A story that I think has been talked about quite a bit this offseason, but not totally understood, is the Jared Gaither saga. In basic terms, because the Ravens put a first-round tender on him, if any team thinks that he’s worth giving up their first round pick for, they can go right ahead and sign him. Because teams value their first round picks more than any sane person could imagine, the team is desiring a second-round selection in a trade for the 6’9″ tackle.
Gaither is an incredible physical specimen with tons of upside. At 6’9″ and 340 pounds, he’s huge. Besides being massive, he’s athletic and quick. He’s only 24 years old, so why wouldn’t every NFL team be begging for him? Why would the Ravens want to get rid of him? Matt Vensel, good friend of EbonyBird.com, addresses this in a recent blog entry. Matt says that because of the former Maryland Terp’s injury problems and questionable work ethic, the team is comfortable with letting Michael Oher take over his spot as the starting left tackle.
While there have been no confirmed reports that the Redskins are the #1 team interested in Gaither, it makes sense. If the team doesn’t select an offensive tackle with their #4 pick in the draft, I’m sure Dan Snyder will be more than happy to add a guy like Gaither to his team and sign him to a nice big contract in the upcoming uncapped season. Many thought that Jason La Canfora’s post on NFL.com flatly said that the Redskins would be interested. It was simply speculation, but must be based off of some merit. Because no teams have come out and declared interest, we must consider the NFL’s worst-run franchise as the front-runners in the Gaither sweepstakes.
If this trade does actually go down, it could have a big effect on the rest of the Ravens’ offseason, most specifically their draft plans. Marshall Yanda is a quality tackle, and definitely good enough to start on the right side of the line, but the depth he provides for the line, especially with Adam Terry going to Indy, is invaluable. Tony Moll could do the job, but it seems like the team has no plans of letting him even put on the jersey on gameday. While trading Gaither may not require the team to use their first round pick on a lineman, it will definitely need to be addressed, preferably in the first three or four rounds. We’ll follow this topic aggressively, as it seems like the bubble on these rumors is about to burst, and something is about to happen.