Former Baltimore Ravens active in NFL Free Agency
By Joe Serpico
The Baltimore Ravens offseason philosophy is usually to take care of their own free agents. That won’t be the case in 2015.
The Ravens economic woes are making it difficult for the team to be players in free agency. The news that the Ravens have slapped restricted tenders on Justin Tucker and Will Hill makes matters worse as the cap space moves from $4.635 million to just a mere $737,000.
The Ravens are financially stuck. Even if Haloti Ngata is released or agrees to an extension, the team has serious work to do to fill some holes with the little cash behind them. The front office will be forced to let the market settle before reaching out to potential free agents, hoping to find themselves a bargain.
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That’s nothing new for Ozzie Newsome and his staff. The reason for the Ravens continued success is their ability to recognize the good deals from the bad. Sure, the team will lose some significant contributors to the team, but their asking price exceeds the productivity. The “right player, right price” approach isn’t the case with the Ravens current crop of free agents.
For the Ravens, that’s no big deal. The loss of free agents leads to compensatory picks, an area where the front office has thrived at finding value. So while its unusual for the Ravens to be as cap-strapped as they are, the fans must continue to have faith in Ozzie.
The truth of the matter is that the contracts most former Ravens are attracting are outrageous. The Ravens are winners and teams will pay a high premium to add winners to their clubs. The result has typically been an overpaid player who does not pan out well with their new team.
Next: Another overvalued linebacker set to cash in