With Lamar in the building on Day One, Ravens turn to draft board for spring improvement

It certainly made news throughout the NFL that two-time MVP Lamar Jackson was present on the first day of the Baltimore Ravens offseason program. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the work ahead for rookie head coach Jesse Minter as Eric DeCosta and the scouting department have their hands full in trying to improve last year’s disappointing 8-9 roster. Lots of question marks and possibilities ahead with the 14th pick in two weeks at the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the Baltimore Positive crab cake tour event at Faidley’s in Lexington Market on Friday, welcoming fans and serving the world-famous Faidley crab cakes.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Bring and distribute new Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets (including existing Harlem Globetrotters tickets and fresh Maryland Treasures tickets) to attendees at the crab cake tour events in Catonsville/Faidley’s, Costa Cmonium on the 16th, and Koco’s Pub on the 23rd.

Lamar Jackson’s OTA Attendance and Contract Status

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the significance of Lamar Jackson attending OTAs, noting that Chad Steelman criticized his attendance.
• Luke Jones explains the nuances of OTAs, emphasizing that they are not the end-all but also not entirely meaningless.
• Luke highlights that Lamar’s attendance on the first day is a positive sign, as it indicates he is likely to attend more sessions.
• The conversation touches on the financial aspect, noting that Lamar did not receive the $750,000 bonus for attending OTAs.

Contract Extension and Lamar’s Commitment

• Luke Jones discusses the lack of a contract extension for Lamar Jackson before free agency, noting the restructuring of his deal.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones speculate on the reasons behind Lamar’s attendance, suggesting it indicates no hard feelings towards the organization.
• Luke mentions the cap space available for a potential extension, indicating the possibility of an agreement in the spring or summer.
• The conversation shifts to the impact of new coaches Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle on Lamar’s commitment.

Offseason Program and Player Attendance

• Luke Jones explains the voluntary nature of the offseason program, noting that it includes lifting weights, conditioning, and some meetings.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the attendance of key players like Derek Henry, Mark Andrews, and Rashad Bateman.
• Luke highlights the importance of players showing up early in the offseason to build rapport with new coaches.
• The conversation touches on the impact of new coaches on the team’s dynamics, particularly the absence of John Harbaugh.

Matt Abigail’s Neck Injury and Its Implications

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the uncertainty surrounding Matt Abigail’s ability to play due to a neck injury.
• Luke explains the complexity of neck injuries, noting the need for thorough medical evaluations and the potential risks involved.
• The conversation highlights the impact of Matt Abigail’s status on the team’s defensive plans and the potential need to draft a defensive lineman.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones speculate on the team’s contingency plans if Matt Abigail is unable to play.

Upcoming Draft and Team Needs

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming draft, focusing on the team’s needs for a left tackle, center, and edge rusher.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the 14th pick, suggesting it could be used for an offensive lineman or a defensive player.
• The conversation touches on the potential for trading back in the draft to acquire additional picks.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the team’s history of drafting impact players and the importance of finding value in the draft.

Team’s Financial Commitments and Player Performance

• Luke Jones highlights the significant financial commitments to key players like Lamar Jackson, Roquan Smith, and Marlon Humphrey.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the performance of these players in recent years, noting concerns about their value relative to their contracts.
• The conversation shifts to the impact of new coaches on player performance, with hopes for a renaissance under Jesse Minter.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for the team to draft well to address the financial and performance challenges posed by these high-value contracts.

Offensive Line and Team Depth

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the team’s offensive line, noting the lack of a clear starting caliber center.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of the offensive line in protecting Lamar Jackson and maintaining team success.
• The conversation touches on the potential for drafting offensive linemen and the role of new offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the depth of the team’s roster, noting concerns about the availability of key players.

Team’s Overall Roster and Future Plans

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the overall roster, noting the team’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the 14th pick in addressing the team’s needs and improving the roster.
• The conversation touches on the potential for trading back in the draft to acquire additional picks.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the team’s future plans, including the potential for drafting impact players and addressing key positions.

Impact of New Coaches and Team Dynamics

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of new coaches Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle on the team’s dynamics.
• Luke Jones highlights the potential for a renaissance under new leadership, noting the importance of player buy-in.
• The conversation touches on the team’s history of drafting impact players and the need for continued success in the draft.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the importance of maintaining team cohesion and addressing any potential issues early in the season.

Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones wrap up the conversation, discussing upcoming events and the team’s plans for the draft.
• The conversation touches on the importance of the 14th pick and the potential for addressing key positions in the draft.
• Nestor Aparicio highlights upcoming events, including the crab cake tour and various community engagements.
• The conversation ends with a focus on the team’s overall goals and the importance of maintaining a positive outlook.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Lamar Jackson, OTAs, contract extension, Jesse Minter, Eric DeCosta, offensive line, draft needs, Matt Abigail, neck injury, roster depth, cap space, free agency, player attendance, defensive line, quarterback pressure.

SPEAKERS

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Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. It’s, it’s baseball season here, but it’s football season out knowings Mills this week, we’re going to be doing the crab cake tour beginning on Friday. Re, re taking it back out on the road. We’ll be a fade as it lexing the market. They are getting the new fishmongers daughter open in Catonsville. I promise. We’re going to get over there before the spring is over with onto that beautiful second floor, right next to state fair, right across Mel guapo. It is opening soon. We’ll find out more on Friday when we were down at Lexington market, the San Francisco Giants are in town. Steve Miles is going to join us. Luke will be making his way to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Friday. All of it brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery. I will have new Maryland treasures scratch offs to give away, including some handful of my Harlem Globetrotters still left over from February and March, but we will have the fresh ones. And then next Thursday, we are at Costa cmonium. And then on the 23rd Thursday, the 23rd will be at Koco’s Pub in laurelville, and I can’t wait to get back there and get a bowl of soup and some proper coconut shrimp and a Greek salad and all the things that I love, Spring has sprung, but not quite in Chicago, where they’re playing afternoon baseball the next couple of days, but certainly here in Baltimore, as the weather picks up, Luke, I was stunned, because you and I like to talk about whether Lamar comes to OTAs or not, and Chad steel literally took my press pass, told me I didn’t come to enough OTAs, if you can imagine what a liar he is. But nonetheless, I know you don’t take the OTAs as seriously as I have. John Harbaugh had sent me texts back when he was way back when he was the coach of the team, in regard to Lamar Jackson not coming to camp and to being around the building and being the $60 million player and the leader and all of that. But so far, Jesse Minter and Eric di cost have Lamar out so much so that when I looked up on televisions on Monday night, I was at a Cooper’s pub in Timonium, I looked up every television had talking heads. Must be slow in the NFL right now the Mendoza thing must be slow that the Lamar Jackson showing up in Owings Mills for the first days of the Jesse Minter administration. It means something to somebody.

Luke Jones  02:13

Where’s the Super Bowl being played this year? Right? I mean, get everything ready, right? It’s decided. Now I look you and I have talked so much this time of year about OTAs, whether it’s Lamar or other players in the past, and as I’ve always tried to put it, I think there’s nuance here. No OTAs, especially this point in the offseason program, I don’t think is the end all be all. I mean, I can flat out, read to you the description the first couple weeks. I mean, they’re lifting weights. They’re doing conditioning on the field there, there’s some meeting time, but, I mean, they’re not even, you know, they’re not putting on helmets or anything like getting to know you, right? Yeah, but, but on the flip side, I’ve never said that they’re utterly meaningless to the degree that everyone’s wasting their time being out there, right? There’s, there’s some middle ground here. I think the biggest thing for me and I and the idea that Lamar was there for the first day, great, right? Because if there was one lingering question for me, it was not, well, the first day means he’s going to be there every day the rest of the spring, right? Because that’s not the case either for Lamar or any veteran player. I mean, Derek Henry was there, Mark Andrews was there. So we know veteran players sometimes are in and out of the spring program because it’s voluntary, and there’s but there’s also the $750,000

Nestor Aparicio  03:36

that they offered him to show up, and he didn’t so but he has

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Luke Jones  03:39

not even about money. Yeah, he hasn’t cared about that the last couple years. But if there was one lingering question for me, and it was going to be not evident, but you’d start to wonder if he hadn’t been there Monday, if he hadn’t shown up for the start. And again, we’ll see what the attendance is like, and we won’t even know entirely, right? I mean, we’re still a long way out. I mean, the Ravens don’t start actual OTAs when they can be on the field as a full team, even on a voluntary basis, until May 18. Now, they do have a voluntary mini camp, which this is part of having a new football coach. I mean, they started their program Monday. They were the first team in the NFL to start their offseason workout program.

Nestor Aparicio  04:22

Well, that’s why it was news, because they’re the only ones that were like, sure, yeah, yeah,

Luke Jones  04:26

but, but my point is, we’re still more than a month away from the OTAs, which to me, that’s where you really start to get, where you throw the foot some meat, right? Some meat to what you’re doing. But for what I was interested in seeing was understanding the ravens and Lamar did not get a contract extension done before the start of free agency. Steve bashati had talked about and Eric dicostia had talked about them wanting that right? They ended up doing a simple restructure. My lingering question much more so than whether Lamar was. Going to show up for OTAs and all that, because I think at the end of the day he’s going to be there. He was there when, you know, when Todd Monckton was a nuke coordinator, when they’ve had changes such as that, he tends to be there, right? And whether it’s 100% or most of the time, he’s been there, you know, when it’s been a little bit less, it’s either been a question about a contract, which we’re going back four or five years ago now with that, or if, if it’s a case where you’ve had the same coordinator, same quarterback coach, like, like he had the last couple springs. So for me, I was just wondering, was there any sense of hard feelings, or any sense of delivering a message to the organization in the aftermath of not them not getting a contract extension done in March, right? So the idea that he was there on the first day not just a good sign for Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle, but also a good sign for the organization that regardless of where things might stand with him from a contractual standpoint in terms of wanting to get an extension done. Look, they can still get an extension done this spring or summer, right? It’s not there’s nothing prohibiting that, other than just the two sides needing to come to an agreement, right? There’s no mechanism in place that just because they restructured his deal now that they can’t extend him. In fact, they have cap space kind of baked in right now that I think is there in case they do extend him, now that they can actually raise his cap number now so it looks better for next year and moving forward, right? So, so that’s part of the thing, but he’s

Nestor Aparicio  06:30

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only got this year and next year. Let’s get the contract Right, right? Okay, of course.

Luke Jones  06:34

But, but my but my point again, the fact that he showed up Monday, he was there taking part, that, to me, was a good sign that what, for whatever reason, they didn’t get the extension done in March, like they the that the organization had hoped. There’s not

Nestor Aparicio  06:51

like, he’s not disgruntled, there’s not bad

Luke Jones  06:52

feeling, right? And that, and that, to me, was the biggest takeaway. Again, we’ll see. I mean, they have the first couple weeks, and then, like I said, they do have a voluntary mini camp for veterans. That’s something that they normally don’t have, but teams that have a new head coach, you can do that. The New York Giants will have that, for example, with John Harbaugh. So you know, Buffalo will have that right around the same time. So you have a mini camp before the draft, you have your draft, you have rookie camp, then the weekend after the draft, and then OTAs will begin may 18, right? And they can have 10 of those. And every every three OTA days, one out of every three has to be open to the media. So you know, we’re not going to get a whole lot of as far as a glimpse of what’s happening right now. They will have an availability later this week where we’re talking to a few players. And I don’t know if Lamar will be one of those. I’m guessing probably not, but maybe he will be. I haven’t heard officially, one way or the other, and we’ll get to hear from the strength coach so early on, this is, this is a big day for Jesse Minter and the assistant coaches, but those guys aren’t allowed to do any on field work with players just yet. So it’s lifting, it’s running. I mean, everyone saw the social media videos of, you know, whether it was Derek Henry or Lamar running around. I mean, seemed like they had pretty good attendance. I mean, gathering, you know, just looking at the little the clips and some of what they sent out to the media. You know, there was, you know, Lamar was there. Derek Henry was there. Mark Andrews, Rashad Bateman, zay flowers was there. I mean, it was mostly everyone that you, you know, from a veteran stand, Trey Hendrickson was there. I saw roquan Smith. Roquan Smith was there. I think I don’t know if I said Marlon Humphrey or not, Kyle Hamilton, Malachi Stark. So, it was well attended. That was good to see, right? I mean, and, and we all understand, especially, at least I understand this point in the offseason, with it still being more workout driven. I don’t need to see these guys here every single day of every single week, but you don’t want the scenario where guys are showing up at mandatory mini camp, and that’s the first time you’ve laid eyes on them since January, and

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Nestor Aparicio  09:02

they gain 12 pounds or something, right,

Luke Jones  09:04

right, right? I mean, you know, I mean Michael Pierce, what was that seven years ago? I think it was where they, they actually pulled him off the field during mini camp, because he was, you know, not in a position where he was ready to practice in their minds, but you’re just, you know, you want guys to at least show their face and be around and start to build some rapport with their new position coach, or the head coach, the coordinator, whatever, just to see how

Nestor Aparicio  09:28

different the building is. When you walk through, there’s going to be different oxygen in there without John Harbaugh, no question.

Luke Jones  09:34

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I mean, and I think, and I think in most cases, that’s why the players get that too. You know, they’re feeling this out. I mean, most of these guys don’t know who Jesse Minter is, you know, other than maybe having a phone call and a couple text messages with them, I mean, in many cases, these guys were meeting him for the first time this week, so like in person. So there is some curiosity.

Nestor Aparicio  09:58

Max Crosby’s still way. Satan, yeah,

Luke Jones  10:02

although Max Crosby’s not ready, it has not

Nestor Aparicio  10:04

been an un tumultuous offseason. I mean, it really, from a general standpoint, I’m inking My dear Sashi letter as I’m getting going. And dude, it’s real. I mean, we’re two weeks in tomorrow away from a draft like it’s

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Luke Jones  10:16

here, it’s definitely, I mean, business is picked up. I mean, obviously, I mean, free agency was just so strange, just because of the Crosby thing hanging over everything. I mean, it still feels like we haven’t given the proper oxygen to the fact that they signed Trey Hendrickson. I mean, like, that’s a big deal. I mean, that’s one of the, you know, in terms of money given to an outside free agent, it does. It’s the biggest they’ve had, right? I mean, they went, they pivoted from the biggest trade they ever made to the biggest outside free agent signing they’ve ever made in terms of dollars, right? Well, and it

Nestor Aparicio  10:51

also means they better get after the quarterback, sure.

Luke Jones  10:53

I mean, they began whatever

Nestor Aparicio  10:54

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way, whatever Mike Green, whatever best laid plans, whatever Kyle van Noy or Clowney, they’re going to wind up signing because they’ll wind up signing somebody late. That’s a veteran guy, yeah, some, some Elvis doumerville type in Gok way, you know, whenever that will happen, but this defensive coach coming in, there better be pressure on the quarterback, and the Matta BK thing looms as a huge mystery, but there have been spots and starts with whether he can perform or not. And by the way, John Harbaugh already has his first pissed off a superstar in New York, huh? Sexy Dexy says, nah, nah.

Luke Jones  11:35

Well, nah. I don’t know how much of that was him or how much he’s just he hasn’t been happy with his contract for a couple years now, from what I now, from what I understand. So we’ll see how that plays out. I mean, I’ve already seen a few people speculating. It’s like, hey, could, uh, could John Harbaugh and Eric dicost A broker a deal there. But without knowing the reality of where matabique is, it’s really tough to look at that. I mean, they’re on the hook for paying Matt ABK regardless, right? I mean, this this year is guaranteed for him whether he’s going to be able to play or not. So you’ve already paid Travis Jones. Can you take on another big contract on your defensive line? I doubt it, and I’m I’m guessing, even if it’s not playing spite, I’m guessing John Harbaugh’s probably, probably not going to be in any kind of a, you know, have any kind of an inclination to help the Baltimore Ravens get better, so I’m guessing it was fun to talk about, and we’ll see. But, but, yeah, I mean, the Matta BK thing, they’ve just been so tight lipped about it. He’s we know he’s working out. We’ve seen that on social media. I don’t think that necessarily means he is playing,

Nestor Aparicio  12:37

but means he wants to,

Luke Jones  12:39

doesn’t mean he’s not playing either. So I think whenever you’re talking about a neck, and I cited this example a couple weeks ago when we were talking about this, I mean the part of the story for Zach Orr that we forget as far as his retirement was his attempt to go get cleared by another team. If you recall, it was, it was May. I think it was June, you know, I think it was, you know, when it’s probably right around when teams off season

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Nestor Aparicio  13:06

programs, was that Jacksonville, that it was

Luke Jones  13:08

going to let him play. No, well, he coached in Jacksonville, I don’t know, no. Ultimately, no one cleared him, right? He may have, he may have visited a couple teams, but I think they’re their medical teams. Looked at the imaging for his neck and came to the same conclusion. So point is, with that, and we just talked about this a lot with Max Crosby. We’ve talked about this with various Orioles players with physicals and things of that nature. It’s it’s not a pass, simple cut and dried pass, fail proposition. In a lot of cases, there’s a lot of gray area. But when you’re talking about a neck man, you just, you have to have so much caution there and to really be sure and look, could there be a scenario where, where matabike is playing? Yeah. I mean, there have been guys that have had neck conditions and questions and things of that nature, and then they end up coming back and can play and and times where that has worked out fine. But we also know, when you’re talking about the neck, forget about football. I mean, that’s mortality, that’s quality of life. You know your life could be in danger depending on the condition of your neck and the risk that you could be taking. I mean, these guys, we know that football’s a major risk. I mean, we know that whether it’s a traumatic, acute injury, or whether you’re talking about CTE and the various health challenges that players have, you know, whether you’re talking about knee replacements, hip replacements, all that. I mean, it’s a brutal game. So when you’re talking about a neck concern, you know, a neck injury of some sort, or a condition of some sort, man, you better get solicit every opinion that matters out there before you make a decision one way or the other, whether you’re the team that’s going to clear a player or the player who says. Is, hey, I can play. But I also realize I’m taking some risk here, and even if the team that I’m with is okay with that risk as well, I need to think about that right. As much as I love the game, I also want to be there for my family long term. So I understand it’s been frustrating, believe me, from a media standpoint, it’s been frustrating that we’ve asked, starting with John Harbaugh, back in what October it was, I guess, when we started asking these long term questions about matabique, and you know, whether it’s been horrible, whether it’s been bashati, whether it’s been to Costa. Sashi Brown, no one has given a is given a definitive answer of much substance at all, and we haven’t heard from Matt abigay. He he has social media, you know, if he wanted to put something out there, he could, and he hasn’t yet. So that that’s their prerogative. I understand that there is a sensitive nature to a neck injury that I can recognize, and that we all should recognize.

Nestor Aparicio  15:56

But the mystery in the middle of the defense for our purposes, for drafting purpose?

Luke Jones  16:01

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It makes it really interesting. I mean, let’s, let’s call a spade a spade. I’m guessing the Ravens have a pretty good idea of whether namdi matami Kay is going to play football this year or not. Whether they’re ready to broadcast that or not is a different story. But I’m guessing, even if it’s not 100% right now, I’m guessing they have, you know, percentages they have, they’re either hopeful

Nestor Aparicio  16:23

or they’re or they’re dismissive of it. At this point, if they’re dismissive of it, they’re gonna prepare.

Luke Jones  16:29

They need to go accordingly. They need to go draft another defensive lineman, right? I mean, you kind of look at where they are right now, it’s like, okay, they have Travis Jones. They brought back john Jenkins, right? I mean, they’re, they’re in the position. I mean, it was interesting to see they, you know, they had a free agent visit with DJ reader, you know, a while back. I mean, he’s more of a nose tackle, but certainly someone who could make an impact. And you know, whether that was a tell about Matta BK or not. I mean, they’re not the same kind of player.

Nestor Aparicio  16:55

But what also speaks to Minter being a defensive genius, and how he wants to play it, sure, and how he’s discussing it with Anthony Weaver to say, if this then that they’re, they’re scrimmaging all of that long before they’re scrimmaging who they’re going to pick in the second or third round

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Luke Jones  17:10

two weeks from now. Yeah, and, and, really, it’s not you have to do that with every player to some degree, right? I mean, you have to go through the what ifs not to say that you’re going to have a perfect answer for every scenario, like, for example, if Lamar Jackson, heaven forbid something happens to him, it’s Tyler Huntley. I mean, there’s not another Lamar Jackson you can go get right it’s Tyler Huntley. Or where you go kick the tires on some veteran quarterback. But you have to go through some semblance of scenarios for every position group to say, Okay, if this happens, what’s the pivot? If this happens, what’s the pivot? If this happens, what are we doing there? So you have to do that. And like I said, in most cases, you’re dealing with hypotheticals. But in the case of MATA BK right now, whether it’s 100% or whether they know it’s 0% they’re not broadcasting that, but you always have to have contingencies. I mean, as much as you can right, understanding that there’s a salary cap and you’re not going to have a great backup at every position. And you know, it’s why some seasons just come down to the mercy of whether you’re healthy or not. I mean, it really is. It sounds like excuse making, but you’ve heard me say it for years now, next man up sounds great until you reach a certain threshold, and it’s no more than a t shirt slogan, because you just say, well, we’ve lost four corners. Did you really expect our number five or number six or Number Seven Corner to be as good as a starter? Right? I mean, it’s why you do need to have depth, but that’s why you need guys to stay healthy. It’s why availability is such an important part of a skill set, and that’s why you know, in the case of Matta BK, I mean, and if they have him, and you have him rushing from the inside with Trey Hendrickson rushing from one edge, man, that’s just going to open things up that much more for the mike greens and the Travis Joneses of this roster, so you hope, but until we hear anything definitive, and because it is a neck injury and not a knee or an ankle, even in the case of Ronnie Stanley years back, I think it’s important to pump the brakes and still have a certain amount of sensitivity and just respect for the unknown when You’re talking about an injury of that kind of nature.

Nestor Aparicio  19:22

Of nature. He’s Luke Jones. He’s covering all things at National Football League as we get up on the draft. By the way, I had, I had a pal on Dwayne reader, who is the museum Clemente museum guy in Pittsburgh. And I, you know, I heard Kevin Brown and Ben McDonald, Pete Alonso talking about going to the Clemente museum. And I thought, hey, we probably have people going up to Pittsburgh for this NFL draft in two weeks from now. They’re expecting 1 million people in Pittsburgh, 1 million people on that little island two weeks from Thursday night and Friday as the draft makes its way to Pittsburgh. So if you’re heading up there, had a great conversation with the museum curator. Of all things Clemente, and it’s a real legitimate he’s a great guy. He was a part of my day with Mike Tomlin 10 years ago when we did our give a spit tour up in Pittsburgh. And it’s been a little while since I’ve had him on so I did enjoy that a little bit, even though he brought up 71 and 79 a little bit more than I wanted him to this. NF, by the way, afarin and Durham are also doing all of our sports. If you are on the wnst tech service, you know it’s brought to you by Call Roofing and Gordian energy. There was a minor trade for the Orioles in the morning. I’m not assuming anything happens here with this 14th pick. I mean, you and I have not talked about the draft or the players or the needs, although the needs are pretty acute, right? Whether it’s a left tackle, whether it’s a center, whether it’s another edge rusher, whether it’s something in the middle of the defense. They’ve used secondary picks here several times, and it feels like that part where Wiggins and stark should be coming into their own, and Kyle Hamilton’s one of the best players on Earth, and I don’t know where they’re going in this draft with this pick, but there’s a lot of potential, right? I mean, there are four or five spots on their roster where you’d say, Oh yeah, that makes sense.

Luke Jones  21:09

Yeah. I keep coming back to the airline though. I mean, I think, look, could they add another pass rusher, sure, could they add their left tackle the future? Sure, could. Could they add another defensive lineman because of Matta BK status? Sure. What’s their starting offensive line right now? Not good

Nestor Aparicio  21:30

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enough, behind a $60 million quarterback in a hall of fame running back on the heels

Luke Jones  21:35

of a 2025 offensive line that wasn’t good enough, right? So that’s where I keep coming back to this thing and saying, Look, we know that. We know the reality with best player available, it’s best player available that fits a need. We understand that, right? So well.

Nestor Aparicio  21:50

There’s no point they were going to give lender bomb that money.

Luke Jones  21:53

I mean, not not 20, not 27 million a year, not 28 million a year, right? I mean, no one else was other than the Raiders, right? I mean, so, but that said you still have to replace them, you know? I mean, just because that was the responsible move to make. And as I said to me, that the time when they lost Linder bomb, it was really last spring and summer. I mean, that was the time to get a deal done, when you’re into in that position and that kind of player, as I said, it weeks before it happened, it ended up playing out in a very, very similar fashion to what happened with CJ Mosley seven years ago. Same deal. They all things being equal. They wanted them back. But if you don’t get it done within the certain window, that player gets closer and closer to market, and all it takes is one team and the New York Jets were the case with Mosley raiders were the case with Linder bomb, where they’re willing to not just reset the market, they obliterate that market. You know, they they blow that market up by 4 million. You know, in the case of Linder bomb, it was way more than that. But even in Mosley’s case, I mean, he got four or 5 million more per year than the next highest paid inside linebacker, so, but you have to pivot and right now. I mean, they don’t have a starting caliber center on their roster right now. I mean, I, I Corey Bullock’s a Maryland guy, great. You know, he made the roster. He’s the backup Center last year. The fact that he wasn’t ever given any consideration to play guard. Considering how weak their guards were last year, tends to make me think he’s probably a backup at best, and maybe not even a good backup, right? So certainly not someone that you’re going to pencil in there. So it’s tough and look, that doesn’t mean they’re drafting a center in the first round. I want to be clear about that. But, you know, that’s where I look at I own, you know, big I own from Penn State, or Spencer, for know, from Utah, like O lineman, right? Whether it’s, this is one of those

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Nestor Aparicio  23:52

things with that 14, if they back up into 23 and get another pick, that’s kind of how they would take a center first, right?

Luke Jones  23:59

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that would be the scenario for a center. And, you know, full disclosure, and this is one thing that I’m not a huge like, dive into the nuts and bolts of the draft, because baseball has become more of my focus over the last month, right? So, but the overall sentiment that you’ve heard about this draft is it’s not necessarily a draft that has 15 franchise altering kind of players at the top of the board, right? The thought is, I don’t know there’s eight, and I’m just, you know, I’m kind of making up a number. I don’t know that for sure, but the sense you’ve gotten is picking 14th isn’t necessarily that dramatically different from picking 23rd compared to 28th in this draft. So when you have that kind of scenario, yeah, if you’re Eric da Costa, you might say, Hey, can we move back eight spots and pick up an extra day three pick in the price? A, you know, early day three or very late day two pick in the process, and then get another quality player there that, you know, another quality backup, or another quality depth developmental piece. Is there that scenario? Sure. Problem is, if you feel that way about the draft class, chances are there a lot of other teams feel that way, and that’s when it’s a little more difficult to trade back, because if you’re trading back, someone has to come up, right? And if there’s a perception that there aren’t quite as many true difference makers early in the draft, then the thought is, well, we might just want to stay put with where we are, rather than spending extra draft capital to move up eight spots to get player x so, but they certainly have needs, and you kind of go through quarterback All right, you know what? Even if we want to talk about lamar’s contract status two years from now, they’re certainly not taking a quarterback in the first round or the second round or anything like that. But, you know running back well, Derek Henry, you know, he’s signed through next year, but he’s gonna be another year older and more. You know he’s gonna be expensive next year. You know you’re not gonna take a running back in the first round. I wouldn’t think, I mean, I certainly wouldn’t endorse that kind of a decision, whether you love the Notre Dame back or not, but, you know, that’s a position you could think of tight end. They, they need another tight end. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, they lost Kohler.

Nestor Aparicio  26:29

I think they’re going to regret giving the money to Andrews instead of likely. I That’s my my gut is they, they felt like they needed a binky for for Jay. I see Mark Andrews as as a declining, declining player. Yeah, I mean, and I don’t know if I’m wrong about that or right about that, and has nothing to do with him not showing up in the podium after he dropped the ball two years ago. Although I thought that’s I’m not a fan of Mark Andrews in a lot of ways, including having talked to him. But that being said, I don’t know that I’m feeling 13 million in love for him. I think they could have been much more desperate to keep linderbaum around and overpay him than to just sort of have got and the zay flowers thing, where his value is going to be, and how they’re going to figure out how to maximize that and get him 108 touches this year. You know, in this offense, somehow, some way that that better happen if they’re going to be a good team this year, not what they were last year, not what got the coach fired, not Lamar is hurt or in or out or whatever, they’re going to be a good team this year if they’re going to win 12 or 13 games. I don’t know where it’s coming from, because I don’t think it’s coming from roquan Smith. I don’t think it’s coming from Marlon Humphrey. I don’t think it’s coming from Ronnie Stanley. I don’t think it’s coming from Mark. Coming from Mark Andrews. And I’m wondering whether it’s really going to come from Derek Henry and zay flowers too. I mean, I’m wondering where this productivity, it’s not going to be Lamar running for 1200 yards, and, you know, running 18 times a game anymore, that’s over with. So it better be Lamar throwing the ball, and it better be these other pieces in regard to this, and I don’t know, I don’t I’m not bullish on their team right now. I don’t know anything about the coach. Coach could be the next coming of Bill Belichick, for all I know. But right now, that the max Crosby thing, just how they’re being run, how they treat people, just in a general sense, the smarmy president they have in this new moon guy that I keep hearing about, the moon the moon the moon the moon guy. There’s a moon guy there who apparently is become real friendly with everybody in the front office there, who’s been there 100 years. So, you know, they’ve got some when bashati showed up, he was all full of piss and vinegar and turmoil and all that. Then he shows up for the press conference, but not a part of the press conference doesn’t want to speak to P just all of it to me, they’re eight nine, with a fire coach and a quarterback who’s trying to prove himself again with all of this going on around him with without, Marshall yond is not here. Stanley and his Prime’s not here. I’m not even sure that Derek Henry in his prime is here. I know zay flowers is in his prime. He’s the one guy I look at and say, All right, that guy’s in his prime. How you getting them the ball? How much you getting them the ball? And you know, he is five foot nine, with 150 pounds. When he gets tackled the wrong way in space, turns an ankle, you’re going to lose him for six weeks, if anything were to happen. And I don’t know. They don’t feel like the deep depth team they felt like to me two or three years ago, when they felt like they were freight train because roquam was there, Stanley was coming back, Derek Henry, was being imported into this that they don’t scare me on paper, on this, Lamar, yes, the rest of it, I don’t know. I don’t know.

Luke Jones  29:40

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I’m surprised to hear you down on, Derek Henry. I mean, Derek Henry, finished the season. I mean, it was as good as anyone in the league at the in December.

Nestor Aparicio  29:49

I keep wondering how long that’s going to go.

Luke Jones  29:51

I mean, I I hear some of what you’re saying, and without an offensive

Nestor Aparicio  29:55

line opening holes too. I mean, really,

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Luke Jones  29:56

for me, it comes down to it comes down to the off. Of line. I mean, everything else you mentioned, I pushed back on a lot of that, like I think Derek Henry will have another good season. Zay flowers has become, you know, one of the more underrated wide receivers in the NFL at this point. Don’t let the size fool you. He’s their number one wide receiver.

Nestor Aparicio  30:15

Well, they are right now where they are with linderbaum A year ago, which is sure, if you’re not going to sign him, then you’re going to lose him, and if you’re going to lose him, sure enough. I mean, they’ve had a hard time finding wide receivers around here, as you and I can attest, over the last two decades. Yeah.

Luke Jones  30:28

I mean, and look, I’m not going to sit here and say that I love, you know, the prospects of having to play pays a flowers more than $30 million a year to keep them, which is what it’s going to be. You know, I don’t necessarily love that, but at the same time, like, what’s the alternative, right? I mean, I agree with your point about Andrews, if you recall, I I wasn’t enamored with that deal when they I thought it was kind of bizarre, a little weird. I mean, like, weird at best. That said, is, Isaiah likely going to become a star. We’ll see about that too, right? I mean, but if you’re asking me all things being equal, which one did I want moving forward, I would have picked likely, just because he’s four and a half years younger. So that is it, but, but everything else you mentioned, look, I think a lot of that you can do that with every team in the league. You’re going to find position groups that are or That guy’s older, or that guy needs to take the next step, right? You’re going to find that around. And I’m talking about other contenders too. You can do the same thing. You know, Buffalo right now has all kinds of positions of question right now Kansas City. I mean, is Patrick Mullins going to be ready for week one, let alone talking about everything else on their roster? But it comes down to for me, I mean, first and foremost, lamar’s health. No matter what the rest of their rock rosters look like, when Lamar Jackson has been healthy, they’ve been a good football team, and in many cases, they’ve been a great football team, at least in the regular season. So is he healthy? And what’s the biggest factor in keeping him healthy, the offensive line, that’s the part of this team. That’s the

Nestor Aparicio  32:04

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part of this and they don’t have a plus player right now. I mean, maybe Rosengarten, maybe on his best day. I think he’s,

Luke Jones  32:12

he is, he is. He has the highest floor at this point in time. I mean, look, Ronnie Stanley wasn’t bad last year, like, I don’t want to make too much of that, by any means, but he’s another year older. Is he going to stay healthy as he continues to get older? Now, he has been healthier the last couple years, and that’s been a good sign, and that’s a credit to him, and it’s a credit to the organization, because I think they’ve, they probably have done a lot of trial and error to kind of see, how do you need to work out. What does your workload need to be? How do you need to practice? When do you need to practice? How much do you need to practice? When you’re talking about someone who with that kind of history, especially with his ankle, there’s a lot of management that goes on. And to their credit, they have found ways for him to be on the field the last couple years, way more than he had been the previous years. But is that going to continue? So point is, with Stan Lee’s a year older, and you know that injury, is he 32

Nestor Aparicio  33:07

Yeah, I I’m gonna look him up, dude. I’ll get, I’ll get the right age.

Luke Jones  33:11

His birthday was in March. Yeah, he’s 32 okay. But you know, is he going to be the same guy, or is even if he stays healthy, is that going to start to backtrack. Rosengarten has not become a pro bowl right tackle, but he’s a rock solid starter. And you’re hoping that, you’re hoping that Dwayne led for their new offensive line coach, can get more out of him, right? I think a big part of that equation, I mean, it’s going to have to be based on how they’re presently constructed, even if they go draft two linemen, there’s, you’re still going to be talking about rookies, right? Even if it’s a first and second round pick spent on their own line, they’re still going to be rookies. So they are putting a lot of stock into the offensive line coaching and developing these guys. And you know, they believed in Emory Jones when they drafted him last year, last year was an incomplete for him, because he missed the entire spring and summer. You know, I don’t think you can really judge him based on the little bit that he played that said, I’m not ready to just hand him a starting job. No questions asked, but Center is a complete. I mean, as big of a question mark as they’ve had this time of year going into a draft in recent years, right? I mean, that that’s, that’s what you’re talking about right now. So doesn’t mean they won’t find one. I mean, they drafted Linder bomb, and he was a day one starter, and did the job for four years. No questions asked. You didn’t have to worry about it. Well, they’ve got to worry about it now, until they find their next guy. So they’ve brought in a couple of veterans, but to me, those guys are more likely to be an upgrade from Corey Bullock as the backup center than someone you practically expect to become your starting center. So that’s everything else you mentioned. You know veteran players needing to hold on and you know guys that are valued. Concerns, if you’re talking about what roquan Smith’s being paid compared to the production, same with Marlon Humphrey, every team, even other contenders, have questions like that. But where I’m really hesitant, and you’ve already seen it, I mean some of the sports books in Vegas and everything they had the Ravens right at the top in terms of over, under for win total. I don’t see that until I need until I see their offensive line in a better state than what it looks like right now. That’s that’s the big one for me, because it’s so incredibly important to keeping number eight healthy. So it’s hard for me to just say, Oh, well, you know, Tyler Linder bomb, well, they weren’t going to pay him $27 million a year. Understood. But fiscal responsibility doesn’t play center for you in week one. You know what I mean? Like, you still have to go replace them. So that’s where I still look at the and, and we haven’t even mentioned it, like they bring back John Simpson, and fine, like, I’m fine with it, but three years ago, John Simpson was the weak link on their interior offensive line. Now he’s the anchor on paper, right? So I need to, that doesn’t add up, right? I need to see some serious work done with the O line. And look, Dwayne Ledford, their new offensive line coach has a great reputation. I think that was a great hire. I want to be clear about that. He still needs to have something to work with, right? You can’t just give him, you know, you can’t make chicken salad at it chicken, you know what? Right? So there has to be a baseline of talent there that, okay? John Simpson at left guard, fine. I’ll even sign off on Emory Jones being you can even try to convince me that he’s the favorite to play right guard, but you better have another really serious contender competing with him. You know, whether it’s a veteran or another guard you draft, well, you made a heck of a

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Nestor Aparicio  36:56

case for using their first pick on an offensive line. I mean, that’s sometimes I just keep

Luke Jones  37:00

coming back to that. I mean, I’ll take it a

Nestor Aparicio  37:02

guard at 14. I can’t imagine, right?

Luke Jones  37:05

8

I mean, you could, and this is where it’s a little little more interesting, because you could always go the Jonathan Ogden approach, right? I mean, Jonathan Ogden was drafted fourth overall. The Ravens had Tony Jones, who was a Pro Bowl caliber left tackle at that spot. Now, they knew he wasn’t going to be there long term, but what did they do? They played Ogden guard for a year. Could there be a scenario like that with the idea of, you know, Ronnie Stanley? I mean, I don’t, I don’t know if that guy’s going to be available, that you really feel that way about. But point is, man, you need to come out of this draft with, I assume, unless you’re going to be trading for a center at this point in time, which I suppose is possible. Especially draft weekend, we’ve seen a deal like, you know, deals like that go down. The Ravens have made deals like that with, you know, during the draft, where they’ve traded for a veteran player, but, and I just look at that interior right now, if they had to line up today, and your interior offensive line is John Simpson, Corey Bullock, or what, Pinder at center and Emory Jones or Andrew Voorhees at right guard. I mean, that that’s not the Super Bowl favorite on paper to me. I mean, it’s just not, no matter what the rest of the roster might look like, and it’s not as though they don’t have some other positions that they can really stand to improve. So hey, the draft is, hey, it’s part of roster building, right? I mean, the 14th pick is a way better asset than they’ve normally had in the draft in recent years. So I don’t want to dismiss the importance of that, but it also increases the importance of, you’ve got to knock that pick out of the park, right? You can’t draft someone 14th, and then they’re struggling to get on the field, right? I mean, that’s, you don’t want that, that this, this is not a roster that’s, you know, think of Nate Wiggins two years ago, Nate Wiggins didn’t need to be a starter day one, even though he ended up playing a lot as a rookie. But this is not two years ago. They need that guy that’s drafted 14th overall to come in and play and play and be a big part of what they do, because they do have a couple more holes in their overall roster. When you look at the depth chart, they have a few more weaknesses than they normally do. And look some of that’s inevitable. When you look at how expensive some of these guys have become, you look at the state of there, you know, my, you know, I’ll kind of leave you with this, the top of their salary cap right now. In terms of CAP numbers, Lamar Jackson at 34 million now. I mean, that’s that’s cap wise, a bargain, even though obviously still getting cash, and you still need to get something done long term. But roquan Smith at 32 point 7 million, now that’s not his salary, that’s just his cap numbers. So keep in mind, that’s not cash, but you have so 32.7 Matt a BK, is just under 30, and you don’t. Know if he’s playing this year or not. At least we don’t publicly know that Marlon Humphrey, 26.3 I mean, right there. I mean, we just 30% of your cap. I mean, Lamar.

Nestor Aparicio  40:12

It’s $90 million worth of players. I mean,

Luke Jones  40:15

take Lamar out of that equation. Just roquan Smith, Matt ABK and Marlon Humphrey, $90,000,000.02 guys that you know, in the case of Marlin, had a bad year. Roquan wasn’t bad last year, but I think we would agree, has become more of a value concern relative to what his contract is. And Matt abigay, it’s a total one, no, didn’t play. You know, didn’t play after week two last year, you don’t know if he’s going to play. So that’s a lot in terms of CAP dollars invested in three players who, to varying degrees, are some kind of a question mark for you. I mean, I don’t want to put roquan in that category quite as much, but, but there’s no

Nestor Aparicio  40:55

thought that Matt abigay’s coming back playing 17 games are going to be a pro bowler, certainly no thought that Marlon Humphrey has that in him at this point, right? So we are looking at and roquan, you know, I guess roquan will play 17 games and be a plus player and whatever, but not a $30 million player or feel like that, like that sort of impact. It hasn’t trended that way the last two years, not even for a minute. I haven’t seen him fly around on the field and say, Whoa. You know, like shades of Ray. I haven’t had any vibe about that. Just a solid player at this point who’s going to go out and be a leader and play fine, but that’s a

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Luke Jones  41:28

lot of money. I mean, it’s, it’s a value concern. I mean, I’ll push back on something you did say, if Matt API case cleared, like, I don’t think, like, this isn’t, I don’t think this is like a degenerative like, oh well, he’s going to have to be a part time player or anything like that. I think this is much more. What is the state of his neck and his spine and all of that. If he gets to the field, you

Nestor Aparicio  41:51

feel like you’ll be an impact. He gets to the field, I

Luke Jones  41:52

assume he’s just, you know, he’s either going to be cleared or not, right? I mean, Zach Orr, it’s not like Zach or became an old man overnight when they discovered his congenital spine condition, that was more like, hey, like, this is too high of a risk profile for you to play at all. Forget about like being an everyday player or anything like that. So I think it’s more with Matt Abigail. It’s more like that, more so than like how we viewed Ronnie Stanley with a chronic ankle injury that you know, can he play 17 games? Remember, they rotated him with McCary a year or two there even, so, so. But your point is well taken. And the point that we’re making here is those are three of your four biggest cap numbers. And there’s some question with each of them, right, whether it’s a great a question of whether he’s going to play at all in Matt abigay’s case, in the case of Humphrey, can he bounce back? I mean, Marlon Humphrey was a Pro Bowl player two years ago. So can you get the guy that’s closer to that than what he was last year? If you can, then there’s no problem with him making what he’s making, right? But if he’s like he was last year, then that’s a major value problem. And in roquan’s case. I mean, I think you’re looking at him. That’s where I kind of look at the Jesse Minter effect. You’re hoping. Jesse Minter, fresh mind, great, defensive mind, all of that, that there could be a little bit of a renaissance with a couple of these guys that are a little bit older. You’re hoping. Doesn’t mean it’ll happen, but I think you’re hoping for that, but, but, yeah, you kind of look at this roster, and you know, we haven’t even gotten into, you know, Trey Hendrickson only has a $15 million cap number, but cash value, we know he’s one of the big contracts they have. Same with Hamilton. So not that you’re worried about those two guys. But the point is, this roster has become a little more top heavy over the last couple years, just in terms of how big those cap numbers are. And to be clear, that’s not a bad thing if those players are all playing at the level that you expect them to. But when you have a couple of those guys that have either gotten older or guys are hurt or, you know, they’re just not quite that same guy, then that’s when you look at that and say, Man, you better draft well, and you better find some diamonds in the rough, and day three and and all of that, because that’s, that’s how your roster, you know, that happened to Kansas City big time, right? I mean, you have some big contracts, and then suddenly a couple guys get older, and you know, Chris Jones isn’t the guy he was, or Kelsey two years ago. Kelsey not the guy he was, and suddenly you kind of look at it and say, Oh, we’re we’re having to put a lot more on our quarterback now. And if Lamar is healthy, generally speaking, that’s been okay, you know, to put a lot on him, but if he’s not like last year, then you see they suffer and they’re not as good. So point is, they still have a lot of work to do here. Now, there’s no doubt about that. And the good news is they do have the 14th overall pick to hopefully you know whether it is an O lineman or whether a corner at edge rush. Some people

Nestor Aparicio  44:55

8

have them mocking the tight end.

Luke Jones  44:57

Yeah. I mean, they’re gonna draft a tight end. I just. Yacht. I don’t, I don’t see that. I don’t know how early, right? I mean, I for one thing, look at their history. They drafted Hayden Hurst, and then they drafted Mark Andrews after the fact, they drafted Ed Dixon, and then they drafted Dennis Pitta after the fact, it Historically, it’s been the second swing that they take in a draft where, where, you know, Charlie Kohler and then Isaiah. Likely Kohler was good, but likely was the more more of an impact guy. So I think they’re going to draft a tight end, but I think that’ll be more of a late day two or day three thing, because to me, that’s a position where they’ve proven capable of drafting some impact players. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be early. I mean, like, okay, Todd heap and Hayden Hurst were first round picks, but they’ve drafted some really good tight ends in the third round, the fourth round, so that’s where you’re hoping, because that is a need, but not necessarily your most pressing need, that that’s where you’re hoping you can take a swing and connect later in the draft, because they certainly need to add another tight end. I mean, you know, they, they added a Durham Smythe, you know, to go, you know, he’ll, he’ll be the Charlie Kola replacement, and I think he’s a good blocking tight end, but they need another pass catcher, because I do share your Senate, your sentiment, as far as some concern about, like, what exactly is Mark Andrews at this point in time. I mean, not to say he can’t be productive and be a good player, but I don’t know if you can suddenly view him as thinking he’s going to be the guy he was four or five years ago, statistically, because he hasn’t been that, at the very least over the last year or two. Yeah, yesterday

Nestor Aparicio  46:30

was a long time ago. It is still football season around here, although we’re talking baseball birds in Chicago. And of course, I headed back home on Friday. We will be at faidley’s at Lexington market. I keep saying that I’m going to get over to the fishmonger’s daughter the second it’s open in Catonsville. We’ll be over there. They’ll be serving the world famous faithless crab cakes right in Catonsville, right near the airport, and ship them out and but we will be down at Lexington market on Friday. The giants are in town. We will be at Costa simtimonium Next Thursday, the 16th and then the 23rd we move to Koco’s Pub. It’s all brought to you by friends of the Maryland lottery. I’ll have the fresh scratch offs in the Maryland lottery. I have a handful of these Harlem Globetrotters lucky batch, but we’ll have the Maryland treasures on Friday, also our friends at GBMC keeping me healthy and alive. And I have my my big checkup later on in the month. And of course, farnand and Dermer, they check up your HVAC as well as your plumbing. They are the comfort guys. We are glad to have them on our team. Zach joined us last week, talked a little baseball, and then came by and helped me with a serious plumbing thing going on here last week. So if you need a plumber, you got one. They are the comfort guys at Farnham and Durham, or he is Luke. I am Nestor, little baseball, little football. And we’re going to dive into the politics. We have the election coming up on June 23 here in Baltimore County, we’ll have a lot of political hopefuls, a lot of conversations about the state of democracy and war in America, as I’ve just gotten back from South America. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We are W N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.