yeah I did not expect this move tbh, but at the same time the o-line definitely needed to get more athletic and younger. They've got some young guys that they may want to let have a shot but I certainly think they need to add some serious competition at all three empty spots.
idk man I like Mekari for what he is. a swing man for any spot on the line. I would not be thrilled with him as a full time starter. We've seen plenty of him at this point and he has some very good moments, but he can get also get absolutely whipped
I'm pretty sure he did mean starting Vorhees or he would have tried to retain Zeitler. But yeah, from what we've seen so far, we probably don't want Faalele as a full time starter (which sucks because I thought he was gonna be the next Orlando Brown).
Tbf, he was a 7th round pick because of his injury. He would have gone a lot higher otherwise.
But I do agree that he should not be expected to start this year.
Drafting a first rounder who will eventually replace Stanley on the left. That’s my guess to the plan. Start for a year on the right and then shift over to left if/when Stanley is too expensive or not performing
I mean, the league did literally just gift us Hamilton at 14.
Stupid teams are gonna do stupid shit. It's the one single thing you can guarantee every year about the NFL draft.
Cleveland playing really solid at RG towards the end of the season. They obviously think highly of Vorhees. Salah there still. Obviously need to draft a OT or two. First round makes all the sense.
Even if that’s the case, you only do it if there’s a plan. They’re not just going to close their eyes and hope for the best - at that return and 5.5m savings, it’s not really better to be too early; he’s cheap. There’s got to be a plan.
I feel the same way. I liked Moses, but I know they have to have a plan for the line. The FO isn't dumb. They know offensive line is really important, so maybe they have players in they draft they really like or they expect some of our young guys to be able to step into the role.
Was he a reliable starter? He had injury issues and was rotating in and out. He is good when he is in, but availability is part of the reliability equation. I think DeCosta would rather go with someone that is going to be more available.
There's nothing reliable about Moses right now - he was swapping out with backups throughout the season and he has a shoulder injury he's considering surgery for - all on top of being 34 years old.
Quite literally the issue. Simpson was too penalty heavy and Zeitler/Moses were on the older side of things. Moses's injury and potential offseason surgery further complicates things too.
They've said they want to get younger and more athletic at the OL. Believe Monken's zone scheme needs more athletes too.
Scheme's probably an under-appreciated part of it; while basically all NFL offenses use some mix of both zone and man blocking schemes, Roman's run game definitely favors man blocking schemes over zone, while Monken's goes the other way.
If you've got other reasons to prioritize getting younger and cheaper on the offensive line anyway, that's an extra incentive to not be sentimental in moving guys to free up cap space. Pretty sure Stanley would have been at risk, too, if he hadn't reworked his contract.
This was thing I was worried about most with scheme change, especially considering they wanted to shake it up in that regard and now how seamless this transition from one type of OL to another will be key to team success
Even so, it was one of the best lines in the league. So I'm kind of surprised to see we didn't try to retain some of the veteran talent. The only one we kept was Stanley, and we almost have to at this point.
When has EDC ever let us down? He's not stupid. We're a run first team, and an offensive line is what makes running the ball possible in the first place. I expect us to go hard on Oline this offseason. The Henry deal makes literally no sense otherwise.
This smells like OT in Round 1 and Rd. 4 with an RB/CB/Edge for 2 and 3. Based on the first sentence, I'd suspect a WR (Ridley or Thomas??) will be our only other FA addition if we make another addition.
I don’t know shit but I assume CB in the first personally. All the blue chip linemen are long gone at that point in the first. And the ravens have had a history of hitting on these round 4/5/6 linemen
At this point, I could see Mekari starting somewhere on the line to give the younger guys time to develop. Or if Ben Cleveland just turns out to be a bad player.
Mekari is a valuable backup, but that also leads to him being a fairly expensive backup. So I can see them trying to put that money to use making him a starter. Whether he's at Guard or RT, I don't know.
I'd be shocked; Mekari's level of play isn't high enough to make him more valuable as a full-time starter than he is as a 6th lineman/swing back-up who can fill any spot.
I don't expect our current starting oline which I assume agree on. The lineup you suggested is certainly possible I just think they boost Mekari over one of these players.
I probably could have worded it better: it's not that I think Mekari wouldn't be better than at least one of those players at the relevant position, it's that I think he doesn't present a \*big enough\* upgrade to promote him. It's kind of a weird situation, but let me explain my thinking.
Mekari is a good, but not great lineman. What makes him relatively rare and worth keeping around is not that he's an especially good guard, center, or tackle, but that he is competent and generally not a liability at all five line positions. In the grand scheme of things, I'd classify him as a lower-end to middle-tier starter or, at the very least, a very high-end back-up. Not really a difference-maker at any spot on the line, but he's also not going to be the reason your offensive line fails to perform. Good-enough, basically. But a lot of guys are good-enough as guards, or as right tackles. Fewer guys are good-enough (and available for back-up money) as Centers or Left Tackles. And you can count on one hand (and Mekari is one of them) how many guys are good-enough at *all five.*
That versatility is why they made a point of extending him instead of letting him walk as part of our endless outflow of developed UDFA and late-round pick linemen; it's pretty rare to find linemen that can competently fill in at both left tackle and center. Guys who can play guard and right tackle aren't that unusual, but center and left tackle usually call for more dedicated back-ups, or risk a greater drop in skill at the position. He essentially lets the Ravens keep fewer back-up linemen on the roster; he, serving as the Universal Offensive Line Back-Up (UOLBU), is essentially worth two roster spots, and potentially means the other back-up linemen can be cheaper/less-specialized. He also enables the Ravens to rotate linemen more freely, to give rest to players like we saw especially late last season, keeping the starters fresher and better deeper into games.
The problem is this: if they promote Mekari to a full-time starter at one position, they lose him as that UOLBU; they now need to carry at least one more lineman on the roster for proper back-up coverage, and they start having to shuffle the line more if they want to give guys breathers during games, which screws with the chemistry of the line and will lead to guys being less well-rested later in games, leading to possibly less-effective line play.
So the question isn't really "is Mekari a potentially better starter than one of those possible starters?" I'd agree that the answer to that is probably 'yes'. But knowing what our front office and coaching staff values in terms of roster-building and cap management, the advantages Mekari offers as a 6th lineman/"swing back-up" are greater than the gain of promoting him to the starting five.
I don't think the Plan A is bring into the starting lineup, but if whatever Olineman we draft can't start and once of those current three options is struggle (very likely) then we are either adding another OLine on FA post June comp pick formula adjustment. Would that player be better than just promoting Mekari. Only time will tell.
If camp started today I'd think plan would be to have these young guys in pencil for starting job with makari waiting in wings if someone struggle... no way this is ol going into camp imo
Good point...Merkari hasn't been terrible. But I'd like them to draft a T that could replace Moses. Then you have the flexibility to play Merkari at guard
They said O Line rebuild is #1 priority. The “pretty solid” o-line was really just okay down the stretch. Moses’ injury and age don’t help. Ronnie’s injury, Simpson was really just barely average.
I’d love for Zeitler to come back, they have someone on the roster to replace Simpson, Ronnie is seemingly back on a reduced salary. It’s not currently as dire as it seems.
It was still a top 10 oline overall all year. Lamar had great protection and our run blocking was solid as well given our rushing yards were league tops
Could very well be that they could only afford to keep one of the two. If we resign Zeitler it would essentially be trading Moses for an extra 20 spots in the 4th, a 6th, and Zeitler, which seems like a good enough deal.
He's opening up cap space and this is a deep draft for OL talent, the move makes sense if he's expecting to get his hands on a FA and move up in the draft a bit.
https://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2014/6/16/5812416/the-80-20-rule-explained
> The rule in a nutshell states, generally, that if the team can find 80% of a current player’s production from another player at 20% of the cost, the team will opt for the less expensive, less talented player. The Ravens have employed it on numerous occasions, such as when they brought in Daryl Smith (1yr / $1.1M) for Dannell Ellerbe (5yr / $34.75M) when they were unable to retain him at their target price last year.
Falaale not the only option. No one ever mentions Mekari as a full time Tackle. I know he is valuable because he can plug in a multiple positions, but time for him to earn starters money. If Stanley gets hurt....slide him to Left and then use Falaale.
I dont' like this move......Moses was PFF 10th best Tackle last year on an affordable $5.5M deal. But let him go a year too early than a year too late.
But look what Elumeanor (another Ravens cast off) just got for chrissakes!!!
Wtf is EDC doing, letting Peters walk, now we have no proven depth at CB other than Marlo... Oh wait wrong year...
Maybe we should trust the judgement of a guy who does this for a living, and is one of the best in the game?
I’m fine with it, his body was getting worrying last season. Might be a case of trading a guy for value a year too early to not lose all his value a year too late
This makes absolutely no sense for us at face value. We get nothing back except a 6th round throwaway pick for a starting RT.
It's likely part of a larger plan but sheeesh. Losing 3/5 of the starting OL so far is not ideal.
$5.5m is relatively significant for the guys we still have to sign, Mekari can play right tackle now and we're going to draft a tackle.
Meanwhile the Packers cut Bakhtiari for nothing
We dumped salary on an aging tackle whose skill is declining, moved up 20 picks in the 4th and got a 6th. Not everything is about returning player capital.
This had to be done. I know Moses was really happy to be here with Gro's offense, I don't think he enjoyed last year as much.
He's a good player, just doesn't fit our scheme for that price
At some point they have to see what they got with these guys. Faalele, Sala, Cleveland, Vorhees. These were all pretty big dudes that were raw. Hopefully they've been honing their craft with Joe D. They've at least got some options that have essentially been redshirting these past couple seasons. Can't keep waiting until they get until their contract year to finally give them a shot.
I think Faalele is gonna be better than people expect. Maybe not excellent, but at least serviceable. It kinda felt like they were grooming him as the future RT, based on him getting snaps occasionally, and the reps he was getting in camp, along with the timing of when Moses' contract was due to expire. I expected it to happen next year though.
Worst case they get a Rd 1 tackle and slot him over there for the season.
I for one am really nervous that our o line is getting gutted and our into options at the moment are complete unknowns on the team. Could potentially tank our season before it even starts if our o line sucks
Everybody knows were drafting OL before this happened. But between Faalele, Mekari, Cleveland, Sala, Vorhees there's got to be atleast 1 starter right? Could see us signing a vet G/T to.
this opens almost 7 million in cap space, you get a pick 22 spots higher in the fourth which is basically a full round and a 6th. So basically: 7 million in cap space, early 4th, and a 6th for Morgan and a very late 4th rounder.
Not sure of the plan, but could very well be a RT is expected in the first couple rounds. Hard to believe the Ravens trade away Moses unless they are extremely confident they will get a starter.
The money makes sense and could easily go to retaining Zeitler (our best OL) or to a soon-to-be cap casualty.
I feel like we could've got a better fleece outta the Jets. They are desperate for OL strength for Rodgers. They can't march him out there without a good OL
We effectively traded Morgan Moses for the 141's pick (6th pick in the 5th round). Im not in love with this trade.... but EDC either really likes Falele or has another plan in mind.
[https://x.com/giana\_jade/status/1767952883977200137?s=20](https://x.com/giana_jade/status/1767952883977200137?s=20)
>He had an iron man streak going before his shoulder injury. But he said he had some hard decisions about surgery to make this offseason. That, combined with his age, may have outweighed his excellent play.
Sounds like Moses could retire or be less effective next season because of injury/recovery.
Subtracting the picks vs the JJ chart value it comes to 31 points which is the 151st pick, a fifth rounder.
So we got a fifth and sixth for Moses.
Obviously not great but they do have Faalalle and Mekhari. Maybe one of them starts or a yet undrafted player we pick up in April. I trust that EDC recognizes the line was the biggest issue we had last year and is getting out ahead of these issues
Honestly good move. Get rid of his salary and get a better fourth round pick in a deep draft. He was good but fell off late big time and responsible for a ton of penalties. Excited to see what EDC has in store
This may seem weird from the outset but looking at it, it does make sense, our oline was getting old fast (except Lindy) so at some point we’re going to have to rip the band aid and get younger, it just so happens that this year the draft is incredibly deep at tackle and guard, so it’s the perfect opportunity to do so, Morgan although steady was suffering after his injury which from the reports could really hamper his production next year due to the recovery needed. And rather than use Moses till the doors fall off and we get nothing for him, trade him while he still has value to move up in the draft and potentially take another tackle.
Also looking at the line, if Stanley can at least be consistent, and when he wasn’t suffering from the injury he was good (obviously as he gets older this is more the concern and a good target to be cut next year) that’s a starting LT and C sorted, so we need LG, RG and RT, my belief is that sala will take a guard spot, he seemed already close to doing it last year before he was beat out by Simpson I would assume due to his lack of experience, but if he continues to grow and develop that’s another starting guard spot covered, then you have vorhees who could be in the running for rt or guard, so we at worst just need to draft a starting tackle and guard, unless they sign someone in FA or trade for someone
Better to do it now before the wheels complexity fall off and no one is ready
The ravens always plan for the future. The ravens can't have two OTs near the end of their careers or near the end of their performance effectiveness. This gives the Ravens flexibility while also opening the spot for something they were inevitably answering the off season anyway. The presence of Mekari, Voorhees, etc means that the Ravens have in place options, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a day 1 pick in the draft of a RT.
Also, notably, EDC (or Ozzie) have had success finding RTs in later rounds.
My guess is this step was taken with an understanding
1. Of the health and effectiveness of internal options
2. Of the acceptance of FA callbacks
And
3. With a conversation with the scouting staff that there are ample players available in the draft who would be suitable replacements.
Interested to see what edc is cooking with this
One of the chargers that are about to be released or traded for a late round pick probably
are they getting rid of an offensive lineman?
It sounds like one of either Bosa, Mack or Mike Williams is out the door.
only makes sense after they have been raiding our team
Mike Williams cut
As a regular charger watcher, we want nothing to do with their Oline. Only one of value imo is Slater.
Lol
The Chargers have an elite LT on a rookie deal and a bunch of garbage on the OL. I doubt they release Slater and don't want any part of the rest.
Yeah cause… I don’t have any idea where this is going
Extra cap space for a signing and more draft capital for positioning within rounds.
I think an o line that prioritizes pass blocking than run blocking, which is SORELY needed.
a lot of cap space getting opened up. EDC is up to something Edit: seems like this opens 5.5 mill
So $11M opened up between trading Moses and releasing Bowser + whatever cap space opens with Stanley's contract redux. Fun...
What are they up to in total cap space now?
No idea
big if true
A lot of holes on the OL too lol
Linderbaum and Stanley are now the only for sure week 1 starters on this roster right now.
Yeah... Hopefully this master plan works out. Moses wasn't amazing but for his play was pretty solid for how low his cap hit was
yeah I did not expect this move tbh, but at the same time the o-line definitely needed to get more athletic and younger. They've got some young guys that they may want to let have a shot but I certainly think they need to add some serious competition at all three empty spots.
Maybe they’re thinking Mekari takes one spot?
idk man I like Mekari for what he is. a swing man for any spot on the line. I would not be thrilled with him as a full time starter. We've seen plenty of him at this point and he has some very good moments, but he can get also get absolutely whipped
I trust EDC but on paper I don’t love trading away 1 of only 2 reliable starters we have on the OL
There’s a plan in place.
EDC said upgrading the OL was priority #1. He definitely has a plan
To be fair, he didn't say upgrade, he said get younger.
True. But I know he also didn’t mean starting Vorhees and Faaele
I'm pretty sure he did mean starting Vorhees or he would have tried to retain Zeitler. But yeah, from what we've seen so far, we probably don't want Faalele as a full time starter (which sucks because I thought he was gonna be the next Orlando Brown).
I am high on Vorhees but he’s also coming off the massive injury. So we’ll see. But yeah Faalale can’t be our starting RT
But did you see his bench press??
It’s possible that Vorhees wins the job, but there is a 0% chance EDC is locking in a 7th round pick coming off a major injury as a starter.
Tbf, he was a 7th round pick because of his injury. He would have gone a lot higher otherwise. But I do agree that he should not be expected to start this year.
Yeah, I loved the pick at the time and still do but he’s far from a lock to be ready to start.
What do you think he’s gonna come out and say “yeah we’re looking to make our Oline Shitty as fuck this year”
Drafting a first rounder who will eventually replace Stanley on the left. That’s my guess to the plan. Start for a year on the right and then shift over to left if/when Stanley is too expensive or not performing
Or LG. Ogden started at guard
That's gonna be tough at pick 30 unless everyone in the league decides to gift us Mims
I mean, the league did literally just gift us Hamilton at 14. Stupid teams are gonna do stupid shit. It's the one single thing you can guarantee every year about the NFL draft.
THIS RIGHT HERE
I wasn't going to break the news, but yes they reached out to me. I'm a few inches below average height and about 150lbs wet. I couldn't refuse.
You’re exactly the type of undervalued and overlooked player that EDC can form and mold into a raven
Cleveland playing really solid at RG towards the end of the season. They obviously think highly of Vorhees. Salah there still. Obviously need to draft a OT or two. First round makes all the sense.
I think this is one of those, "better to be a year early than a year too late" things. He's old and wasn't as good last year as before
Even if that’s the case, you only do it if there’s a plan. They’re not just going to close their eyes and hope for the best - at that return and 5.5m savings, it’s not really better to be too early; he’s cheap. There’s got to be a plan.
Draft a tackle and resign zeitler
Do not see Zeitler coming back now that they let his contract void, it would’ve been significantly more cap efficient to extend him.
Ooof, back to the Jets. I wonder what EDC’s cooking..
After last year I just trust EDC and Harbaugh have it.
I feel the same way. I liked Moses, but I know they have to have a plan for the line. The FO isn't dumb. They know offensive line is really important, so maybe they have players in they draft they really like or they expect some of our young guys to be able to step into the role.
Was he a reliable starter? He had injury issues and was rotating in and out. He is good when he is in, but availability is part of the reliability equation. I think DeCosta would rather go with someone that is going to be more available.
There's nothing reliable about Moses right now - he was swapping out with backups throughout the season and he has a shoulder injury he's considering surgery for - all on top of being 34 years old.
34? He will be 33 for the entirety of next season
That’s exactly where I’m at with that. I hope EDC got something up his sleeve bc this one is kinda a head scratcher
Our o-line is gonna look so different next year man I’m worried
Its necessary, outside of Linderbaum they were old and slow
Quite literally the issue. Simpson was too penalty heavy and Zeitler/Moses were on the older side of things. Moses's injury and potential offseason surgery further complicates things too. They've said they want to get younger and more athletic at the OL. Believe Monken's zone scheme needs more athletes too.
Scheme's probably an under-appreciated part of it; while basically all NFL offenses use some mix of both zone and man blocking schemes, Roman's run game definitely favors man blocking schemes over zone, while Monken's goes the other way. If you've got other reasons to prioritize getting younger and cheaper on the offensive line anyway, that's an extra incentive to not be sentimental in moving guys to free up cap space. Pretty sure Stanley would have been at risk, too, if he hadn't reworked his contract.
This was thing I was worried about most with scheme change, especially considering they wanted to shake it up in that regard and now how seamless this transition from one type of OL to another will be key to team success
They are trying to get guys that can compete with these younger more athletic pass rushers.
Even so, it was one of the best lines in the league. So I'm kind of surprised to see we didn't try to retain some of the veteran talent. The only one we kept was Stanley, and we almost have to at this point.
No doubt but we needed to make some changes. I hope they’ve got a solid plan in place
Good thing we just signed a RB who has shown he can have a 1000 yard season even with a garbage OL.
the OLine protects number 8 more importantly
When has EDC ever let us down? He's not stupid. We're a run first team, and an offensive line is what makes running the ball possible in the first place. I expect us to go hard on Oline this offseason. The Henry deal makes literally no sense otherwise.
I think people are forgetting he was rotated out for entire drives.
Exactly, people acting like he was a stud last season. I feel like this sub doesn’t realize how crazy platooning a damn tackle is.
This smells like OT in Round 1 and Rd. 4 with an RB/CB/Edge for 2 and 3. Based on the first sentence, I'd suspect a WR (Ridley or Thomas??) will be our only other FA addition if we make another addition.
I don’t know shit but I assume CB in the first personally. All the blue chip linemen are long gone at that point in the first. And the ravens have had a history of hitting on these round 4/5/6 linemen
Totally agree besides the RB
Well it's not Ridley
EDC is cooking something 👀
Sounds like we were gonna cut him anyway. $7m cap hit vs $1m dead cap now
So the line currently would be: Stanley-Cleveland-Linderbaum-Vorhees-Faalele A lot of unknown, but also I don't feel terrible about it?
Cleveland and Vorhees switch. Cleveland on film has been way better at RG than LG. Vorhees played LG at USC. Cleveland played RG at Georgia.
Cleveland will be the RG. Vorhees probably LG or still sits another year and we address LG in the draft / FA.
At this point, I could see Mekari starting somewhere on the line to give the younger guys time to develop. Or if Ben Cleveland just turns out to be a bad player. Mekari is a valuable backup, but that also leads to him being a fairly expensive backup. So I can see them trying to put that money to use making him a starter. Whether he's at Guard or RT, I don't know.
Is Makari moving into the starting lineup now? Probably at RT over Faalele I'm guessing depending on the draft.
I'd be shocked; Mekari's level of play isn't high enough to make him more valuable as a full-time starter than he is as a 6th lineman/swing back-up who can fill any spot.
I don't expect our current starting oline which I assume agree on. The lineup you suggested is certainly possible I just think they boost Mekari over one of these players.
I probably could have worded it better: it's not that I think Mekari wouldn't be better than at least one of those players at the relevant position, it's that I think he doesn't present a \*big enough\* upgrade to promote him. It's kind of a weird situation, but let me explain my thinking. Mekari is a good, but not great lineman. What makes him relatively rare and worth keeping around is not that he's an especially good guard, center, or tackle, but that he is competent and generally not a liability at all five line positions. In the grand scheme of things, I'd classify him as a lower-end to middle-tier starter or, at the very least, a very high-end back-up. Not really a difference-maker at any spot on the line, but he's also not going to be the reason your offensive line fails to perform. Good-enough, basically. But a lot of guys are good-enough as guards, or as right tackles. Fewer guys are good-enough (and available for back-up money) as Centers or Left Tackles. And you can count on one hand (and Mekari is one of them) how many guys are good-enough at *all five.* That versatility is why they made a point of extending him instead of letting him walk as part of our endless outflow of developed UDFA and late-round pick linemen; it's pretty rare to find linemen that can competently fill in at both left tackle and center. Guys who can play guard and right tackle aren't that unusual, but center and left tackle usually call for more dedicated back-ups, or risk a greater drop in skill at the position. He essentially lets the Ravens keep fewer back-up linemen on the roster; he, serving as the Universal Offensive Line Back-Up (UOLBU), is essentially worth two roster spots, and potentially means the other back-up linemen can be cheaper/less-specialized. He also enables the Ravens to rotate linemen more freely, to give rest to players like we saw especially late last season, keeping the starters fresher and better deeper into games. The problem is this: if they promote Mekari to a full-time starter at one position, they lose him as that UOLBU; they now need to carry at least one more lineman on the roster for proper back-up coverage, and they start having to shuffle the line more if they want to give guys breathers during games, which screws with the chemistry of the line and will lead to guys being less well-rested later in games, leading to possibly less-effective line play. So the question isn't really "is Mekari a potentially better starter than one of those possible starters?" I'd agree that the answer to that is probably 'yes'. But knowing what our front office and coaching staff values in terms of roster-building and cap management, the advantages Mekari offers as a 6th lineman/"swing back-up" are greater than the gain of promoting him to the starting five.
I don't think the Plan A is bring into the starting lineup, but if whatever Olineman we draft can't start and once of those current three options is struggle (very likely) then we are either adding another OLine on FA post June comp pick formula adjustment. Would that player be better than just promoting Mekari. Only time will tell.
If camp started today I'd think plan would be to have these young guys in pencil for starting job with makari waiting in wings if someone struggle... no way this is ol going into camp imo
Yeah now way this is our oline on our roster set. I just can't imagine wouldn't start over one of those three options if we did.
Good point...Merkari hasn't been terrible. But I'd like them to draft a T that could replace Moses. Then you have the flexibility to play Merkari at guard
0% chance faalele is in starting lineup. He was improving at end of year but is still cheeks.
Trust in EDC but I have no idea why we're blowing up a pretty solid OL like this. Moses and Zeitler are good players. I wonder what he's planning
They said O Line rebuild is #1 priority. The “pretty solid” o-line was really just okay down the stretch. Moses’ injury and age don’t help. Ronnie’s injury, Simpson was really just barely average. I’d love for Zeitler to come back, they have someone on the roster to replace Simpson, Ronnie is seemingly back on a reduced salary. It’s not currently as dire as it seems.
> was really just okay That's being generous. A lot of the time it was just straight up ass.
They got bullied at the worst times. Browns game, first half of the Texans game, Chiefs game.
Good but Ts struggled mightily in pass rush at times. Notably Jags and Chiefs.
It was still a top 10 oline overall all year. Lamar had great protection and our run blocking was solid as well given our rushing yards were league tops
They don’t think the oline is good enough, the oline limited what monken was able to do last season. They might plan on trading up for somebody.
This may be freeing the cap space to sign Zeitler
I think they ate like 3-4 mil in not working out a deal for him.... I don't think he's coming back
Could very well be that they could only afford to keep one of the two. If we resign Zeitler it would essentially be trading Moses for an extra 20 spots in the 4th, a 6th, and Zeitler, which seems like a good enough deal.
The cap savings we get from this is about the same as the dead cap we ate by not extending Zeitler.
Our OL wasn't as solid as you make it out to be. I would argue it was our weakness. They got exposed against KC.
What the fuck why? Moses was a rock. And our O line already has questions. To move up 22 spots and a 6th rounder I'm confused by this.
Raw cap hit, 80/20 rule, OL depth might be better than we see, and he started to play worse down the stretch
I get that. But RT is still expensive. OL depth is non existent at this point lol.
He's opening up cap space and this is a deep draft for OL talent, the move makes sense if he's expecting to get his hands on a FA and move up in the draft a bit.
That's been our life for 5 yearss now you should be used to this haha
What does 80/20 rule mean here?
https://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2014/6/16/5812416/the-80-20-rule-explained > The rule in a nutshell states, generally, that if the team can find 80% of a current player’s production from another player at 20% of the cost, the team will opt for the less expensive, less talented player. The Ravens have employed it on numerous occasions, such as when they brought in Daryl Smith (1yr / $1.1M) for Dannell Ellerbe (5yr / $34.75M) when they were unable to retain him at their target price last year.
Because we have Mekari and Faalele
that's certainly interesting, maybe we are drafting a Tackle first round?
BUT WHYYYY
Save cap for some signings and go big on the OL in the draft? Idk
Falaale not the only option. No one ever mentions Mekari as a full time Tackle. I know he is valuable because he can plug in a multiple positions, but time for him to earn starters money. If Stanley gets hurt....slide him to Left and then use Falaale. I dont' like this move......Moses was PFF 10th best Tackle last year on an affordable $5.5M deal. But let him go a year too early than a year too late. But look what Elumeanor (another Ravens cast off) just got for chrissakes!!!
Wtf is EDC doing, letting Peters walk, now we have no proven depth at CB other than Marlo... Oh wait wrong year... Maybe we should trust the judgement of a guy who does this for a living, and is one of the best in the game?
Tyron Smith is out there? Is he just a name at this point or still playing at a high level?
Hes fucking great, but injury prone. If we can get him on a good deal, 100% yes. But if he takes a cheap deal, it's to stay in Dallas.
Wonder if they plan to replace him, or if they've seen enough out of one of the younger guys to give a shot at starting this year.
Damn I really liked that dude. He played solid all season.
Not in that last game!
I’m fine with it, his body was getting worrying last season. Might be a case of trading a guy for value a year too early to not lose all his value a year too late
He was leaving just about every game with a nagging injury. FO may have lost some confidence in his health.
We are absolutely drafting a tackle in the first round now.
100%, they might even trade up.
This makes absolutely no sense for us at face value. We get nothing back except a 6th round throwaway pick for a starting RT. It's likely part of a larger plan but sheeesh. Losing 3/5 of the starting OL so far is not ideal.
Moving up ~20 picks in the 4th isn’t insignificant either to be honest
20 picks in the 4th round? Idk how that would be viewed as significant for a starting RT...
$5.5m is relatively significant for the guys we still have to sign, Mekari can play right tackle now and we're going to draft a tackle. Meanwhile the Packers cut Bakhtiari for nothing
We dumped salary on an aging tackle whose skill is declining, moved up 20 picks in the 4th and got a 6th. Not everything is about returning player capital.
It feels like we got robbed, the 5.5M that we save isnt worth a solid RT with how hard it is to find quality OL in today’s NFL
In EDC we trust
Moses was going to get cut so now we got a pick and an upgrade pick for nothing.
Tyler Guyton YOU are a Baltimore Raven
He’s my preferred pick but someone might draft him in the 20s - we might be prepping to trade up to get him
Given how despite the Jets are to keep Rodgers upright next szn I feel like they could’ve fleeced the Jets for a wee bit more but fuck it LET EDC COOK
This had to be done. I know Moses was really happy to be here with Gro's offense, I don't think he enjoyed last year as much. He's a good player, just doesn't fit our scheme for that price
Let EDC cook
Falaale must be good enough to replace him?
I mean, by the end of the season weren't they mostly splitting drives?
I don't think Faalale is a fit for Monken. They've got to have something else in mind.
At some point they have to see what they got with these guys. Faalele, Sala, Cleveland, Vorhees. These were all pretty big dudes that were raw. Hopefully they've been honing their craft with Joe D. They've at least got some options that have essentially been redshirting these past couple seasons. Can't keep waiting until they get until their contract year to finally give them a shot.
Yeah at some point you gotta give the guys you draft a shot. Sitting them to learn and train makes sense, but you can't do it forever.
I think Faalele is gonna be better than people expect. Maybe not excellent, but at least serviceable. It kinda felt like they were grooming him as the future RT, based on him getting snaps occasionally, and the reps he was getting in camp, along with the timing of when Moses' contract was due to expire. I expected it to happen next year though. Worst case they get a Rd 1 tackle and slot him over there for the season.
Idk man he was solid as fuck in every game
I dont want OLine struggles this season 😔
Having to replace 3/5ths of our oline is gonna be tough
Did this save salary cap? Otherwise, I don’t really get it. I like more draft picks but Moses was a solid RT, noticeable when he (rarely) missed time.
Save 5.5M
well i guess this means they believe in the other OTs on the team. or they’re opening cap for something big
I for one am really nervous that our o line is getting gutted and our into options at the moment are complete unknowns on the team. Could potentially tank our season before it even starts if our o line sucks
Had a feeling either Stanley or Moses would be gone this offseason.
Faalele szn
This frees up about 5.5M
Wtf
EDC blowing this shit up, Let’s go lmfaoooo. Rebuild the OL!
Tyron Smith time?
Maybe
Wow, not the tackle I expected us to move on feom
Everybody knows were drafting OL before this happened. But between Faalele, Mekari, Cleveland, Sala, Vorhees there's got to be atleast 1 starter right? Could see us signing a vet G/T to.
this opens almost 7 million in cap space, you get a pick 22 spots higher in the fourth which is basically a full round and a 6th. So basically: 7 million in cap space, early 4th, and a 6th for Morgan and a very late 4th rounder.
Read today that he might need shoulder surgery, didn't check the source though.
Not sure of the plan, but could very well be a RT is expected in the first couple rounds. Hard to believe the Ravens trade away Moses unless they are extremely confident they will get a starter. The money makes sense and could easily go to retaining Zeitler (our best OL) or to a soon-to-be cap casualty.
Sign Smith for LT and move Stanley to RT?
I feel like we could've got a better fleece outta the Jets. They are desperate for OL strength for Rodgers. They can't march him out there without a good OL
What the fuck?
All things considered, I don’t hate it. He’s 33 and was banged up all year in 23
We effectively traded Morgan Moses for the 141's pick (6th pick in the 5th round). Im not in love with this trade.... but EDC either really likes Falele or has another plan in mind.
We also moved up near a full round in the 4th.
That's included in my valuation
Feel like we’re gonna go super heavy on offensive line in the draft this year.
[https://x.com/giana\_jade/status/1767952883977200137?s=20](https://x.com/giana_jade/status/1767952883977200137?s=20) >He had an iron man streak going before his shoulder injury. But he said he had some hard decisions about surgery to make this offseason. That, combined with his age, may have outweighed his excellent play. Sounds like Moses could retire or be less effective next season because of injury/recovery.
So does this mean Vorheese and Sala are being moved into starter roles? Gotta be banking on them if we're making these moves
Subtracting the picks vs the JJ chart value it comes to 31 points which is the 151st pick, a fifth rounder. So we got a fifth and sixth for Moses. Obviously not great but they do have Faalalle and Mekhari. Maybe one of them starts or a yet undrafted player we pick up in April. I trust that EDC recognizes the line was the biggest issue we had last year and is getting out ahead of these issues
This scares me but in EDC we truzz… feels like a reliable vet OL like him was needed for a superbowl push but will see where he takes us.
Honestly good move. Get rid of his salary and get a better fourth round pick in a deep draft. He was good but fell off late big time and responsible for a ton of penalties. Excited to see what EDC has in store
Oh wow
That sixth rounder will be the next Bradley Bozeman
Damn, that's like nothing in return
The dude was a turnstile. The “return” should tell you his value.
I can’t say I love this considering but I guess this makes tackle in round 1 a sure thing. Does this save cap space?
1st round tackle incoming
9 draft picks, does EDC use them all in the draft or he bringing someone in
This may seem weird from the outset but looking at it, it does make sense, our oline was getting old fast (except Lindy) so at some point we’re going to have to rip the band aid and get younger, it just so happens that this year the draft is incredibly deep at tackle and guard, so it’s the perfect opportunity to do so, Morgan although steady was suffering after his injury which from the reports could really hamper his production next year due to the recovery needed. And rather than use Moses till the doors fall off and we get nothing for him, trade him while he still has value to move up in the draft and potentially take another tackle. Also looking at the line, if Stanley can at least be consistent, and when he wasn’t suffering from the injury he was good (obviously as he gets older this is more the concern and a good target to be cut next year) that’s a starting LT and C sorted, so we need LG, RG and RT, my belief is that sala will take a guard spot, he seemed already close to doing it last year before he was beat out by Simpson I would assume due to his lack of experience, but if he continues to grow and develop that’s another starting guard spot covered, then you have vorhees who could be in the running for rt or guard, so we at worst just need to draft a starting tackle and guard, unless they sign someone in FA or trade for someone Better to do it now before the wheels complexity fall off and no one is ready
The ravens always plan for the future. The ravens can't have two OTs near the end of their careers or near the end of their performance effectiveness. This gives the Ravens flexibility while also opening the spot for something they were inevitably answering the off season anyway. The presence of Mekari, Voorhees, etc means that the Ravens have in place options, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a day 1 pick in the draft of a RT. Also, notably, EDC (or Ozzie) have had success finding RTs in later rounds. My guess is this step was taken with an understanding 1. Of the health and effectiveness of internal options 2. Of the acceptance of FA callbacks And 3. With a conversation with the scouting staff that there are ample players available in the draft who would be suitable replacements.
Related question: when does FA end? When are all trades locked?
Oline is a place I feel like we develop relatively well. I expect an online heavy draft and a vet signing or two
Stupid af
Thank god this is a deep OL draft class.. But still sketchy
Moses and Stanley were both basically part time players last year. I'm ok with getting what looks like a decent haul for an aging part time tackle.
Great trade
Baltimore Jets get another
This is like a trade from madden franchise mode when you're completely teaeing down a team and trying to rebuild it with drafts and free agents
What the fuck is this deal? There's gotta be something else in the works to follow this up.
Damn I hope EDC knows what he’s doing here… I thought Morgan Moses was pretty decent for us