Perspective check: Thad Lewis is just a camp arm

Here is a dare for you, log on to Twitter, and type into the search bar, Thad Lewis. It’s pretty clear that a lot of people need a perspective check.

Colin Kaepernick is better than Thad Lewis, but that is irrelevant. Lewis was signed by the Baltimore Ravens because he was better than Dustin Vaughn. He wasn’t signed to be an insurance policy to Joe Flacco. He wasn’t signed to replace Ryan Mallett. Kaepernick may or may not be being black balled from the NFL, however this has nothing to do with him.

In training camp you need several quarterbacks. Every team employs quarterbacks that they probably won’t keep on the active roster. Lewis is an experienced player who can step in and get some work done behind Mallett. He signed for what in the NFL counts for almost nothing. If you’re upset that it’s not Kaepernick, take a deep breath.

The only two people who should be upset by this news are Vaughn and Josh Woodrum.  Vaughn is out of a job earlier than he expected to be. Woodrum is going to lose reps in practice and in the preseason game. Woodrum completed all four of his passes and threw for a touchdown last Thursday.

Lewis makes more sense than Kaepernick (because they don’t need him to replace anybody)

Personally, I am tired of the Ravens getting so much flack for choosing not to sign Kaepernick. Does he deserve a job in the NFL? Yes. Is it the Ravens responsibility to hire him? No. Here we have an issue that has nothing to do with Kaepernick, being presented by many as a ridiculous avoidance of Kaepernick. That is not what this is.

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Bringing in Kaepernick would create a firestorm of attention in the opposite direction. Not only that, but it would probably cost more money for the cap space challenged, Ravens. If Lewis ends up making the 53 man roster, or replaces Mallett, the Kaepernick avoidance talk will have some legitimacy. That’s probably not going to happen though. That’s not what Lewis was brought in for.

There are teams that are probably avoiding Kaepernick to avoid the drama. The Ravens are probably one of those teams. That being said, the Ravens are past the point where they would think about bringing in somebody to beat Mallett out for a job. The Miami Dolphins head coach, Adam Gase, had a successful working relationship with Jay Cutler. The moral of the story is that there are other reasons for not signing Kaepernick than not wanting anything to do with him.

The Bottom Line:

Throughout this entire controversy, I have urged people to look at the football side of things. When Ryan Mallett starting the regular season was a real possibility, I was on board with Kaepernick coming to the Ravens. When the Ravens waited, and the situation changed, the move became out of the picture. Lewis is what the Ravens need right now. He will help the Ravens get a more honest look at their second and third string players.

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If a team likes Kaepernick as a quarterback and thinks he will help them win, they should sign him. The Ravens though, must be let off the hook for going elsewhere with their quarterback needs. They needed a camp arm to get through the preseason. When you stop and think about it, the Ravens signing Lewis isn’t a big deal.