Ozzie Newsome has work to do, as Free Agency looms
By Cory Hughes
After this weekend and all the moves John Dorsey and the Browns have made, it’s now painfully obvious: The Baltimore Ravens have the worst talent in the division. Maybe even the conference.
If you’ve kept up with NFL news and trades, you would have seen John Dorsey and the new staff in Cleveland are wasting no time getting to work. They acquired Jarvis Landry via trade, a player The Ravens and the fanbase were hoping would be wearing purple and black come September. But, the cap just wouldn’t allow the trade to go through. The browns only gave up a 4th a 7th round pick for a receiver who led the league in catches last season. Safe to say they got him on the mark down aisle, because not many GMs were lining up to cough up sixteen million dollars a year to a slot receiver. When you have the money to splurge, the decision-making is a whole lot easier. They also traded for Tyrod Taylor, who for the time being will be back playing in the AFC North.
After this weekend, and you look at the rosters in the AFC North and the teams skilled positions, The Ravens, right now, are on the bottom. The Browns offense for the time being consists of: David Njoku, Corey Coleman, Jarvis Landry and Josh Gordon. And they have 76 million in cap room. Just imagine if they add Saquon Barkley and say Baker Mayfield at four in this year’s draft. The Steelers have Martavis Bryant, Juju Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown.
The Bengals have Aj Green, Brandon Lafell, Tyler Boyd and John Ross. The Ravens? They have Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams and Chris Moore. It’s agonizingly clear, The Ravens have the worst offense in the division. Right now there is a long way to go, but where they’re starting off, Ozzie and the front office have quite the catching up to do.
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What and who should be their plans?
A lot of people will tell you the wide receiver market isn’t exactly the best this offseason. And I agree. To be quite honest, The Ravens don’t get to be picky, with their current roster. They might have lost out on Jarvis Landry, but there is still a good deal of talent for the front office to sign in terms of skilled positions. There is the pipe dream of signing Allen Robinson. But the Ravens are going to have quite the competition in signing a 24-year old deep threat wide receiver just hitting his prime. Even if he is just coming off an injury. There is going to be a few teams with deeper check books than Ozzie Newsome has to offer. However, if the front office can clear up enough cap space, anything is possible with the recruiting this team does if you’ve checked twitter.
Even though Allen Robinson is the top target for a lot of wide receiver needy teams, there are still quite the number the guys out there that will help get the ball rolling. Sammy Watkins is also hitting free agency as The Rams are probably going to opt not to sign him and bring him back. He would be a good plan B. And he wouldn’t cost as much as Allen Robinson is probably going to command. Another solid option to bring in would be Trey Burton. He’s not a receiver, however he would be quite the athletic target for Joe Flacco to have. In addition, he would only cost the team roughly 6-8 million. Donte Moncrief wouldn’t be a signing that would make the most noise, it certainly would be better than nothing.
The Bottom Line
Baltimore has the worst offensive talent. And the front offices ignorance not to address it over these last five years has finally become blatantly obvious. Now, more so than ever, it can’t be ignored. Signing one guy isn’t going to stitch everything up and make everything better. It’s just going to be equivalent to throwing a band-aid on a gunshot wound. However, signing a guy in free agency is going to be the first domino to fall. As important as signing someone in free agency, even more pressure is being applied to them to take at least two receivers in April’s draft. Throw in a tight end, as well. The Ravens could use a consistent one of those.
Next: Baltimore Ravens: 3 inside linebacker free agent targets
This is going to be Ozzie Newsome’s final offseason as General Manager before he takes a step down. Expect him to make some moves to move this team in the right direction, come week one. Buckle up. When you need to be in the know about the Ravens, come to Ebony Bird.