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
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
All it took was quite possibly the greatest back in the NFL to go down, but nonetheless, Baltimore’s own Willis McGahee will be heading to Hawaii for his first Pro Bowl.
“To be going with three other Ravens is also special,” McGahee said in a statement. “It is a goal that I have had for a long time, and I am going to enjoy every second of this.”
McGahee finished 8th in the NFL in rushing yards (1,207 yards, 7 touchdowns) in 15 games with the Ravens.
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.
I was about 45 minutes outside of St. Louis, en route to Chicago, when I got the text alert from WNST about the hire. Talk about Murphy’s Law! I immediately started to scour billboards for any sign of WiFi access to unload my laptop and post. So, here I sit at a McDonalds in Litchfield, Illinois. Posting the news. (I didn’t include anything about “loving it” — you’re welcome)
“I’m a football coach, and I am excited to be the head coach of the Ravens,” said Harbaugh in a statement to the media. “It’s a big job and an opportunity to work with great people. I cannot wait to get started.”
Harbaugh, 45, becomes the third coach in Baltimore Ravens franchise history. A news conference is scheduled for tomorrow at noon.
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The long