Ravens Reportedly Have Made 'Very Competitive Offer' to Bobby Wagner
Something tells me plenty of Ravens fans were anxiously clicking on Bobby Wagner's name every time they saw the six-time All-Pro linebacker trending on Twitter over the weekend.
Wagner reportedly visited the Ravens on Friday. He remains unsigned, but a tweet from Josina Anderson of CBS Sports and USA Today is cause for some degree of optimism.
Wagner also reportedly visited the Los Angeles Rams earlier last week. According to NBC Sports’ Peter King, Wagner's asking price is too rich for the Rams
"The Rams have legitimate interest, but not at Wagner's price — he's thought to be asking for about $11 million on a one-year deal," King wrote. "The 32-year-old linebacker is still playing very well, and he'd be a luxury item for the Super Bowl champs. If he wants to stay in the same division as the team that dropped him, Seattle, Wagner will have to recalibrate his asking price down. He may just find another team — Baltimore? Dallas? — with more money available."
The Ravens are tight against the cap, but there are ways (releases, restructures, etc.) to gain cap space.
Ravens Wire’s Kevin Oestreicher said that signing Wagner is a "no-brainer" for the Ravens if the price was right.
"Wagner has the makings of a signing that Baltimore would make," Oestreicher wrote. "He's an accomplished player that was released, still has plenty left in the tank, and would fit on the team."
Head Coach John Harbaugh wouldn't comment directly when asked if the team was interested in Wagner at the NFL owners meetings yesterday.
"We never really comment on who's visited or hasn't visited and those kinds of things in free agency, but Bobby Wagner's out there," Harbaugh said. "We're looking at everybody. I can't sit here and say we're not talking about or to Bobby Wagner. We'll see what happens with that and other things we're working on right now. I mean, one thing about Eric [DeCosta] — Eric and [Ozzie Newsome], both, and all of our guys — they work at it. So we'll see what happens."
Whether Wagner signs with the Ravens could ultimately come down to this question: How much does he like crab cakes?
Pundit Says Ravens Are Biggest Question Mark in AFC Because of Lamar Jackson's Contract Situation
Lamar Jackson's contract situation continues to be a talking point for NFL pundits.
When Harbaugh was asked yesterday if any progress on a contract extension for the quarterback had been made, he said he had no new information but is "confident it's going to happen." He added that he doesn't see it being a distraction.
Good Morning Football's Peter Schrager isn't so sure about that last part. He said the fact that Jackson — who is set to play this season under the fifth-year option of his rookie contract — still doesn't have a deal makes the Ravens the biggest question mark in the AFC.
"Here we are in another offseason, we're going now into April and Lamar Jackson still doesn't have a long-term deal. Fascinating," Schrager said. "And if that isn't addressed, does that hover over the Ravens all season long because, gosh, going into the final year of his contract, are you serious?"
As other pundits have noted, Schrager said the fact that Jackson doesn't have an agent and appears in no hurry to get a deal done makes for an unusual dynamic.
"Complicating things even more, Lamar is not a guy of many words," Schrager said. "He isn't represented by a Tom Condon, or a Drew Rosenhaus, or a Joel Segal. He does his own business. What a fascinating situation."
Football Outsiders: Ravens Get a 'C' Grade for Offseason Moves
The Ravens have made several sound moves in free agency thus far, but Football Outsiders’ Mike Tanier isn't overly impressed.
Here's the breakdown for how Tanier graded the Ravens' offseason moves:
Improved Roster: C-
Used Resources Well: C+
Coherent Plan: C
"Za'Darius Smith wriggling free before they could haul him into the boat was a big loss for the Ravens," Tanier wrote. "Most of their other moves have been roughly lateral: center Bradley Bozeman for tackle Morgan Moses, safety Marcus Williams for cornerback Anthony Averett. There are also lots of older in-house free agents in the wind at press time (Calais Campbell, Jimmy Smith, Brandon Williams, etc.). A few will likely return, but the Ravens won't be able to afford many."
It's all subjective, but I wouldn't call the signing of Moses and Williams lateral moves. A strong case can be made that they were shrewd moves that made the Ravens better on both sides of the ball.
Would A.J. Green Be Valuable Bargain for Ravens?
Would one of the Ravens' all-time biggest nemeses be a good fit with the team next season?
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox looked at the best fits for "bargain-bin free agents," and he believes Baltimore would be a good landing spot for wide receiver A.J. Green.
The Ravens like their young wide receiving corps, which is led by Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and Rashod Bateman and also includes Devin Duvernay and James Proche II, but it doesn't seem out of the question for them to add an affordable veteran to the group.
"He's not well-suited for a rebuilding team, but the veteran would be a fine addition to a win-now squad," Knox wrote. "The Packers could consider Green as a complementary piece. He would also be a solid fit for the Baltimore Ravens, who have struggled to provide Lamar Jackson with reliable perimeter targets."
The 33-year-old Green was a seven-time Pro Bowler in nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before spending the past two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.
Green had 54 catches for 848 yards last season, his best numbers since 2017.
Free agent Sammy Watkins filled the veteran receiver role last season for the Ravens, but he posted career lows in receptions (27), yards (394) and touchdowns (one). He missed four games, marking the seventh consecutive season in which he's been sidelined for multiple games due to injury.
Green, who has had injury issues of his own in the past, missed only one game during his two seasons in Arizona, and that was for testing positive for COVID-19.
On a side note, Knox also identified the Ravens as a good fit for edge rusher Arden Key, who reportedly visited the team last week.
Quick Hits
