Goodbye Eugene Monroe
We should not be shocked that a trade did not happen. You don’t buy the day old donuts the minute before they give them away for free. While I’m not in love with the move to get rid of a starting caliber left tackle, the writing was on the wall. Yesterday Jeff Zerbiec of the Baltimore Sun reported that the team was ready to move on from Monroe. Today he was released and is no longer a Raven.
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The Eugene Monroe trade did not work out the way the Ravens had hoped it would. When the Ravens made the move in 2013, Ozzie Newsome looked like an absolute genius for the millionth time. But Monroe was the Ravens most delicate player, sustaining injuries that made him miss 17 games. Now that he has been cut, Monroe will never be anything but a frustrating note in Ravens history.
Why The Move Was Made:
The Ravens got tired of waiting for their investment to pay off. Monroe was getting paid left tackle money and he was on the bench half of the time. The left tackle position is one of the most important areas on the team, long stretches without your left tackle is a real problem. It also does not help that Monroe created a lot of attention to himself and the Ravens being the de facto spokesman for medical marijuana in the NFL. The Ravens are much more careful about PR than they used to be. The Ravens reportedly get $6.5 million in cap space and the dead money does not hit them all at once.
What The Move Means:
First and foremost this means that Ronnie Stanley better be a big time success at left tackle. The Ravens just let go of a starting caliber tackle, who seemed to just get healthy. This means the Ravens are not waiting on Ronnie Stanley. They are going full speed ahead as him being the left tackle. This is a lot of pressure on the sixth overall pick to produce right away. Joe Flacco’s blind side is now put in Stanley’s protection.
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It also means the Ravens will probably bring in somebody to be a plan B at left tackle. According to reports, Todd Herremans got a try out for the Ravens. Herramans had a 10 year run with the Philadelphia Eagles before having a tough 2015 with the Indianapolis Colts. If Stanley is the real deal the Ravens would have had two starting caliber left tackles. A year after James Hurst got Flacco his first major injury, that seems like a good problem to have.
The Ravens now have Vlad Ducasse, Alex Lewis, John Urschel, and Ryan Jensen as back ups. The good thing is that Duccasse and Jensen can both play multiple positions. With the starting 5 that gives the Ravens eight offensive lineman.
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Is This A Good Move Or A Bad Move?
This is certainly an understandable move, but I’m not thrilled about it. I would have preferred to keep Monroe at left tackle and move Stanley over eventually, rather than immediately. This would have given the Ravens so many different options on the offensive line. Now the Ravens have less options with the offensive line. It makes more sense to get something out of Monroe than to get nothing from him. If Ronnie Stanley is a stud muffin, we’ll forget all about this. If he struggles we won’t.