Well, a number one for the Ravens sounds like in the 20s, right? Sure. So if you’re giving me one up, you’re thinking, we’re giving the 23rd 25th pick. Would we want Max Crosby for that?

Luke Jones  24:15

And I would say, if I’m the Raiders, that doesn’t sound all that appealing to me, correct? I mean, seriously, like, so again, we’re just using him as an example. I don’t think he’s going to get traded. I don’t think the Raiders want to trade him. So that’s why. Where you do look at someone like a Zaria Smith, and you see that his base salary is really low because they, I haven’t looked at his contract, you know, intimately or closely, but I would assume that there’s been money moved around, because the Browns have had to do that because they have a guaranteed contract for their franchise quarterback who’s hurt and stinks anyway. So you know, those are the kind of players, generally speaking, that are movable, easily movable at the trade deadline, and a player that could still help them. So. We’ll see how it plays out. But a big part of this, and you know, I alluded to this a little bit with Deontay Johnson, but I also think you and we talked about this a lot with the trade deadline in baseball, I think you also have to be realistic about what a player is going to bring you when he’s traded in the middle of a season, swimming upstream and certain positions that’s much easier to deal with than others, right? A running back, for example. And keep in mind, Tennessee sounds like ownership nicks that as much as anything at the time. But you know, for Tennessee, they just weren’t going to trade a Hall of Fame play. They want to trade Derek Henry, and they just let them walk. Then, you know, I mean, whatever, but, but I think, you know, you look at some of these, and that’s where I like the Deontay Johnson deal, but I’m not sitting here saying that that’s going to move the needle dramatically, unless, heaven forbid, something happens as a flowers, or something happens to Rashad Bateman, or something happens to one of your tight ends. And you’re not leaning on your tight ends in the passing game quite as much, you know so but because you are talking about having to learn a new offense and building rapport with your new teammates, certain positions, I think you can plug in and that’s fine, and that’s not an issue other positions, I think it could be a little more of a of a challenge. That’s where I look at this thing throwing throwing aside the Devonte Adams and the Jets, because they stink. You know, Davante Adams doesn’t stink, but the Jets stink, but the Jets stink, and they’re not going anywhere. But that’s where I look at this and say, Okay, how quickly does Amari Cooper get acclimated with the bills? You know? I mean, is he going to be peak Amari Cooper by the end of the year, or is that going to be a little more of a middling move, same with DeAndre Hopkins going to the chief. So that’s where I look at Deontay Johnson in the same light. And also keep in mind, he’s in a contract year, and I’m guessing, from a business standpoint, moving to the ravens, with their diverse, very productive, very deep offense in terms of all the different things they do, it’s probably not going to get the the normal target share that he’s used to getting. So how is he going to deal with that? He might be totally fine, and he might say, hey, I want to win. That’s fine, no problem. Or we also know that he was a guy that kind of wore out his welcome in Pittsburgh at the end, and that’s why he was playing for the Carolina Panthers. I like the deal. Let’s be clear. How could you not they didn’t give up anything of any consequence whatsoever, but these in season deals, as much as you love to think of them in terms of all that’s going to get us over the hump. A lot of times it doesn’t work out that way. And we’ve talked about that with baseball too, with trade deadline moves and and how many times you think a deal is going to be the the

Nestor Aparicio  27:34

8

final clarity has a ring, and Mike Messina does not, let’s point this out, correct? And Aaron Josh does not, although

Luke Jones  27:41

Jack Flaherty had nothing to do with them winning in game six or game five. So but again, you just don’t know. And that’s where, if you’re Eric Acosta or any of the top general managers around the league, you know General Managers for contenders, you’re looking at this and saying, How do I juggle what we can give up now for a player, what can his impact be, and what impact might that have on our salary cap, not just this year, but next year, year after that, our draft picks. I mean, the Ravens have quite an assortment of picks. They’re going to be owed coming next year because of all the free agents they lost. They’re going to, you know, they’re slated to have the four comp picks, which is the max. So that’s where you look at this and say, Yeah, of course, you’ll do a pick swapper. Of course, she’ll you would trade a fourth round pick for Zaria Smith, right? I mean, I, I wouldn’t even think twice about that, you know? I, I’d take a long look at it, giving up a third for him. I don’t know if I’d go, you know? I don’t I wouldn’t give up a second round pick for him, because I don’t think Zaria Smith is that kind of player, necessarily. It

Nestor Aparicio  28:42

wasn’t that when they drafted him. Yeah,

Luke Jones  28:44

yeah. I mean, and again, you can’t lose your mind. You still want to be disciplined in how you value players. But you also understand that if you’re a team that, like the Ravens right now, clearly has a Super Bowl caliber offense they already did even before adding Deontay Johnson to the mix, so that side of the ball you feel great about I mean, you just need to keep everyone healthy. It’s that simple. Even even the O line, right? You feel that it’s played well enough that that’s not going to be the thing that hinders you from potentially getting to a Super Bowl. But the past defense, that’s a different story right now, especially knowing that you’re going to face good offenses in the playoffs. So is there a safety move to be made? Is there a pass rush move to be made? And we also need this. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this, the interior defensive line picture is different now. Michael Pierce is on IR he’s not expected to be out for the year, but he’s out at least the next month. Travis Jones still dealing with that ankle, Brent urban concussion. So might they even look at a defensive tackle? I don’t know. So I think it’s tough to project multiple trades still down the pike, but I think they’re going to make at least another move. I

8

Nestor Aparicio  29:53

think they need to, especially the Arsenal draft picks they have coming in the land, right? And that’s the thing again. I

Luke Jones  29:59

mean, you can. And even, like I just said, I mean, Carolina paid down a large chunk of what Deontay Johnson’s owed the rest of the year, and that was even with what little, what little of an upgrade they’re making in that pick swap. So teams are always there are always things you can do either way, whether you’re the team that’s selling or the team that’s buying to make it work. So for me, it’s really a matter of trying to identify who you think’s going to move the needle right? And even, even when you look at players, sometimes you can look at the sack numbers and say, Oh, wow, that guy has X number of sacks but, but then you look at the pressure rate and you say, Oh, he’s that. He’s not really getting to the quarterback consistently. It’s maybe he was set up well, or maybe the stars just aligned on a couple plays here or there. I mean, we also know that so and the Ravens are an analytically minded team that are going to look at that. They’re going to look at pressure rate, not just the guys, you know, his sack total. So we’re going to see. But I’ll say this, and I think you would wholeheartedly agree most of the improvement there is going to have to come from within, right? I mean, you’re not going to bring in five new players and try to figure

Nestor Aparicio  31:10

out where one is going to come from. Yeah, exactly. That’s all.

Luke Jones  31:13

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I think you’re looking for one piece. Yeah, I think you’re hopeful that you know whether it’s a safety, whether it’s an edge rusher, maybe it’s a defensive tackle that can give you pass rush juice, you know. I mean, there are different ways to do this, but what they’ve been doing, pass rush wise, married to coverage on the back end, has not been nearly a good good enough. I mean, that’s the captain obvious statement at this point. But there’s only so much you can do in terms of even who’s going to be available out there, that’s really going to move the needle for you. So a lot of it’s going to come down to, you know, it’s gut check time. And for the coaches, it’s got to figure this out. You know, if all this pre snap disguise and deception is causing guys to not get lined up correctly, and guys are confused and they’re not understanding, then you need to look at somewhere in that process, you know, whether it’s what’s going on during the week in the classrooms and on the practice field, or what’s happening on Sunday in terms of your communication. Because, I mean, we saw it, you know the that first Cedric Tillman touchdown, where you go back and watch the replay. I mean, adafe always running parallel to the line of scrimmage, trying to get lined up properly. And I’m not picking on him. It was like, three or four guys like that, where it’s just, like, what’s going on here? Like, that’s that shouldn’t be happening in week eight. I mean, that’s Kyle Hamilton. You know, he was asked about it on Wednesday. He said that shouldn’t happen in week one. I mean, we’re just, there’s too much of that, and we’re just, again, a lot of variables changed, right? It wasn’t just

Nestor Aparicio  32:39

good quarterbacks will make you pay for all of that. No question on Thursday night, and they have a kid here this week. Better Luke, let’s take a break. We’re going to talk some Lamar. We’re going to talk about the game. We’re going to talk about Denver. That a lot of Denver words and work here this week. Brandon Stokely joined me. He does Sports Radio out in Denver. He had a lot to say. My old pal, Mike Cleese joined us from Denver. He just wrote a book on John Elway, so we had some John Elway conversations as well, and also Sean droar, who did a lot on Dion. He He’s the press box announcer for the Colorado Buffaloes, but long time Mile High sports guy and a veteran here, all of them with really interesting observations about the Broncos and about that franchise and where it is as they come in, five and three and tickled, and the Ravens are five and three and scuffling right now. Baltimore, Lucas. Way to find Lukey is Luke at W nst.net you can find me out on the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery. I’ll have the Raven scratch offs to give away thought this was a lucky batch. Nobody came up to me at mamas last week. Told me they won. I know somebody won. I gave out too many tickets for somebody not to win. Mom is on the half shell last week, Howard chair was there. We did some hockey and a tribute to Jeff amder. And also, I heard from Ray Bachman this week for Halloween, and he’s doing okay. He’s hanging in so everybody loves Ray. There’s an oyster tour portion at day six out on the front of Baltimore positive where you could do something nice for Ray Bachman, if you wish. He’s battling cancer down in past. Adina, and I’ll continue to check in with him. Our oyster Tour is brought to you by our friends at curio wellness and far and daughter, as well as Liberty pure solutions, one 800 clean water the way to get the best plumbers around, and certainly that clean water that I enjoy in the filtration system, because well water, bad. No good. It’s like the Yankees defense on on Wednesday night. No good, by the way. Yankees lost the World Series. Yankees lost the World Series. I just want to say that whole lot go Dodgers. Go Dodgers. On behalf of Fernando, I am Nestor. He’s Luke. We got plenty of football ahead. We’re W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive you.