Adam Schefter of the NFL network is reporting that the Ravens will be putting the Franchise Tag on OLB/DE Terrell Suggs. League rules state this his salary would then be the average of the top-five players in his position.
This leads to some interesting maneuvering from the front office. With three of the top five and six of the top 20 highest-paid players (including bonuses) being defensive ends, it makes sense to save the $814,000 by applying the LB tag.
Here are the salary breakdowns:
DE: Julius Peppers, Jason Taylor, Justin Smith, Jevon Kearse and Michael Strahan make up the elite 5 in the DE category, with a franchise salary of $8,879,000.
LB: Ray Lewis, Zach Thomas, Keith Brooking, Keith Bulluck and Nick Barnett make up the highest paid quintet in the LB category, with a franchise salary of $8,065,000.
According to the USA Today Salaries Databases, the Ravens had the 10th highest payroll in the NFL ($104,997,764).
Maybe we should have saved our money and drafted Kevin Hart right out of High School. He really wants to play Division-I ball!
Aaron Wilson has a nice feature story on RavensInsider about Terrell Suggs and his pending unrestricted free agent/franchise tag status.
If Suggs is franchised, he would cost the Ravens $8.065M against the cap ($8.065M being the average of the top five salaries at his position). The Ravens have until February 21st to apply the franchise tag and keep Suggs from becoming a highly sought-after unrestricted free agent.
Rumors are flying that Suggs is seeking a better contract than the one Adalius Thomas signed last year with the New England Patriots (5 years, $35M) and Dwight Freeney’s insane six-year, $72M ($30M guaranteed) contact with the Colts.
Moments after I posted the coaching update yesterday, the Ravens and Coach Harbaugh made some more personnel acquisitions. The updated list, current as of this morning, is below:
Head Coach: John Harbaugh
Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator: Rex Ryan
Offensive Coordinator: Cam Cameron
Special Teams Coordinator: Jerry Rosburg
Defensive Line Coach: Clarence Brooks
Outside Linebackers Coach: Mike Pettine
Secondary Coach: Mark Carrier
Running Backs Coach: Wilbert Montgomery
Offensive Line Coach: John Matsko
Assistant Offensive Line Coach: Andy Moeller
Tight Ends Coach: Wade Harman
Special Assistant to the Head Coach: Vic Fangio
Quarterbacks Coach: Hue Jackson
File this under the “Good to Know” category: the Ravens ARE NOT pitching an offer to the Eagles for Donovan McNabb. No word on the cans of Chunky Soup.
“We have not had one meeting to discuss any personnel on our team or anyone else’s team,” Newsome said yesterday. “We’ve been very busy hiring assistant coaches.”
We already have an injury-prone QB and he’s currently rehabbing his non-throwing shoulder this off-season. With wholesale coaching changes across the board (with the obvious exception being Rex Ryan), who’s to say that the Ravens won’t roll with Troy Smith and a backup to be named later until they can draft/develop a QB of their own? Why trade a first round pick for a veteran during a transition year? It just doesn’t make sense.
Baltimore Ravens coaching staff update, as of February 5, 2007:
Head Coach: John Harbaugh
Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator: Rex Ryan
Offensive Coordinator: Cam Cameron
Special Teams Coordinator: Jerry Rosburg
Defensive Line Coach: Clarence Brooks
Outside Linebackers Coach: Mike Pettine
Secondary Coach: Mark Carrier
Running Backs Coach: Wilbert Montgomery
Offensive Line Coach: John Matsko
Tight Ends Coach: Wade Harman
Special Assistant to the Head Coach: Vic Fangio
I asked Jeff Williams, the Sports Cartel’s resident Chargers expert, about Cam Cameron. I told him to be honest and not hold anything back — that we wanted a real fan perspective of how Cam handles an offense, players, et cetera.
Here’s what he had to say:
Tenure with the Chargers
Cam Cameron was brought in to replace former offensive coordinator Norv Turner in 2002 (previously Cam actually coached under Norv with the Redskins). Cam’s primary directive after joining the Chargers- maintain the singleback-focused offensive scheme that had been installed by Norv Turner. Cam not only maintained that offensive system, but he built upon it. RB LaDainian Tomlinson grew into one of the premier runningbacks in the league, and QB Philip Rivers made the Pro Bowl in his first year as a starter. In 2005 the Chargers had a 3,500 yard passer (Drew Brees), and 1000-yard RB (LT) and a 1000-yard receiver (TE Antonio Gates) for the first time since Dan Fouts led the Chargers in the early 80’s. In 2006 the Chargers led the league in scoring and went an NFL-best 14-2…before losing in the playoffs.
Ah, the playoffs. For all the good that you can say about Cam, he will forever be linked to the coaching staff that led the Chargers to multiple choke-jobs in the post-season. After the offensive performance put on by the Chargers offense in 2006, it was believe that we finally had everything in place to make a post-season run. But in our first game (divisional round), the offense that was on the field did not seem to be the offense that we had become accustomed to with Cam. Leading after the half, Cam called only 9 running plays for his MVP RB in the 2nd half, still baffling since Tomlinson dominated most of the first half. QB Rivers was ineffective in the 2nd half and the Chargers went on to lose to the Patriots. For all the heat former head coach Marty Schottenheimer took for his miserable playoff record, much of this loss was laid squarely on the shoulders of OC Cam Cameron.
In Cam’s time with the Chargers, coaches were not allowed to talk to the media. Thus, there isn’t anything that can be pulled from press conferences or media interviews. Still, the players seemed to enjoy playing for him, and there were no negative comments ever made by players about Cam or the offensive coaches in San Diego. He was believed to be a QB guru, but he seemed to take a hands off approach with young QB Rivers. When Norv Turner returned to the Chargers, he created the perception that Rivers had not been sufficiently developed under the previous coaching staff. Maybe that’s just one man’s opinion, but there never did seem to be a close relationship that developed between Rivers and Cam.
Cam would not be my first choice for head coach, but he would be at the top of the list for offensive coordinator. He made the most of the offensive talent around him with the Chargers, but unfortunately took over a Dolphins team that had virtually no talent. I imagine that he has the desire to prove that he can be a successful OC and to prove that he is worth another chance at head coach down the road.
Per WNST’s text alert: Cam Cameron has just been named the Ravens offensive coordinator. Aaron Wilson of RavensInsider is reporting that Cameron is at the Castle negotiating terms and conditions of the deal right now.
I’m still catching up from a weekend trip to Chicago (where I was greeted with 2 degree weather and a -18 degree wind chill), so you’ll have to forgive the stream-of-consciousness style of this post. I’m still thawing - much like Tom Coughlin’s cheeks. Seriously, dude. It was -4 degrees last night in Green Bay. It’s a miracle you don’t have frostbite over 70% of your face.
… and speaking of faces, some Patriots fans with recently purchased tickets on the New England Bandwagon love to giggle and point out the “Manning face“. Thanks to the younger, less experienced Manning last night, we now have the Favre face:
“Waaaaah, I can’t start collecting social security for another 4 years.”
Fun with numbers, hyperbole
I caught the intro to the NFC Championship game on Westwood One radio about 10 minutes from my front door. The color guy mentioned that “90% of America wants to see Brett Favre play the Patriots in the Super Bowl.” Well, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected to 01/21/08 at 18:20 GMT (EST+5) is 303,279,395.
Perhaps there really are272,951,456 Packer Backers out there… but please: can we stop painting with our hyperbole brushes? Case in point: please stop referring to the Patriots as a “Dynasty”. The Zhou were a Dynasty. The Ming were a dynasty. The Patriots are a football team. When they can win 276 championships in a row like the Ming will they be worthy of such a title.
Welcome to Baltimore, John Harbaugh
Murphy’s Law dictated that I wouldn’t be around any technology for the hiring/announcement of the Ravens coach, so I wasn’t able to catch up on media coverage until late last night. Damn you, Murphy. Damn you.
First, I’d like to say that I’m really excited about what John Harbaugh brings to the team. He sounds like the kind of coach that’s going to really work every ounce of talent out of the active roster and demand 110% on every snap in practice and during games. By all accounts - and I’m sure you’ve read them by now - Harbaugh is a sharp guy and hard-worker. The days of Mike Preston calling training camp ‘Camp Cream Puff’ are over (even though Mike McCarthy and other coaches around the league regularly rest veterans).
Now Harbaugh is scrambling to pick his coaches. While technically not “fired”, all of the coordinators and position coaches were “released,” which essentially means that they can be retained if Harbaugh likes ‘em. Rumors are floating around that if Rex Ryan doesn’t get the head coaching job in Atlanta that Bisciotti will give him a raise to keep him on the staff.
Problem solved.
On the other side of the ball, it’s really Harbaugh’s call. The Sun thinks that he’ll pick Eagles QB coach Pat Shurmur. I’m not sold on Shurmur, but if he helps transition Harbaugh from position coach to head coach with an already established working relationship, I’m all for it. As Billick proved last season, you can always fire friends who happen to be OCs.
What do you think? Who should Harbaugh target for his coordinators?
Art imitates life
I was on YouTube this morning and found a Coming to America clip where Eddie Murphy’s character, Prince Akeem, talks about how the Giants of New York defeated the Packers of Green Bay by kicking an oblong ball through a big H. Strange:
Just because the Ravens hired a head coach doesn’t mean that the coaching carousel stops — or even slows down. As Harbaugh fills out his staff, many questions remain.
Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Ravens are attempting to retain Rex Ryan as Defensive Coordinator for Harbaugh’s staff. Whispers around the Castle (okay, so it’s the worst kept secret) have Harbaugh tapping Eagles QB Coach Pat Shurmur as his Offensive Coordinator.
If you’re Rex — and had your professional career placed in limbo while being told you were out of the Ravens head coaching search — how do you react?
Well, the way I see it, he has two options if the Atlanta HC job doesn’t pan out:
Tell Bisciotti and Cass to get bent; a job will eventually open up (coordinator or otherwise).
Take the DC job with the Ravens, but make a Jason Garrett power play and cash in.
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