We Must Show AD The Money

[PurpleRulz]

AD has to be the best player on our defense. He can do it all. He passrushes, defends the run, and can play anywhere on the D. You don't let players like this get away. Show this guy the love/money. I think Ozzie will. I think players will restructure their deals so that we can keep AD. Give this guy his money. If we go over the cap, hell, pay the fine! The Deadskins always do.

[RavenFanatic2k6]

I think Scott is the best player on our D, but I do agree we need to resign AD.

[bassgtrst]

Thank god Scott was on our side of the ball today.

The guy already has 5 sacks and its only week 3!!!

I think he and AD both could be in the running for ProBowl starts this year if we get 1 or 2 of those flex-schedule games.

[PurpleRulz]

Honestly, and as much as I appreciate Ray Lewis's contributions over the years and even this season, Ray could annouce that he is retiring after the season, and we would still be in great hands.

We would still have Bart Scott, Terrell Suggs, and AD (if re-signed). Those three are our future.

Thomas must be re-signed, and I think it gets done. He is the type of player Ozzie will fight to keep.

[Merlin]

Is there a precedent for signing him during the season?

[Brandon]

I would love for the RAVENS to sign Adalius Thomas, but I really don't see it happening with how well he is playing and the fact that Dan Cody is a 2nd round draft pick who will need to play sometime. Add to that, the salary cap issue coming up within the next two years.

If Adalius Thomas keeps playing as well as he is, he will be too expensive to retain. I think the best case scenario would be for him to take a hometown discount, which he did the last time we signed him. I don't think he would be willing to do that again.

[braven98]

AD Also can play every position on defense.pay him now

[deuce]

AD must stay a Raven. I read somewhere a while back that the salry cap was expected to increase fairly dramatically over the next couple years. Does anyone have any info on how it increases % wise, etc.?

[FadeToBlack]

Bart Scott better than AD? C'mon. AD has been doing it for several years. Scott is just getting started.

[52decleetzu]

The cap will be anywhere from 105-110 million,depending on the final revenues the league generates.It should be no problem retaining AD if we want to,which I really dont know why we wouldnt.Lets hope that he stays under the radar,gets snubbed again by the Pro Bowl and doesnt recieve any mega offers when FA comes.But like I said in a previous post,every game he plays his price goes higher and higher and more people around the league are aware of how good this guy really is.

[RavenScallywag]

I'd love for AD to stay, but the situation sounds like his play is going to price him out. Some team will overpay for him, and Dan Cody will eventually be good enough to replace him. Let's at least enjoy him while we have him.

[GreenWave52]

People are complaining about Ray losing a step and he is 32. We give AD the big time long term contract and we are going to be left with a lot of dead cap space when he can't finish it.

AD is great now, but I actually think will be his peak season. It is a contract year and he is about to turn 30, don't underestimate that. He knows this is his one chance for big bucks. It very well could be all down from here.

A 4 year deal would be ideal. The problem is with the type of bonus money he is going to want it will have to be a 6 year deal (I'd be shocked if its under 5 years) to spread it out and not choke the salary cap. And the thought of having a 35-36 year old LBer is somewhat frightening (especially if he isn't a sure fire HOFer).

AD has one, maybe two more great years left but he will be overpaid for the large majority of that contract. Remember, most of the time we sign our own to big money deals it is their second contract, usually right before their rookie deals expire. This will be AD's third contract. If I recall negotiations got ugly with his second contract and I doubt it will be much smoother this time around.

This is life in the modern NFL sometimes you have to let good players go for the long term stability of the team.

[52decleetzu]

AD has at least 2-3 more productive years in him,and for the simple fact that he is going to be 30 will not help him when those offers start coming.

Also when it come to NFL contracts,a "6 or 7 year" deal is not really that in most cases because of the way it is backloaded.This is the type of deal AD will get from whoever he signs with,once again because he is going on 30 and has maybe one more year in his prime.

[RavensJackson]

Greenwave - The difference between Ray and AD that is worht mentioning though is that Ray Lewis has been an every down starter since his rookie season. Granted linebackers don't last forever but it wasn't until more recently that AD started seeing full time action so his body isn't as worn down plus he's been relatively injury free throughout his career if I'm correct

[52decleetzu]

PAY THE MAN WILL YOU ALREADY!!!!


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/don_banks/09/26/tuesday/index.html

[GreenWave52]

Also when it come to NFL contracts,a "6 or 7 year" deal is not really that in most cases because of the way it is backloaded.
I know. They would cut him (retire) once he wasn't worth those backloaded years. The problem is those years still count against the cap (through accelerated math). So we would be paying him to not play here and potentially crippling our ability to fill holes.

[B-more Ravor]

Also when it come to NFL contracts,a "6 or 7 year" deal is not really that in most cases because of the way it is backloaded.This is the type of deal AD will get from whoever he signs with,once again because he is going on 30 and has maybe one more year in his prime.

Yeah, it'll be backloaded, but with the size of bonus that it'll require - say $10M - then there will be still be a problem on a 6-year deal if he only plays up to it for the first 2-3 years.

As much as I love AD, I think that Greenwave's point is well-taken - giving large contracts to players approaching 30 is not a good idea from a cap perspective, especially when we may already be facing a cap crunch in the next 2-3 years anyway.

Still, I'd really love to see them find a way to keep AD.

[52RAYVENS]

It would be a big mistake not to keep the man. :insane: Players like him are a rare breed.

[Brandon]

People are complaining about Ray losing a step and he is 32. We give AD the big time long term contract and we are going to be left with a lot of dead cap space when he can't finish it.

AD is great now, but I actually think will be his peak season. It is a contract year and he is about to turn 30, don't underestimate that. He knows this is his one chance for big bucks. It very well could be all down from here.

A 4 year deal would be ideal. The problem is with the type of bonus money he is going to want it will have to be a 6 year deal (I'd be shocked if its under 5 years) to spread it out and not choke the salary cap. And the thought of having a 35-36 year old LBer is somewhat frightening (especially if he isn't a sure fire HOFer).

AD has one, maybe two more great years left but he will be overpaid for the large majority of that contract. Remember, most of the time we sign our own to big money deals it is their second contract, usually right before their rookie deals expire. This will be AD's third contract. If I recall negotiations got ugly with his second contract and I doubt it will be much smoother this time around.

This is life in the modern NFL sometimes you have to let good players go for the long term stability of the team.

You can also use this same scenario for Bart Scott as well. Like Adalius, he signed a three year deal, and he is 26 years old. By the time it ends he will be 29.

[PurpleRulz]

You can also use this same scenario for Bart Scott as well. Like Adalius, he signed a three year deal, and he is 26 years old. By the time it ends he will be 29.


This does bring up a something that I had not thought of. Re-signing AD could prevent us from re-signing Scott in three years.

Well, it is possible that Ray, McNair, Mason, Pryce, etc., will retire by that time and free up some cap space by that time.

With the salary dump (and it does not sound like it will be like the 2002 cap dump) coming after 2008, we should look to Scott, Thomas, Suggs, Ngata as the centerpieces of our future from that point on. The retirement of Ogden, Ray, McNair, Mason, Pryce, Flynn, Mulitalo, and Rolle should free up the cap space after 2008.

[bassgtrst]

What is the price for the Franchise Tag on a LBer?

It cant be too high. Then if we know we cant keep him long term we could trade him for some picks to help insure the future. And we would get to control where AD goes so he doesnt wind up somewhere in the division.

[Sports Steve]

Ravens need to do it now.

Ozzie start getting the paperwork done now.



:jester: :jester:

[FadeToBlack]

Let's keep AD around till he's 35. Same with Scott. I think these guys can keep it going.

[joeshmoe]

I will be extremely pissed if we do not resign this guy. He has been our best defensive player for the last 3 years.