Ozzie Newsome and the Baltimore Ravens front office are frequently praised as one of the best in the business, by both their peers and national media. The Wizard of Oz is often lauded as a top GM in the NFL, and for good reason. He orchestrates savvy trades for guys like Eugene Monroe and Jeremy Zuttah. He has an eye for undrafted talent like Marlon Brown and Justin Tucker, and the Ravens sign players like Steve Smith to bargain contracts that have huge positive impacts on the team’s success.
Winning two Super Bowls in twelve years and making the playoff for five straight years is a major accomplishment in a league that is filled with so much parity and talent.
Despite all these accomplishments, the Ravens are 13-12 since hoisting the Lombardi in New Orleans 19 months ago. While they have looked elite at times, they’ve looked dreadful at others, and the reality is that in that time span they’ve been a mediocre team. Their record over that 25 games is a directly reflection of the personnel moves they’ve made. While they’ve hit some home runs with guys like Steve Smith, CJ Mosley and upgrades along their offensive line, they’ve swung and missed with some decisions and contracts, which in hindsight frankly are looking like mistakes.
Their drafts the last two years have been average. Yes the 2014 draft class appears to be taking shape. CJ Mosley is a stud and there’s a lot of potential all the way down to the bottom with Michael Campanaro. The 2013 class however has been a major disappointment. The struggles of Matt Elam and the disappearance of Arthur Brown have been well documented and outside of Kyle Juszczyk and Brandon Williams there has been little to no impact.
There have been questionable contract extensions and deals as well. The Dennis Pitta situation this year was painful to watch unfold. Pitta is an incredibly talented player who seems like an even better guy. But wouldn’t it have been smarter for the Ravens to franchise a player coming off an injury so serious that initially his career was in doubt? Instead they gave him five years and $32.5 million with $16 million in guaranteed money.
In addition, the Ravens handed out a plethora of contracts to aging stars who have looked every bit their age up to this point this year. Daryl Smith has been a liability in coverage while the Ravens have a second round pick from last year in street clothes every week. Jacoby Jones outside of this past week has clearly lacked confidence and explosiveness. And Terrell Suggs has been solid but has not even come close to being with a four-year $28 million dollar extension.
While Joe Flacco’s contract gets tricky with his cap number being $28 million in 2016, the Ravens had no choice but to pay him after his Super Bowl MVP run. If they hadn’t someone else would have. Who knows what actually happened at the negotiating table before the 2012 season, but if the Ravens could go back in time I’m sure they would find a way to get a deal done.
Hindsight is 20/20 and Ravens fans are fortunate to cheer for a team that competes consistently every year. The reality though is the Ravens, over the past 19 months, have been a direct reflection of the personnel decisions they’ve made, and the results have been average. The middle-of-the-pack team you see is what you get.
