The Ravens’ biggest priced free agent, Kelechi Osemele, is expected to sign with the Oakland Raiders. The deal is expected to be in excess of $10 million/year. The RSR staff react to the news.
When the market opens tomorrow, Kelechi Osemele will become the newest member of the #Raiders. The two sides have an agreement in principle.
— Rand Getlin (@RandGetlin) March 8, 2016
For Kelechi Osemele and the #Raiders, the deal they've agreed to in principle will pay him an $11.7M per year base with a max value of $12M.
— Rand Getlin (@RandGetlin) March 8, 2016
The Kelechi Osemele deal — 5 years, $60M max — is wild. Highest paid guard in NFL history. Crazy $$. #Raiders beef up that line.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2016
Brian McFarland
It is what it is.
Reports say that Osemele’s deal is going to “blow the top off of the Guard market”. Osemele was always going to go to the highest bidder, so the Ravens really didn’t have a chance. They weren’t going to pay him $10-12M/year on the chance that he could hold up at LT (after just a 4 game audition) and they wouldn’t be able to justify, Cap-wise, a return to Guard at that price.
Assuming no UFA signings, they will gladly take 4 years of very solid, cheap play from Osemele and a 3rd round Comp pick in 2017.
Mike Fast
I’m in the minority, and I know how PFF ranked guards last year, but I thought Osemele was Baltimore’s best lineman last year.
Losing him will be a huge loss as he could play left guard or left tackle, which would’ve especially come in handy considering the doubt surrounding Eugene Monroe.
I suppose there was only so much that could’ve been done considering cap restrictions, but man this is going to hurt.
Joe Polek
Osemele is a big loss for the Ravens… but I have confidence that Ozzie will replace him. It’s the first loss in Free Agency of what will probably be a bunch of losses. This team will look a lot different in August than it looks today. Osemele will be missed but he is not irreplaceable.
Kyle Rate
K.O. was an outstanding Raven and he will be missed badly. It always seemed like he was a type of player that Baltimore would be unable to afford, and for whom Ozzie would not break the bank. His contract numbers will blow the roof off the guard market. It’s not all doom and gloom for the Ravens. Even though they seem over Eugene Monroe, there are still talented offensive linemen on the roster. I don’t see the line being a weakness come August.
Also, at first my reaction was “Oakland….where careers go to die” but that narrative is no longer accurate–the Raiders have an extremely talented young corps of athletic players and got much better today. It’s not outlandish to see them taking that division next year, especially if Brock Osweiler moves on.
Ryan Jones
A lot of people will say Osemele was overpaid. He’s following in the footsteps of players like Torrey Smith, Pernell McPhee, Paul Kruger and all the other players who priced themselves out of Baltimore after playing out their rookie contracts. I used to agree with this logic, but my mind is starting to change.
The Ravens have never been active in free agency. That way of going about business is fine if you are able to retain your own talent. The Ravens haven’t been able to do that in recent years. Too many players are leaving Baltimore as they are reaching their prime. I understand it’s a balancing act, and a difficult one at that. You can’t keep all the good players you draft. But it’s a balance the Ravens haven’t been able to find recently. They’ve paid the wrong players like Dennis Pitta coming of a major hip injury. Why not franchise him? They gave Ray Rice, a running back, a $40 million dollar contract. They gave Lardarius Webb a massive six year deal after one good season.
The left tackle position is now an immediate need, as is pass rusher. Kelechi Osemele will be mauling people in Oakland and Pernell McPhee will be a disruptive force in Chicago for years to come. Meanwhile Dennis Pitta hasn’t played in almost two years and Lardarius Webb is the third highest paid free safety because he’s not good enough to play corner anymore. Hindsight is 20/20 but maybe the Ravens should get a thicker pair of glasses.
Kyle Casey
Big loss but nothing the Ravens could really have done about it. We knew Osemele would cash in during free agency and Baltimore’s cap situation simply didn’t match up with K.O.’s market value.
This might buy Eugene Monroe another year in Baltimore.
Dev Panchwagh
There’s not really much the Ravens could have done here. If they offered KO the second most money to Flacco, more than Yanda, and he still wanted even more, then it’s elementary that the financial fit wasn’t there. KO is worth top guard money, but he’s not worth “blowing the top off the guard market.” Especially not when the team is are already paying top dollar to the best in the game. From a replacement standpoint, the Ravens can now use some of that KO money to make a play on the market. Finding a more cost-prohibitive alternative (like they did when they signed Matt Birk to replace Jason Brown a few years ago), would be the move I’d make. Also, don’t sleep on Ryan Jensen who filled in well at LG and added tenacity to the run game.
Mark Weingram
A year ago, we all forecasted very safely that the Ravens would be unable to retain the services of both Yanda and Osemele. At that point it was a matter of trying to divine the best way to keep one. Ozzie insists that he pays players for their future service and not past performance, but it is a little harder to perceive that in the decision to extend Yanda into his final contract and not pay KO into his second.
To be fair, the back injury (from which Osemele has seemingly held up very well) should make the Ravens a little trigger shy, and the projections about the contract he gets mean that he and Yanda aren’t really in the same salary airspace. That said, it is disappointing to see KO leave. The one solace I take is not simply that he will likely net a third round compensatory pick, but that those picks will be tradable next year which increases their value.
Adam Bonaccorsi
While fans may feel the need to grumble about KO leaving town, I get it from Osemele’s standpoint. Players want to get paid and Oakland’s offer should make KO a very financially secure man. If the dollars had been close to Baltimore’s offer, I would think he would opt to stay in town, but alas, he’s moving on to KOakland (rimshot!)
As for the Ravens, I think Ozzie knew all along KO was on his way out the door. The team could have adjusted Flacco’s new contract to allow for more cap space on the front end in order to keep KO in town, but they opted to spread the wealth over the duration of the deal instead. Could this mean they have a backup plan for KO’s void within the current roster? Maybe in free agency with their eye on a specific target? Or maybe looking at the 1st round of the draft if Tunsil falls or potentially trading back and grabbing Stanley? Only time will tell…
Brian Bower
No big shock considering he waited this long not signing with the Ravens. Solid player who certainly deserves to cash in early in his career. Wishing him nothing but the best.
 Ken McKusick
It’s been an absolute pleasure watching him play these 4 years.
My fondest memory will probably be his road grading performance versus the Colts in the 2012 Wild Card game, his first at guard. Want to give it the eye test? The game is still out there on NFL Rewind. Try looking through the Ravens run plays (that’ll take you less than 10 minutes). You’ll see he made 15 exceptional blocks on the 29 runs (excludes 3 kneels). He followed that up with another terrific game in SB XLVII and it was apparent the Ravens had the best pair of guards in the league. I recall questions about his mobility for blocks in level 2. His decision making and ability to quickly find a block there is as good as anyone I’ve seen, including Yanda.
Will he be a good LT? His overall performance there was just a little better than average. However, his pass blocking was outstanding, and I think that’s the best indicator he’ll be fine if asked to stay there.
