Ravens Highly Interested In Elvis Dumervil
Nov 11, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) is stripped of the ball by Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil (92) in the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
On Friday, The Denver Broncos and Elvis Dumervil were involved in one of the strangest debacles in recent memory. If you haven’t heard about it, where have you been? If you don’t fully understand it, join the club. Basically, the Broncos gave Dumervil a time limit to agree to a pay decrease. If Dumervil didn’t agree by the league deadline for teams to be under the cap, then he would be released. About 25 minutes before the deadline, Dumervil agreed to cut his salary from 12 million, to 8 million. By the time the Broncos got word they had 24 minutes to fax the necessary paperwork to the NFL league office to beat the clock on the deadline. Here is where it gets a little messy. According to the Broncos, they faxed the paperwork to Dumervil and his agent with about 20 minutes left to go, all they had to do was sign and fax them on to the NFL, plenty of time. According to Dumervils’, now former, agent, they didn’t get the paperwork until 12 minutes before the deadline, and they say some of the wording had been revised and needed to be reviewed. Dumervils’ agent was supposedly faxing the league the signed documents with just under one minute left to go, unfortunately the Broncos were faxing Dumervils’ release papers to the league at the same time. Dumervils’ version of the story has him searching for a Kinkos looking for a fax machine thanks to his shoddy agent not doing his job. When all the dust settled, Dumervil had been released and the Broncos, and Dumervil both looked like fools.
What it amounts to is that The Broncos feel wronged by Dumervil, Dumervil, who has fired his former agent and hired a new one, feels like the Broncos wronged him by releasing him after he agreed to a pay cut, and now Dumervil is a free agent who immediately becomes the best player on the market at a time when most of the big spender teams have spent all they are willing to spend. This is a pretty good scenario for the Ravens.
The Ravens have been reported as highly interested in Dumervil and will be trying to meet with his agent this week at league meetings and meeting with Dumervil after the meetings end. Dumervil would be a perfect fit for Baltimore if the price is right. The Ravens probably cant afford to give him 8 million per year, but in reality, he isnt likely to get that anymore because like i mentioned before, all the big spenders are spent up. The biggest indication that Dumervil wont be making a huge payday is that the two biggest teams linked to him are the Ravens and the Steelers, both notoriously low spenders in free agency(aside from re-signing their own guys of course).
If the Ravens could nail down Dumervil it would be a huge coup for them. He would represent an immediate upgrade over Paul Kruger and Dumervil is likely to sign for less than or similar to the amount that Kruger signed for. Having Suggs on one side and Dumervil on the other would probably represent the best pass rushing duo the Ravens have ever fielded. When healthy, both guys are near locks for double digit sack seasons and playing opposite each other would make them even more dangerous.
Dumervil is a liability in run coverage, but his pass rush more than makes up for it. Courtney Upshaw and Dumervil would likely be a part of a OLB rotation on the right side dependent on the situation. Adding Dumervil would immediately make up for all the lost talent on the defense this offseason, he is every bit as good as the entire group of lost names and he is far more proven than any of them. Adding a strong pass rush would allow the Ravens to take some chances in the secondary, much like in 2011 under Chuck Pagano. It would also lighten the load on the interior linebackers. I still believe that Courtney Upshaw could play ILB most of the time if needed and having Dumervil would nail down the OLB spot and free Upshaw up to move around and play in more positions.
Come on Ozzie, Make this one happen.