After a week of hype after “fax-gate”, Elvis Dumervil, former Denver Defensive End, has agreed to terms with the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens had signed Chris Canty and Marcus Spears, but this is the marquee signing that Baltimore fans have been waiting for. The three-time Pro-Bowler will certainly make an impact from day one, on and off the field.
Dumervil is expected to start at Outside Linebacker in Dean Pees’ 3-4 defense. Elvis is no stranger to playing in the system. He had his best career season playing in the 3-4 in 2009 when he registered 17 sacks to lead the Broncos. He also forced four fumbles, and wreaked havoc all across the NFL.
A source close to Russell Street Report revealed that the team believes they’ve signed a player who is better than Paul Kruger for a fraction of the price.
Dumervil will replace Kruger, who left for Cleveland after his breakout 2012 season. Surprisingly enough, Dumervil will come significantly cheaper than Kruger would have. The former-Raven signed for $40 million over five years, while Dumervil has agreed to terms for a five year, 35-million dollar deal, per Adam Schefter.
Want even better news? Dumervil will cost Denver’s cap $4.5M, 2 million MORE than he will cost the Ravens this year. RSR’s capologist Brian McFarland has tweeted that the deal will leave the Ravens with $5.687M in cap space once completed.
Across the league, you’ll hear something along these lines “Oh, Ozzie DID have a plan.” Let’s be honest, anyone who has been around Newsome and knows his system, saw it coming!
Look back on a couple situations in the past. The Ravens had Dawan Landry, but let him go because of the money he was asking. Instead, Newsome worked his magic again. Ozzie replaced him with the more productive and less expensive Bernard Pollard.
That worked out pretty well.
How about Matt Birk? Preceding him was Jason Brown, who would have been a huge cap hit for Baltimore. Birk was signed at a lesser price, and was a rock in the ever-changing offensive line.
Many talked about Newsome and “how he has a plan”, but this is a unique scenario. Everyone knows about Ozzie’s “right player, right price” motto, and this solidifies one thing:
Ozzie Newsome is the best General Manager in the NFL.
Elvis Dumervil will be in Baltimore on Tuesday to take a physical, and finalize the deal.
