Today the talk is about Daylight Savings Time.
On Tuesday the buzz will be about Pay-Light Savings Time for the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL free agent hunting season begins a midnight on Tuesday and despite the existence of tampering rules, some free agents will miraculously agree to new deals by 12:01 AM on Tuesday.
Remember when Maake Kemoeatu was signed by the Carolina Panthers to 5 year, $23 million deal in 2006 with $8 million of it guaranteed? The only thing that moved faster than Maake to pen and paper was Ozzie Newsome’s wave of goodbye. Kemoeatu never played a down in his first season with the Panthers after blowing out his Achilles in training camp.
Back in 2009 Rex Ryan camped out at Bart Scott’s driveway, waiting to bring the Madbacker to the Big Apple? Rex rolled out the “green” carpet that included 6 years at $48 million, $27 million during the first 3 seasons. Today, now that he’s just a part-time player, Scott had THIS to say when asked if he’d like to leave the Big Apple.
Ever since the failed free agent signing of Domonique Foxworth, the Ravens have been spectators and not participants when high priced free agents are signed as hunting season begins. They’d rather spend to keep their own core players (like Suggs and Ngata) and augment those signings with quality B-level players who outperform their contracts as Ravens. Players like Vonta Leach and Bernard Pollard come to mind.
That’s value and that’s Pay-Light Savings Time!
Of course this will mean saying goodbye to some players who fans would love to keep around. The team has already parted ways with Chris Carr, Lee Evans and Domonique Foxworth. Not many will miss those players. But there are a few others who have likely played their last down as Ravens because the dollars they will likely command don’t provide commensurate value to the team.
The names include: Ben Grubbs, Jarret Johnson, Haruki Nakamura and Tom Zbikowski. Others who could also be gone are Cory Redding, Matt Birk and Brendan Ayanbadejo.
Some will label the Ravens cheap.
Others will say Ozzie is asleep at the switch. I know, I’ve done the same in the past.
But offseasons shouldn’t be measured by who spends the most on Tuesday. Just ask Dan Snyder or Andy Reid. Instead an offseason should be measured in its totality and the total picture isn’t complete until the teams take the field on the second Sunday in September.
Enjoy Pay-Light Savings Time.
I’m pretty sure Ozzie & Company will.
