Pro Bowl unrestricted free agent Ben Grubbs is a player the Ravens would love to keep – provided the cost isn’t exorbitant and that it doesn’t tilt the scales so heavily towards the interior of the offensive line that they can’t afford a quality long-term tackle for Joe Flacco’s blind side.
Some have suggested that the Baltimore Ravens release Bryant McKinnie to create cap space for Grubbs. But wouldn’t solving one problem (not being able to afford Grubbs) trigger another problem at left tackle?
Granted, McKinnie wasn’t the end-all-be-all at left tackle but he was serviceable and the Ravens inability to advance beyond the AFC Championship could hardly be hung on his shoulders.
But let’s look at the economics…
McKinnie received a $1M bonus last year, so $500K of that $4.2M (his 2012 cap figure) would still count towards this year’s cap if he is released. The $3.7M savings would go a long way toward creating room for Grubbs, but if the Ravens replace McKinnie with a stop gap solution, chances are they would have to sign someone who would earn close to the same amount that the team would save through a McKinnie release.
The team could turn the blind side duties back over to Michael Oher and have Jah Reid, a player the team is apparently high on, fill in at right tackle. But Oher has struggled at left tackle. Do the Ravens really want to go there again? What if Reid isn’t ready to be a starter? What’s next, Ramon Harewood? Another unproven rookie? A sub-standard journeyman like Tony Moll?
Unless the Ravens are willing to assume these risks, the only way that Grubbs remains a Raven is if he’s willing to give the team a hometown discount.
Didn’t we have a similar conversation a few years back regarding Jason Brown?
We see how that worked out right?
