With contract negotiations between the Ravens and Eugene Monroe at a standstill, it’s looking more and more like the Ravens may need to go in another direction protecting Joe Flacco’s blindside.
The gap between the parties is described as significant. Reports have the Ravens offering Monroe between $8-$9 million per season. Monroe seems to think he’s worth more, with his representatives more in the $10 million per season neighborhood.
Feedback from fans seems mixed regarding the Ravens hard stance on where they stand with Monroe. Some agree with the Ravens. Monroe is not worth $10 million per season. While he would be nice to retain it has to be at the right price. While Monroe is a solid left tackle, he isn’t elite, and paying him the salary he wants would put him in that category.
The other half is looking at it another way and there seems to common reference among them. Are the Ravens really going to let him walk over a couple million dollars? He is the best available option. Didn’t the Ravens learn their lesson last year with Anquan Boldin? Get it done one way or another.
Let’s not sugar coat it, the handling of Boldin was a big mistake. His presence was missed on the field and in the locker room as other veterans retired and signed elsewhere. We knew this from week one when Boldin went off for over 200 hundred yards. It felt like we were being kicked when we were down after the Ravens were dominated by Denver. If the Ravens could go back in time they’d surely handle it differently.
That said the two situations really aren’t comparable and fans who want to draw correlations are just wrong.
Anquan Boldin was a key reason the Ravens won their second Lombardi. He was a man on a mission reeling in 4 touchdowns for 380 yards in the playoffs. He loved Baltimore and never wanted to leave. He said initially he’d retire if he was released or traded. He simply wanted to be paid for the contract he signed – no more, no less. To say he earned it would be a gross understatement. The Ravens aren’t lifting the Lombardi without him.
Eugene Monroe is the best available left tackle on the market in 2014; he may be the 10th best left tackle in the NFL. He wants $10 million a year and he will most likely get it. It’s as simple as supply and demand. Someone will overpay him.
But the Ravens have made it clear that it won’t be them.
Their offer is fair and if it’s not good enough, they’ll let him walk, as they should.
That’s why the Ravens contend every year. That’s why despite a transition year they were within one game of making the playoffs. They don’t panic at the negotiating table and they don’t overpay players based on the market in a given year.
A couple million dollars was what ended up causing the Ravens and Boldin to part ways. The way things are looking that could very well be the case with Eugene Monroe as well.
The difference is Boldin earned it, Monroe hasn’t.
