This is the week Lamar Jackson and Ravens need to get organized on money

It’s a big football week in Owings Mills. Eric DeCosta has a lot of work to do. The Baltimore Ravens have some real roster building to do this offseason. Let’s start with Lamar Jackson in the right contract and Tyler Linderbaum hitting the tampering market for a deal.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the upcoming NFL free agency period, focusing on the Baltimore Ravens. They highlighted the importance of resolving contracts for key players like Lamar Jackson and Tyler Linderbaum, noting the increased salary cap to $301.2 million. Jones praised Jesse Minter’s approach to OTAs, emphasizing the need to make them valuable for players. They also discussed the potential impact of losing Linderbaum and the need for young players like Mike Green and Malachi Cunningham to step up. The conversation also touched on the Ravens’ roster challenges and the importance of coaching in player development.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Begin the Maryland crab cake tour stop with Dan Rodricks at Gertrude’s at the BMA on Wednesday (promote event and attend)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Meet with Luke Jones and Alan McCallum on Friday to talk baseball (coordinate time/location and participate)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Write letters throughout March, including sending a letter to John Harbaugh and a letter to Jesse Minter (produce and send columns/op-eds)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Replay the conversation piece with Dan Rodricks from Christmas time this week on the show (prepare and air the segment)
• [ ] Develop and publish a BaltimorePositive.com piece this week on offseason/coaching/free agency topics (produce article and post on site)

Maryland Crab Cake Tour and Upcoming Events

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Maryland crab cake tour, including a stop with Dan Rodricks at Gertrude’s at the BMA.
• Nestor mentions making collard greens with his cousin John Shields and plans to replay a piece from a previous conversation with Dan Rodricks.
• Nestor talks about Harlem Globetrotters scratch-off tickets and plans to have them handy later.
• Luke Jones will join the discussion to talk about the Ravens and Orioles, and they will also discuss baseball with Alan McCallum on Friday.

Changing Landscape of Baltimore Sports

• Nestor and Luke discuss the significant changes in Baltimore sports, particularly with the new leadership in the Ravens.
• Nestor mentions writing letters to John Harbaugh and Jesse Minter about the changes and the future direction of Baltimore sports.
• Luke Jones talks about the massive change with a new head coach after nearly two decades with John Harbaugh.
• They discuss the combine and the interest in college prospects, noting that the combine’s popularity might have decreased over the years.

Combine and Free Agency

• Nestor and Luke discuss the combine, noting that it might not be as engaging as it used to be.
• Luke mentions that some high-profile players are not participating in workouts, which might contribute to the decrease in interest.
• They talk about the upcoming free agency period and how it will be a different story next week.
• Nestor and Luke agree that taking a breather from the combine can be beneficial, comparing it to the offseason in baseball.

Lamar Jackson and OTAs

• Nestor and Luke discuss Lamar Jackson’s attendance at OTAs and the different approaches taken by Jesse Minter and Eric DeCosta.
• Luke praises Jesse Minter’s answer about the importance of making the spring program valuable for players.
• They talk about the challenges of motivating players to attend OTAs and the importance of making it worth their while.
• Nestor expresses his frustration with the lack of transparency and the staged nature of some NFL events.

Contract Negotiations and Cap Management

• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of resolving contract negotiations before the start of free agency.
• They talk about the salary cap increase and how it affects contract negotiations for players like Tyler Linderbaum and Marlon Humphrey.
• Luke mentions the need for the Ravens to have resolutions with key players to avoid complications during free agency.
• They discuss the potential impact of losing Linderbaum and the challenges of finding a suitable replacement.

Roster Challenges and Player Development

• Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges the Ravens face with their roster, including the state of the offensive line and the tight end position.
• They talk about the importance of player development and the role of the new coaching staff in getting the most out of the current roster.
• Luke mentions the need for some players to step up and play like high-dollar players to avoid roster issues.
• They discuss the potential for young players like Mike Green and Trenton Simpson to make significant contributions next season.

Future of the Ravens and Coaching Impact

• Nestor and Luke discuss the future of the Ravens and the impact of the new coaching staff on player development.
• They talk about the importance of coaching in improving the performance of the defense and getting more out of young players.
• Luke mentions the need for a multi-pronged approach to addressing the roster challenges, including free agency, trades, and player development.
• They discuss the potential for some players to emerge as key contributors and the importance of having a balanced roster.

Baseball and Spring Training

• Nestor and Luke transition to discussing baseball and the upcoming spring training.
• They talk about the excitement of spring training and the potential for the Orioles to have a strong season.
• Nestor mentions the importance of the upcoming owners meetings and the impact on the NFL calendar.
• They discuss the potential for the Orioles to make significant moves during the offseason and the importance of player development.

Final Thoughts and Upcoming Segments

• Nestor and Luke wrap up the discussion, noting the importance of the upcoming week in NFL free agency.
• They mention the potential for significant changes in the NFL landscape and the impact on the Ravens.
• Nestor expresses his excitement for the upcoming segments, including the Maryland crab cake tour and discussions with other guests.
• They conclude by looking forward to the next segment, where they will continue to discuss Baltimore sports and the upcoming season.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Lamar Jackson, NFL free agency, cap rise, tampering period, Ravens roster, OTAs, Jesse Minter, Tyler Linderbaum, Marlon Humphrey, Kyle Hamilton, Ronnie Stanley, Mark Andrews, defensive coaching, player development, salary cap.

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SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 TAs in Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We’re positively getting the show back out on the road. And I’m excited about this this week, because the Ides of March, I’m a march man of letters. I’ll be writing letters all month long to all the people that you probably think nest owes them a letter, a little columnist, so that’ll be getting out on the road. But we’re also going to be chatting with friends. Wednesday. We will begin our Maryland crab cake tour stop with Dan Rodricks over at the gertrudes at the BMA. My cousin John shields going to make me out some collard greens, and I’m going to go yum, yum, yum. All the way home. We’re going to see the Dan Rodricks 1966 show. I’m going to replay that piece this week from Dan and I talking about it back at Christmas time at gertrude’s. Come on over. We have Maryland. I have I have Harlem Globetrotters scratch offs, but they’re not What did Washington used to say to Mr. Cotter. I don’t have them handy, but I will have them handy a little later on. Luke Jones is going to join us here. We are going to talk, you know, I said ravens for 100 or Orioles for 100 and you and I are going to get together on Friday with Alan McCallum, and we’re going to talk baseball on Friday as we get into spring training, I think there’s going to be purple plumes of smoke out certainly by next Tuesday, when I met missoney’s in Perry Hall, doing the Maryland crab cake tour. And Councilman David Marks is going to join us next week, among some other friends. So i Dude, I’ve got a full week, a full slate here, ahead of the tampering period for the Ravens. But where’s your head? Baseball, football, what’s on the mind of Luke Jones, who has to cover these equally? But this is that really squishy, weird theory. We would have been in Sarasota last week sunning ourselves and seeing sticks and cheap trick rock the pier and clear water. But like when I’m out, it feels very 5050, and I had John Eisenberg on for at length, and I thought we were going to talk baseball, we wound up talking Jesse Minter, because I think the new leadership thing here. I don’t know that anybody’s over confident. I don’t think anybody thinks we’re winning the World Series or winning a Super Bowl this year straight away, but I think there is for you and me. We’re all sitting up straight. I’m writing a letter to John Harbaugh. We’re getting crab cake tours together and trying to feel our way through all of this, but it’s a time of change, I think, for Baltimore sports and for that, I’m glad I live long enough to have you me and AI navigate it.

Luke Jones  02:33

Yeah, I think there’s a sense of for everyone. I mean, we talked about this a lot on the Ravens side, because with no disrespect intended to Brandon Hyde or Tony mancilino When you’re talking about a head coach who’s been in town nearly two decades. I mean, that’s a massive change, just absolutely massive change, even if you hire someone that has Raven’s roots and some familiarity and doesn’t feel like a 180 in terms of a change, it’s still a change, and it’s still a significant change. So I think, and obviously, with free agency, there’s so much interest right now. I mean, the combine. If you’re a hardcore X’s and O’s nerdy follow college prospects, all of that, you love the combine. I kind of feel the combines not as popular as it was

Nestor Aparicio  03:24

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10 years ago. And that might just be me talking out of my you know what? Right? I mean, I, I don’t have, I don’t disagree with it. Doesn’t feel engaged with people who understand the Ravens picks in the second and third round. They’ve done a much poorer, poorer job with people like me and people in my space and other spaces about secrecy and about not I don’t know. It’s jumped the shark a little bit, even for you and me to not go and that I’m not glued to televisions. I had a beautiful lunch with an old friend the other day at skatinos, not zvino’s For anybody out there listening and Cross Keys Right, right in front of word of fan. I bet all the fan people go to skatinos is right at the foot of the street there. But I, you know, the Combine was on on the television. And I just, I was at a Costas too, and it was on. And I guess when the Olympics ended, it was sort of an entree to put an eye up. But I don’t know that it’s the I don’t know that I’m compelled anymore.

Luke Jones  04:28

Are you No No, and I don’t know how much of that is just how I feel individually. And it’s not like from a work standpoint, as much as just in a general sense, you know, just like, Would I sit there and watch some of the Combine coverage, even if I wasn’t going to be talking wasn’t going to be talking about it on the radio or writing about it the next day, my answer would be no in that way. But you know, some of that might also be, I mean, we, you know, you have more of the high profile players not taking part in workouts, you know, as time goes on and a little bit of that. But I don’t know. That some of it feels like a pushback for me, just personally, speaking, when you get to these points in the offseason, and obviously free agency is going to be a different story next week, right? I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  05:11

that’s going to be take a breather, right? Exactly that, as I’ve

Luke Jones  05:16

said to you over and over, and I you know, because we’ve talked about this a lot, comparing football to baseball, but you could do it with any of the sports right? I’ve said to you that it’s not necessarily a bad thing for something to go away for a little while, right? Whereas, like,

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Nestor Aparicio  05:30

a lot more fun for me, when Phil Savage was sitting out at the barn talking about draft picks and when the liar’s luncheon wasn’t a like a real liar’s luncheon or a corporate affair where they’re handing out numbers for questions and like I, and it’s not even like me being Get off my lawn. It’s just more like I liked it better when it was Joel Bush bomb and Mel Kuiper, and you know, a handful of, by the way, you know, I reached you, I reached to Dallas here this week to get goose Goslin on, who was one of the originators of covering it and following it. What even the ESPN coverage in Mel Kuiper for years? I don’t know why I’m less compelled about it, other than thinking like we’ll have time to deal with that in April. Is that kind of where you are?

Luke Jones  06:17

Yeah, I think so. I think so. And I just think at times it’s just sometimes it’s too much, you know, too much coverage isn’t a good thing, right? Like, like, we’ve talked about this with the NFL, right? I mean, the thing that the NFL has going for it in season is the scarcity principle, right? They play once a week, right? It’s not like baseball, where we’re literally going to have an Oreos game every single

Nestor Aparicio  06:42

day, or they’re challenging that now is Sunday, Monday, Thursday,

Luke Jones  06:47

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they are, but there’s still, but there’s still a sense of your team plays once a week, right? So, so I think there’s some of that. But look, that said, there’s plenty of important business that takes place at the combine. So much of it’s behind closed doors. I mean, they’re, I

Nestor Aparicio  07:01

mean, they’re, I mean, the owners meetings are more important to me than the combine in a general sense of really getting finality on rules, hearing from all the coaches in a real way, not whatever that staged prop thing that happens for 15 minutes last week, which used to be a really good dude, John Harbaugh put you and me in a cab 10 years ago to talk our ear off about life and football and whatnot and what’s going on into the city that like it’s over for any of that from an information standpoint, because they all fear information, I think, and it’s all very staged, from even Our standpoint of sitting here and watching it from afar, we don’t learn much on purpose on purpose. I think I learn a lot at the owners meetings on purpose, on purpose. You know, I think that’s fair, and

Luke Jones  07:52

I think there’s especially the coaches talking at the combine. Think about it. I mean, we’re still we have free agency to navigate. You don’t know what your roster is going to look like by the time the owners meetings happen and the coaches are gathered

Nestor Aparicio  08:09

having met their players yet, right?

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Luke Jones  08:11

And that’s why, and I made that, I made that point to you, and I wrote it at Baltimore positive.com like there wasn’t anything I was expecting Jesse Minter to say that was going to be terribly compelling, although I will say this, and I wrote a little bit about this, because I he, he joined Chris Sims and Mike Florio. I think it was Sims podcast, but it might as well have been pro football talk, because they have Florio was still on set, and Florio asked him about the Lamar attending OTAs thing. And I thought Jesse mentor gave the best answer you could possibly give. Because remember, I said how a few weeks ago, Declan Doyle gave an answer that I’m guessing, the NFL pa didn’t love that Eric da Costa probably didn’t love, because it was, it was honest. But you also know you have to walk that line when you’re talking about voluntary workouts.

Nestor Aparicio  08:57

Well, here’s where we are as the reasons why Eric Decosta isn’t sitting at della roses on the avenue in her window talking football, because there’s so much they can’t say about Matt BK about anything really, right?

Luke Jones  09:10

But, and then di Costa gave a, I have no preference, which I don’t believe, right? But it was a very NFL pa friendly, so it was kind of a good cop, bad cop, as I said to you last week. But Jesse Mitchell was asked this in this interview, and he made the point first and foremost of saying, Look, Lamar has had success doing this either way in the past. It’s voluntary. I have respect for the fact that that’s a collectively bargained element to the NFL calendar that said it’s up to us at it as a coaching staff, to put together a spring program that has the rigor and value to it that our players feel like, Man, I really want to be there, because this is going to be really important for us, for getting a jumpstart on training camp on September, October and November, December, and it’s going to make us better. I just thought that was such a great answer, rather than you. Know the old school mindset of I’m paying you. This is the way we’ve always done it. This is the way the expectations always are. He flat out said, like, we need to make the spring worth it for these guys, that it’s not just going through the motions and that they like it and that they feel it’s making them better. And I just thought that was

Nestor Aparicio  10:16

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have made that case as a guy that goes out there, and I could make the case as a guy who had my credential taken away because I wasn’t there, which is officially what Chad steel said, By the way, about I didn’t attend enough OTAs. But I just

Luke Jones  10:28

thought that was a good I just thought that was a well reasoned, rational, measured answer that was a very not middle of the road, because he clearly, any coach clearly wants their players there and and let’s not hide the fact that a big element of that is the control and babysitting element of not for Lamar Jackson individually, but for players in general, teams like to keep tabs on their players. So they like forums where they can keep tabs on their players. So there’s that. But I just thought that was a

Nestor Aparicio  11:00

but how was his message different than what horrible would say to him? You know what I mean? Like, it’s the same message, and maybe it’s the messenger. And again, I’m writing to John Harbaugh. This week. I’ll be writing to Jesse Minter about, like, what is going to change and how, how’s John going to make New York different? How’s Jesse going to make Baltimore different? Because you’re coming in under this guys that like, I am the fresh air. I can be a difference maker here. I can better coach, motivate, strategize, you know, emotional intelligence, warm and fuzzy, whatever it is, right? I I do wonder, like, when Minter says that, and I am in full agreement with you, dude, on it. Yeah, I’m with you. But John’s in New York saying, dude, do you think I made it boring? Do you? Do you think that it was a waste of time? And by the way, you’ve portrayed it and other media have portrayed it as optional. It’s not in the contract, in the collective bargaining, and also it’s not that important. He’s won MVPs. I mean, the general manager said that last week, right? So is it important, or is it not important? Pick one, pick one. And it can’t be, well, this year, we’re installing a new offense. So it’s more important, or it’s not fun enough, or it’s not informative enough, or mind activating, or it’s a waste of time, or it’s not worth my time, or it’s not in the contract, or it’s not in the Bill of Rights, or whatever it is. I’m not going to move off of that. I pissed Ray Lewis off 25 years ago over this issue. So I mean, this has been from the beginning of time. So I’m just wondering, I love the message, I love that you nicen up the mentor and like you like the way he’s going about it. But I don’t know that it’s any different than what John would say, because and, and that’s what we’re doing, is it?

Luke Jones  12:57

Well, we don’t know that. I mean, because we don’t know what the OTAs are going to look like. I mean, we don’t know, right? I mean, part, part of it, like you just said, what’s going to be different? Part, it’s just, it’s fresh air, right? I mean, just like anyone who enjoyed being outside on SAT Saturday this past weekend because, because it was, we had three straight weeks, or it didn’t hit 20 degrees, basically, so sometimes it’s just different for the sake of being different, but we’ll find out in that way and again. And I, honestly, I don’t want to belabor this point. We’ve talked about it. We’ll, we’ll talk about it

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Nestor Aparicio  13:29

plenty come May, because the coach texts me about it in the middle. So like, I know, yeah, but I but I think this year,

Luke Jones  13:35

but I do think this spring’s different, and not just for Lamar, for everybody. I mean, this is because of what we just said. This is a foundation. This can be a foundational time where it is different. And look, I don’t, I don’t view OTAs in a binary way, where it’s either really valuable or it’s worthless, right there. There’s a range. There’s so there’s a sweet spot in there. Do I think anything that’s going to happen at OTAs is going to be something we’re talking about in December and say, oh my gosh, man, they they wouldn’t be 11 and three right now if it weren’t for what they did on that Tuesday, May 24 right? You know what I mean. But that said to say it’s meaningless is a slap in the face to the coaches and the overwhelming number of players who are there. But the difference this year, this year is you do have everything that’s brand new. Why I haven’t been as adamant about it in previous years, when it’s carryover, you know, when you have the same head coach that you’ve had your whole career, and you’ve had the same offensive coordinator for three years now, or the same quarterbacks coach for three years now, then it is a little bit different than what it is right now. So I’ll leave it at that. I thought, I thought Minter just gave a very rational, reasonable, measured answer about it that I thought was just impressive for a first year head coach. To your point, doesn’t mean that it’s not like John horrible and Todd monk and said, Well, you know, we’re not. To do anything in the spring that’s of interest, right? So, but it’s different and but I also think it’s, I think it’s really important for as many of their veterans, not just Lamar, all of their veterans, and let’s be clear, not all the veterans attend OTAs all the time, right? We’ve talked about other guys. It is a little bit different this spring, because you’re laying the foundation right. This is where you’re you want to get off on the right foot. And a big part of that is the relationship piece, getting to know each other, getting to know each other as football people, that’s going to be really important for them to not wanting to, not wanting to be in a position where you’re having to do that during training camp, right? Training Camp, you want to hit the ground running. And I think that’s why the spring does carry a little more weight and value this year compared to your typical year.

Nestor Aparicio  15:47

I want to back off of the war thing, especially with, you know, schittler dropping bombs across the world so this weekend. So while we’re on that, but I would say I will not back down. I’ll rephrase I will not back down from the fact that leaders lead, and I will not back down from the fact that a quarterback specifically is different even than Ray Lewis, although still inexcusable. And if I saw Ray, I tell him that years ago, he was using it as a negotiating tactic with art so that, you know, was more of that going on at that time that I I didn’t, I don’t know. I just think like when you’re making $60 million a year or six No,

Luke Jones  16:27

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I regret bringing this up because I didn’t want to this to turn into that. But okay, I hear you, you and I disagree about

Nestor Aparicio  16:34

hold on you. LED with the fact that the coach had some nice things to say about optional.

Luke Jones  16:40

I just thought it was a different way of looking at it. We you know, you have the you have the old school. And look, you’re not alone in this that, but the former head coach totally agreed with you on this, that you should just be there, because that’s the way it always is. And whereas I’m of the thought of, yeah, ideally, that’s the situation that I would prefer to that. Said, I’m also not going to be naive to the fact that you have someone who won an MVP, which shows that maybe not being there for OTAs is all that critical all the time in certain years, in certain instances. But that said, this year is different, because it is all brand new. And I And I’ll be honest with you, and maybe I’ll be completely wrong about this, but assuming contract talks don’t go in a bad direction, for whatever reason might be, I think we’re going to see Lamar Jackson there, because after he signed his contract, and Todd Monckton was in his first year, he was at OTAs that year, I think, I think you’re going to see that. Does it mean 100% perfect attendance for every single veteran player? Probably not, but I think he’ll be there, because I think it is a different circumstance in the last

Nestor Aparicio  17:47

couple I can’t imagine being at the fan and taking 12 hours a day of calls of this, right? I mean, I long, yeah, you know, like, I just it is a big issue, and the contracts a huge issue, and Linder bond this week’s a huge issue, and it’s all going to bloom like in we’re going to blink, we’re going to be a gertrudes Wednesday. We’re going to be at Costas on Friday, probably talking baseball, and by Tuesday, either all hell is broken loose, which is possible, it’s going to happen in five places in the league that all hell will break loose next week in some way, because they don’t get their Tyler Linder bomb signed, because the Giants swoop in and give him 28 million a year, something crazy. So by the way, the cap going over 300 million is also interesting offseason fodder, if we’re talking about things that I learned in the NFL this week, or thinking about the NFL and you know, I heard rumors that Basti was trying to piece off parts of sales, and I heard that that’s not true. So you know, this is the time of the year. He will not be at the owners meetings because they’re in Arizona. And by the way, they’re after opening day. The owners meetings are at the end of this month. Now have moved opening days moved up, and the owners meetings have moved back, and the draft has moved around. The draft is in Pittsburgh, for those of you listening out there, so sort of this NFL calendar. And we were going to talk baseball, let’s stick to football now, because I’m like, I’m it is relevant enough that it’s the first thing we talked about, because the Orioles, there’s nothing that’s going to happen, good or bad, until opening day, and we’re three weeks out on that, all of a sudden, too, with and thank God, beside his back and swinging the bat as well. But the football part of this is, this is a big week, dude. And you know, if we were sitting around taking phone calls, it wouldn’t be about Craig Albernaz and whether the Orioles are going to win 86 games or 89 games this year. It really is like the Lamar thing. We’re two weeks out on mahomes, right? And other guys like, if you want the trains to run on time, I’d like a W NST text from Luke Jones, brought to you by Paul roofing and Gordian energy. When? When would you like to see this? I mean, I know ideally, before tampering period, but, like, it’s got to happen, like, soon, right? Yeah.

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Luke Jones  19:54

I mean, you would think so now here, here’s the caveat, and I’ve mentioned this to you, and you just said it just. Salary cap set at what 301 point 2 million, which, by the way, I mean, it’s gone up quite a bit the last couple years.

Nestor Aparicio  20:07

Lamar’s agents job to get as much of that as he possibly can. It’s any player up to me by

Luke Jones  20:12

Tyler Linder bombs, agent, right? Isaiah likely his agent, right? I mean, that’s and Marlon Humphrey. He’s got to figure out what his piece is going to be. And I will continue to point to the fact that the cap’s gone up as much as it has the last couple years. That should be significant in the eyes of agents, right? That’s why, like creed Humphrey, at 18 million a year for the chiefs, like, if I’m Linder bombs representation, I’m saying, Well, that was 18,000,002 years ago. The Cap’s gone up almost $50 million dollars since then, so we’re not just looking for 18.5 if I’m Linder bombs agent. Now that’s not to say that the Ravens have to completely pander to that line of thinking, but if you’re an agent worth your salt, you’re acknowledging the cap and percentage of

Nestor Aparicio  20:57

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capital Eric was clearly negotiating last week. No question, no question.

Luke Jones  21:01

And as I said to you, I still for me this is, is Tyler linderbaum closer to Kyle Hamilton, or CJ Mosley? And I keep using the Mosley example, because go back and look at how that year played out. The Ravens absolutely tried to keep CJ Mosley. This was not zadarius Smith or judon, or some of the guys over the years, where they say, God bless you. We love you. We’re happy you’re going to go get paid. We’re not going to be in that market, right? They were trying with Moseley. The difference is, you kind of go back and look at what the top of the market was for inside linebacker at that point. And I don’t know what it was exactly off the top of my head, but it was around 13 ish, 13 million a year. Well, the Jets gave them 17 million per year. They didn’t just set the market. They blew up. They obliterated what the market had been. And my the point, why I bring that up is, go look at what the Ravens gave Kyle Hamilton last fall, last September, or might have been the last couple days of August point was they did that, and they made him not just the highest paid cent of safety in the league, but they did it by a pretty sizable margin, a sizable portion, sizable number, and he wasn’t even hitting the market. They basically gave Kyle Hamilton a blank check, and not literally, but you understand my point. Whereas there are players you want to keep and then there are players where you basically give them a blank check, because you say, I have no choice but to keep this guy. Losing them is not an option, and that’s where I think this Linder bomb thing is fascinating this week, because, look, if you want to say 19 million a year, maybe 20, okay, but are you willing to go and look, a lot of this is speculation. Whether it comes to fruition or not, we’ll see. I mean, it’s not just the Giants, it’s the browns. I mean, there are a lot of teams. Linder Baum has a market, right? I mean, that that’s everything we’ve heard. Does he end up getting 23 million a year, right? I mean, so then you love it here. Does he love playing with sword? And there’s always that, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  23:10

yeah. This is figure that out. And

Luke Jones  23:12

I’ve seen some people draw the parallels with Ronnie Stanley a year ago. The difference here is Ronnie Stanley had already gotten paid, right? This is Linder bombs, first bite at the apple in that way. So we’re going to find out. Maybe he will, maybe they will work something out, maybe as maybe as you and I, someone’s listening to us right now, maybe they’re working it out, and you’re going to be getting the wnst text, right? Not saying it’s impossible, but I would definitely say I’m not as optimistic on that as I was at the end of the season, or if we had talked about that in December. So I think it’s tough, because you look at state of their own line. Obviously the idea of needing to upgrade at the guard positions is there, and now you’re talking about the possibility of losing your center, your your three time Pro Bowl center already, but that said, you also can’t value him as being a perfect player if you don’t view him as being a perfect player. Linder bombs a great run blocker. He’s okay to solid as a pass protector. He’s not in a he has not been elite in pass protection. Now I don’t say that to mean that he’s not good or that he’s not one of the best centers in football, but the point is, is that the profile of someone that like I just said, you’re going to give them the Kyle Hamilton treatment, where you give them

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Nestor Aparicio  24:33

without him, and that’s where I push if they wake up next Wednesday morning without Tyler linderbaum, but they’ve already got a lot of problems on the O line. I understand that they got $20 million back to do something else about it, right?

Luke Jones  24:47

Well, and that’s where you, you start to get into, you know, how I felt about the roquan Smith deal at the time of the signing, not that I, I’m not going to sit here and try, let me try talking again, revisionist history. Three of what that looked like. I understood at that point in time with what they had given up, with how he had played in that that second half of 2022 I understood all that, just in a general sense, looking at it in terms of valuation and the premium of certain positions compared to others. That’s where I looked at that. And said, you know, you’re going to have a $20 million inside linebacker now he’s got to play like a $20 million inside linebacker, the difference of someone at that position compared to if you have a slightly overpaid left tackle or an overpaid quarterback or an overpaid wide receiver or a premier edge rusher, you know, like Terrell Suggs in his prime. You know, even if you overpay for that, what you’re getting at those premium positions is such great value that you live with it, right? Ronnie Stanley, you know, he’s making $20 million a year. You know, is he a $20 million left tackle anymore? I mean, that’s up for debate. But you also have to recognize there are a lot more $20 million tackles than there were five years ago. I mean, just because of salaries. But my point was saying that is, you know, with Linder bomb, like you don’t want to overpay for something, and then it’s, then you’re looking at it and saying, Well, are we really getting that, you know, are we really getting that level of play? And you just have to consider that. And look, that’s not to say that. The answer isn’t ultimately Yes, but you’ve got to ask those questions, because if you just overpay for everybody, then that’s when you end up having roster issues and not having the resources to do it. But to your point, and it’s a very valid one, if it’s not him, then whom? Right? You know, like, who’s going to be that guy? Are you going to draft a center you’re going to go sign McGovern the bills center, you know, which, by the way, he’s probably going to end up getting more money than what he’s worth, right? Because that’s just the nature of free agency. So it’s fascinating.

Nestor Aparicio  26:55

It really is. When the pie gets bigger, the agents come sniffing for it too.

Luke Jones  26:59

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No doubt, no doubt. And you kind of look at the cap space, and that’s where it’s funny. And this, this actually brings it back to Lamar a little bit, you know, with the cap having been officially set this past week. And obviously teams knew that it was going to be in that range. They they were preparing for it to be somewhere between 303 100, 5 million. So it ended up being a little bit on the lower end of that range. But like the ravens, as things stand, going into this final week before free agency, they’re they have just under 20 million in cap space. Now that won’t go very far when you consider the tenders you have to make, as far as exclusive rights guys, restricted free agent, you know, Keaton Mitchell’s a restricted free agent, for example. What are you going to do with him? You’re not going to. Him? You’re not going to just let him walk. You’re either going to tender him or you’re going to try to sign him to an extension. You sign a couple guys, and suddenly that cap space is diminishing quickly. My point in saying that is that’s where with the Lamar thing, it’s not as though they need the cap space immediately. But you you don’t want to be negotiating into the start of free agency, right? You want to have a resolution one way or the other. And, you know, you kind of want to have resolutions with most and the same applies for anyone that you’re looking you’re asking to take a haircut in terms of pay cut or restructuring contracts. I mean, di Costa talked at length about, you know, didn’t talk at length, but he was pretty direct in his thinking on Marlon Humphrey. He expects him to be back, but I think it’s really tough to look at it through the lens of he’s going to be back on the same exact contract. I think it’s going to be kind of what the Ravens did with Ronnie Stanley a couple years ago. They they cut the they cut his pay. However, they put a bunch of incentives into that deal that where you say, Look, if you have an okay season, you’re going to be made close to hole, right? If you play, if you’re on the field, you know you’re not missing half the season, but with injuries, and I think, you know, Humphrey even alluded to this at the at the beginning of the offseason, on his podcast, which I’ve checked out a couple times, but Lucky you. I know, right, but, but he even alluded to the idea that he and Acosta had had a conversation as far as and a costa kind of handicapped it for him flat out, said to him, and look, Eric’s done this with players before, where they have their exit interviews at the end of the end of the season. And he kind of says, like, look, we love you, but we’re gonna have to talk about this if you’re going to be back. You know, now they don’t. They might not talk numbers right in that moment, but they’ll at least say, like, you know, we both know your numbers, 19 million or 23 million, or you know whoever you’re talking with. You know he had a conversation with Eric Weddle at the end of weddles final season with the ravens, right? And so you kind of, you lay the you lay the runway for that, so to speak, to kind of prepare a guy for how it might. Go so but, but this is the week when some, at least a good chunk of that stuff’s going to get done. Like I said, you have cap space, so you don’t need to do make moves to get compliant by next Wednesday. But you also don’t want to be in a position where you’re trying to go sign some teams, you know, a starting guard, and at the same time you’re trying to get a hold of Lamar Jackson to get to get an extension done, right? You want to have, you want to have some resolutions in place, you know, you want to have contingencies in place. Because once that, you know, once next Monday comes and the official tampering window has opened, even though we know the tampering begins at the combine. I mean, that’s that. That’s really the most important stuff that happens at the combine. I mean, it’s all the back backroom conversations with agents and players. And there’s a lot of hypothetical conversations that go on. You know, you can’t negotiate, but hey, if we were to be talking about a certain player, let’s just say his name’s Tyler L. What do you think it would take to to bring that, that hypothetical player? You know, so there’s all kinds of stuff like that that goes on, but, but, yeah, we’re getting the crunch time now where you say, okay, the Ravens have 19 million in cap space, but to make the changes and improvements and and to revamp this roster the way that you want to, you’re gonna need more than that, and a big part of that is going to be your quarterback, whether it’s going to be an extension or whether it’s just going to be a renegotiation, which you can create plenty of space by doing that, but then it makes the 2027 headache that much worse in terms of trying to figure something out then. But it’s not just him. It’s you know what’s going to happen with Marlon Humphrey. You know what’s going to happen with you know, namdi Mada BK it feels like there’s more optimism now than there was three months ago. But until we know for sure what that’s going to look like, it’s hard to say, right? He’s, he’s guaranteed money either way this year. So there’s only, you know, you can, you can change what it looks like on your cap, but you’re, you’re paying them, right? I mean, he’s guaranteed that money, so, but until we get some resolutions, that’s where you’re kind of in this holding pattern. And you know, it’s Linder bomb. What’s going to happen with Isaiah? Likely? I don’t expect likely to be back, because I think some, I think there’s going to be a couple teams out there that look at the fact that he’s 25 and has never been the full time guy, you know, the the number one tight end, and yet we you see the plays he can make. I think someone’s going to throw money at him that the Ravens just aren’t going to be in a position to to be in that market. But you know what’s going to happen with someone like Draymond Jones, right? Everyone wants more edge rushers. I get that. They need that. That said he was pretty good for them last year. And then, if you but if he walks, then you’re looking at this thing and saying, Wow, we need two guys then, right? So it is, there is a lot. And you, you absolutely made this point. You know, throughout the beginning of the offseason, where we’re so much talk about the coaching staff, there was so much talk about how great this job is. And look, it was a much better job than anything else out there, other than the bills, right? You know, the bills were the only other one. You know, the Steelers. You could try to argue, but Steelers don’t have a quarterback right the bills and the Ravens had franchise quarterbacks, but you pointed it out, and you’re and you weren’t wrong. They do have a lot of work to do with this roster. I mean, there’s, yeah, they’ve got a foundation of some great core players, but you look at the state of the O line. You look at tight end Now, other than Mark Andrews, who, let’s face it, Mark Andrews has been on a statistical decline the last couple years.

Nestor Aparicio  33:48

They got a lot to do on here. They got a lot of concern and a lot of energy wrapped up in wrapped up in Ronnie Stanley, Mark Andrews, roquan Smith, Marlon, Humphrey, and even the departure of Van Noy. And that’s before you start to think about eliminating linderbaum, eliminating likely diminishing Bateman, even more that that was not a plus. That’s not a thing. Derek Henry, another year on him. Dude, this is not Kyle Hamilton’s their best player by a lot. All of a sudden, if Lamar doesn’t come, come back and come on this year in that kind of a way. And, you know, one year Sam darnold is another year sam darnold? You never you know what I mean? Like, sure last year is it next year? And certainly next year is in 2019 and Marshall yond is not coming back, and I’m not sure Linder bombs coming back. So as we sit here and talk about this, when I think of elite players that they have in their employee right now that are in the prime of their eliteness. I’ll give you Hamilton. I’m going to let Lamar in on that, on reputation, and on where we are, and like all of that, but the rest of it, well, no, I love Derek Henry. I love Derek Henry, but I don’t know, you know, well,

Luke Jones  35:17

there’s a Yeah, but with all of those guys to varying degrees. I mean, Derek Henry had a great year, right? I think Derek Henry still going to be, even if he’s not what he was two years ago, I think he’s still going to be excellent in 2026 right?

Nestor Aparicio  35:29

That’s why I’m letting him into the is sure putting roquan, but he is. The rest of those guys, they’re not going to play to their number, the numbers that we’re talking about, right? There’s no way they’re going to go out and look like they’re primed to me all of them this year, and they’re all going to be including Andrew, is put in a position where, like, Dude, we’re expecting 80 catches out of

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Luke Jones  35:49

you again. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don’t, certainly don’t know if you can expect that, but this is also where the coaching element comes into play, right? If coaching was a problem for this team last year. And I think it was like, Look, they had problems across the board this past year, right? That’s why they went eight and nine. Rather than being the Super Bowl favorite that everyone thought they was. They were going to be in August. But that’s where you’re looking at that thing. And you’re saying, Okay, you’re hoping a new offensive line coach makes dividends, not just with Emory Jones or Andrew Voorhees or Roger Rosengarten, but that you know, you new offensive line coaches are going to squeeze every last drop of what’s left with Ronnie Stanley. I don’t think Ronnie Stanley’s like washed up, but the idea that he’s going to play like he who he was in 2019 that’s not realistic, right? But that doesn’t mean he can’t be really good still. But you look at that, Jesse Minter, I’m hoping is and Anthony Weaver, right, pay some major dividends, like, not, not just, Oh, you have Kyle Hamilton, but let’s get the absolute peak production out of Kyle Hamilton. Let’s get more out of roquan Smith. Let’s get more out of a pass rush that doesn’t look as as formidable on paper as other teams out. Here’s where we go to a lot of work to do sure players that are going to solve these issues. We haven’t said their names yet, but, but you know what? At the same time, and this is where you remind everyone you can do this thing with every, just about every team in football, right? Chiefs. Chiefs have all kinds of questions right now. I mean, they’re coming off of a non playoff season their quarterback. It’s big questions whether Patrick mahomes can be ready for week one. Least.

Nestor Aparicio  37:32

The reasons are this, and this is a fair question, by the way, Luke’s here, I’m here. We’re talking football. You can go read my dear John out this week as well. You what players do they have, in your opinion? And this isn’t about Starks or Wiggins, first round draft picks that are going to go out, and you hope that they’re headed for being excellent, or that they’ll take the next step up to being great as part of a great defense. And this isn’t a defensive question. This is a offense or defense. Who’s coming. I hear the three tackles and guard guys that they have that are they weren’t good enough to get on the field. None of them. Ben Cleveland before he left, none of those guys, the linebackers, I mean, the injury in Buchanan and where we are about it. See, those guys played a lot of those guys played last year. You know who’s going to be getting those reps on the D line, beyond Travis Jones? Like, where’s the next level of the fifth round draft pick that’s going to be the next Isaiah likely for them? I don’t know where that is, yeah.

Luke Jones  38:42

I mean, it’s always a little difficult to say it until it happens, right? I mean, you know, I mean Matt, suddenly, you know, Matthew Judah was a fifth round pick, and year one, it’s like, okay, that there’s something to work with there. And then, before you know it, someone’s a Pro Bowl player, right? So there’s a little bit of that at work. I mean, you know, but, but you do look at those draft picks. I mean, like I would have said Teddy Buchanan, but he’s coming back from a torn ACL right? So that’s unfortunate in that way. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  39:13

8

you bet the ajabo’s. And we talk about the guard that we waited on for Michigan for three years and and we talked about Ben freaking Cleveland for years. Yeah, just so I it just goes on and on for these guys that were waiting for them not to become Marshall yonda, but to become, do you know, like just a solid player, not Mark Andrews, even, although that would be nice too, but I don’t know where this next level. Are you a big believer in Wiggins and Starks at this point in regard to them excelling and getting paid again and being here for the next six years?

Luke Jones  39:49

I mean, look, in terms of getting paid, like getting a market setting contract, I mean, I don’t know about that, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Wiggins overall. I thought it was. Less consistent this year than I wanted it to be, but, I mean, that was the whole defense, right? I mean, they had major issues across the board with their defense, but I see a skill set there that I like. I think Malachi star is going to be way better in year two. Again. Part of this is, this is why you hire Jesse Minter, right, to make that side of the ball where you look at this and say, Okay, some of these young guys that were drafted highly in the case of those two players, or even, like guys that we have in the third or fourth round, or guys like that, like show me that the coaching chops, right, by the

Nestor Aparicio  40:37

way, you give me any defensive coach in the world with the stochastic characters they had last year, they had no pass rush because they didn’t have the players that were good enough to be pass rush.

Luke Jones  40:45

And that’s fine. That said, that said, I can’t let them off the hook entirely, right? I mean, game it up better. You guys scheme it up better. I mean, you just do coaching matters. I mean, coaching absolutely matters. And I don’t think they were very well coached on the defensive side at all.

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Nestor Aparicio  41:01

I had people tell me that. People tell me that.

Luke Jones  41:03

I mean, you know, and even looking at tackling and and for me, it’s not even like, oh, well, you didn’t teach tackling in practice. To me, that was more a symptom of guys not having conviction of what they’re doing. The last thing you want to be doing on the football field is thinking too much. Of course, you’re thinking and processing, right? But you want to be able to play free. You want to be able to play fast. And I think they had that issue, especially on defense last year. So, but, you know, to answer your question, to kind of go down the list, because, you know, Starks and Wiggins are first round picks, but I’ll name someone that. Man, you kind of look at where they are on the roster, at corner. Man, it’d be really nice if TJ Tampa could emerge, not as a starter, but as like, a guy that could be a number three or number four corner that, Hey, someone gets banged up. He comes in the game and they’re not immediately throwing the ball over his head, right? That’s the kind of guy that you’re hoping a new coaching staff can, I would say, rejuvenate. Then, that’s not even the right term, just maybe get a little bit more out of right so. But, you know, it’s tough. I mean, Trenton Simpson, I thought, I thought he played better this past year. He’s a guy we didn’t talk about a whole lot because he got benched for Teddy Buchanan, and he was in a little more of a hybrid role. I mean, he lined up on the edge a little bit too well he was supposed to be Patrick queen, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, so, so, so you kind of look at what expectations were for him two or three years ago. Did he meet those? No. But I also thought he quietly became he was better this past year than I thought he was the year before, albeit in a different role. And I actually thought he played okay after Buchanan went down, so, but Trenton Simpson, he’s gonna be in a contract year like, is that? Is that the kind of guy that can kind of step up, especially knowing Buchanan is going to be maybe he’s back by August with the ACL and you don’t know what he’s going to look like, but, but you’re right your overall point, and this is something I try to I usually will do a piece and maybe give me an idea to work on it this week at Baltimore positive.com that you can talk all you want about whoever you’re going to sign in free agency or whoever you’re going to draft, but the years where the Ravens have been at their best when you’re talking about, especially when you’re talking about rebounding from a down year, you’re going to need some of that to be in house. And I don’t just mean like the Ronnie Stanley’s and the roquan Smith’s of your roster, but who are some guys that need to pop like, I’ll give you one. And you know, it’s not a fourth round pick, but he’s a second round pick. I want to see what Mike Green looks like in year two. But Mike Green had some stretches last year where it felt like he was on the verge of all right, this is start, and then he’d kind of fall back to the pack then. But if he could be a 1214, sack guy next year, that’s huge for them. I’ll take eight you like, like, be an eight sack guy, a nine sack guy, like, and again, obviously, not, not all of those statistics are created equally. Right? To me, it’s, I’ll take someone who’s an eight sack edge rusher if he’s really disruptive beyond that, right? Not just that, it’s, he gets to the quarterback eight times, but I don’t hear from him ever. Not a liability on first down either. No doubt. Could he set the edge if you ask him to drop into coverage four times a game? Can he do that? You know what I mean, so, so. But Mike Green, again,

Nestor Aparicio  44:34

they believe that he could do all of that nine months ago, right, right?

Luke Jones  44:37

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And you’re hoping, I mean, look for all the hype around him. And I’m not saying Chuck Smith didn’t do anything with anyone, but because I know Chuck Smith had a lot of hype around him, that’s what I’m but I’m saying him coming in. I thought you meant hype around green, my bad. So no, I meant I met Chuck Smith coming in as the pass rush coach, right? I mean some of. Guys talked highly of them. So it’s not like I’m, you know, Matt Abigail sang his praises a couple years ago.

Nestor Aparicio  45:05

Sean Merryman came on here and, sure, sure. But that

Luke Jones  45:09

said it doesn’t always click with everyone. So how much of that is lack of talent and how much of that is sometimes, you know, coaches and players don’t always jive, right? I mean, it’s not always a perfect fit, so, but there’s a lot of that that’s going to

Nestor Aparicio  45:22

go on green. There’s a player to watch. Every guy just giving you, I’ve given you some just saying, like they were positive. Think about it. I mean,

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Luke Jones  45:29

okay, I’ll hear you can even try to sell me on the pie in the sky idea that they’re going to trade two first round picks for Max Crosby, right? Like, God bless if you do it, awesome, right? I mean, he’s a heck of a player. But point is, even if you do something like that, you’re still going to need a couple other guys, right? He can’t just be one guy that’s doing everything. So you look at it assuming Kyle van Noy is going to be back, as I mentioned, who knows about Draymond Jones? I mean, I’m I’m thinking he’s going to be looking probably trying to hit the market, trying to get as much as he can get, because he’s 29 going on 30 and is only going to have

Nestor Aparicio  46:05

green or your two big pass rushers, and they draft somebody in the third round. Are you happy

Luke Jones  46:10

with that? No, they have to do more than this. Is like you argued about pitching, which we’ll do in a minute. No, no, but I’m just, but I’m just saying, I mean, it’s, you know, it needs to be a multi pronged attack, but, and again, this is my greater point here. When you talk about free agency, when you talk about trades, when you talk about the draft, right? You’re going to draft five future Pro Bowl players, you know, you hope, but it does come back to guys already on your roster, and that’s why this new coaching staff. Hey, they’re, they’re a third there are first and second and third round picks on this roster who’ve yet to realize their potential. You’re hoping that there’s something to work with there, that you’re going to see some of these guys pop and certainly Wiggins, certainly Stark, certainly Mike Green. I mean, those are three guys right there, right at the top of the list on defense, where you say those guys need

Nestor Aparicio  46:59

8

to be a bigger part of they all need to play, like $20 million players that we want to pay 20

Luke Jones  47:03

million you get it if you get a couple of them, not all of them, because that’s unrealistic, get a couple of them to start doing

Nestor Aparicio  47:09

that while Lamar stays at the top while, yeah, sticks around. Then you’ve got something, right? Then you’ve got something, all right? He’s Luke Jones. You want to talk baseball, don’t you? I know you do. It’s so funny.

Luke Jones  47:20

Full disclosure, I think it’s hilarious. We started this conversation thinking we were going to talk baseball. And of course, I start go. I had to bring up OTAs, which I just I should have known better, but hey, it was fine. We’ll talk baseball in the next segment.

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Nestor Aparicio  47:34

Well, they better get his ass, OTAs, I’ll tell Steve. Steve skipping to Biltmore this year. I’m Nestor, he’s Luke. We’re W NST, Baltimore positive. Stay with us.