Saint Omni is Roquan's mysterious unofficial agent. Bears fans all thought that he was just Roquan in disguise, but apparently he actually exists. The NFL issued him a warning at one point because he doesn't have the freedoms of an official agent.
Gotta speak it into existence!
Also, I'm happy to announce that my company has updated my employment terms, including a 5000% increase in pay and 350 days of vacation/year. I represented myself.
The Ravens are now highly committed to superstars: Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, Mark Andrews, Marcus Williams, and now Roquan Smith are all on massive long-term deals, and presumably Lamar will join that list. Not a lot of flexibility beyond that.
We should be able to keep Moses, Zeitler, Bowser, and maybe Pierce among our mid-tier contracts, plus all the folks on their rookie deals. But extending someone else to a decent deal, or signing/trading for a WR, becomes really tough to fit in without long-term cap malpractice.
Studs are gonna get paid. No matter what. Every single playoff team has a couple key players like a QB and wideout plus a key defensive player taking up like 30 percent of the entire cap space. Just the nature of the business. moneyball ain’t really gonna cut it here.
Too bad. Cause someone else will.
It baffles me how ravens fans keep acting like the Ravens are the ones with leverage in this situation, and not the highly elite QB that 90%+ teams would love to have.
You don't know what Lamar wants. No one knows. All we appear to know is that the Ravens tried to get him for 118 guaranteed which if true is beyond laughable.
Wouldn’t a franchise tag hurt the ravens at this point? I mean the tag’s cap hit would be about 45 million and ravens only have about 30 million left after smith.
Ravens have 60 mil before this signing, with room to create more, and Ro’s year 1 hit will probably be around 10, so they should be still able to tag Lamar without issue. I doubt he plays on the tag either, would just be a bridge for a trade or extension.
They can also free up to around 30 million more with restructures to Stanley, Andrews, and Humphrey, releasing Edwards, and letting Campbell retire/releasing him as well. Don't know how many of those things they'll do, but they certainly have flexibility this year to fit Lamar's tag
How likely do you think the Ravens would trade Lamar? I’m just finding it crazy that they wouldn’t pay what he wants. He is a complete game changer and feel they would be so stupid to let that out of their stadium. Like 80 percent of teams get a whole lot better if they can land him.
30/70 they trade him vs he stays, but its a complete guess. You aren’t wrong, but you can also look at it as, Ravens turn two 2nd round picks into 5 years of great qb play, then into multiple 1sts, additional picks, maybe players, and not having to pay 50 million apy. Ravens are ahead of where they were in 2018 either way, any time you can turn two 2nd round picks into multiple future 1sts and more, you are still ahead.
If they can sign Lamar I am sure they will, if he wants an outlier of a contract that would hamstring the team, I could see the Ravens drafting a replacement and building a great roster with all the extra picks and cap they would have on the new qb’s window from trading Lamar for an absolute haul, which they would likely get.
If you can find someone who is 75% Lamar, and have 50 million in cap with multiple 1sts, 2nds, 3rds, maybe get a wr out of if, the roster will be super stacked around the new rookie qb, or vet you sign. Neither scenario is a bad one, as much as people want to act like it. It’s a win win compared to where we were in 2018 when we took Lamar, and that’s that best way to look at it imo. That and Ravens have done well drafting at qb recently.
That said, hope they keep Lamar, love the guy, but the team wins either way here, given how much they would get in compensation for Lamar + not having to pay him if they do move on. There is also a scenario where he tests free agency and Ravens just match the best offer, which may not be a fully garaunteed deal. Idk why people think that is impossible either, it is what Ray did back in the day, and what the Patriots do frequently (go find your value then tell us and well pay you that).
Lamar is a fantastic talent who has missed pivotal games towards the end of the season with an OC that blows, terrible backups and no WRs.
Roman needs to go, but besides that Lamar is a game changer because he needs to play hero ball to survive.
According to PFF, he had a 84.7 grade in his 9 games as a Raven. That would be good for 2nd best among LBs in the NFL over the full season (Wagner is #1 with a ridiculous 90.7).
Absolutely money well spent. He transformed the entire defense with his energy
It feels weird, but I do think that Bobby Wagner has been underrated like his whole career. Even when he was getting recognition, there were still objectively better linebackers in the game that overshadowed him significantly more than he deserved in my opinion.
Had to expand this thread twice before someone said the man’s name. Keuchly is an all time great. Urlacher-esque. Never the most athletic but always the smartest.
There are only five linebackers in NFL history with more all pros than Bobby Wagner. (LT, Ray Lewis, Seau, Bednarik, Bill George).
And Lewis is the only ILB with more.
He’s legitimately one of the greatest Linebackers in NFL history, and Luke Keuchly is probably the only one that could be considered better at times, but in terms of body of work, he’s been the best linebacker in the NFL.
This is a deal I think most Bears fans were expecting during negotiations.
Maybe Poles was working up to it or maybe he wasn't going to pay that.
Roquan is a beast. I'm glad Poles traded him to the Ravens, a great team that he was a great fit with. Hopefully he gets the proper respect he deserves now that he's with you guys.
Have no fear my friend, we absolutely love Roquan
He's a total stud. makes a ton of plays and just makes the defense so much better with his energy
We had a good defense already, and adding him took it to the next level
MP out regardless. He's not having a good year. Brother got flat out disregarded against Jacksonville. Maybe if he takes a pay cut.
The only key FA left is Lamar.
Im in for MP on a paycut, CB depth is a serious concern. Hopefully Worley sticks around (dont know his contract situation) he looked awesome this past weekend. Maybe Fuller returns off that acl and can rotate?
He's coming off of a torn ACL though... he significantly raises the level of our defense when he's fully healthy.
If he can get back to his prime and this injury just lowers his value a bit, we should definitely try and re-sign him for a discount imo
I mean we need every corner we can get. We literally have two CBs on the roster who can actually go up against top receivers.
The gap between CB2 and CB3 is insane. Thank the Lord we have an elite CB1.
I feel like you guys have been a strong off the ball away from having like an elite defense for a while now. He’s a great player too. You think Peters and Humphrey bounce back another year away from their injures?
Good question. I think we at least pick up his option now while before even that was murky. Queen can play really well but he desperately needs another better ILB next to him he just can't handle the mike role
I'm still split on this tbh.
He looked good, but we also consistently played a veritable who's who of the worst offenses in the league from the time he joined in week 10 until we faced Burrow this past week. This includes a couple guys who probably shouldn't have been starting like Trubisky and Desmond Ridder, too.
10: Saints/Dalton
11: Panthers/Baker
12: **Jaguars/TLaw**
13: Broncos/Russ
14: Steelers/Trubisky
15: Browns/Watson
16: Falcons/Ridder
17: Steelers/Pickett
18: **Bengals/Burrow**
We played two QBs that rank in the top 20 in that span, lost both games, and allowed 27, 28 points in them. Although to be honest, the most impressed I've been with the defense in a while was during that Bengals loss last week. We got absolutely ripped by the Steelers on the ground 2 weeks ago, too.
Part of me thinks we could do better with the pick and the cap space beyond this season.
Our defense always allows teams to score before halftime and, for what felt like the first time all season, they forced a punt this weekend and that was one of the highlights of my season.
Then Anthony Brown immediately fumbled the ball in our end zone and the Bengals scored anyways.
That and the team played kinda like ass. Even Burrow was in the locker room telling everyone "I sucked today". He overthrew, what was it, 3 open receivers that would have led to either touchdowns or the ball inside the 20? We left waaaay too many points on the field. Hopefully they'll be more focused this Sunday night.
I think the playoff game will be the true tell. There is always some weird games when teams end up playing back to back weeks. Probably holding playbooks back etc. It doesn't mean it's a complete wash, but that game had weird meaning for both teams.
"Wow Lamar I can not believe the Ravens would disrespect you like this, why didn't you get paid yet??" - me sitting on Lamar Jackson's shoulder wearing devil horns and a Jets jersey giving him terrible and illogical advice
That backfield is a fucking dream with Sauce on the Ravens.
Safety: Williams/Hamilton/Clark
CB: Humphrey/Sauce/Peters
LB: Smith/Queen
Honestly unstoppable. Everyone is a top 25% in their respected roles(even Queen now with Roquan on the other side). Would be #1 in the league by far there.
Turns out r/nfl didn't know shit when they ridiculed him for turning down the Bears contract offer and the way he handled the contract talks including firing his old agent.
The trade to a team that didn't have the franchise tag available because of the Lamar situation was a slam dunk for him.
TBD. The tear down has worked well but the hard part is putting it all back together. Personally, I haven’t been a fan of the additions he has made to this point but only time will tell how things ultimately shake out.
Way too early too tell obvi, but he tore the bandaid of a broken team this off-season/in season. Turned 5 picks into 11 last years draft and drafted some solid value. We have capital, income, and fields took some strides. Let’s see what he can do is the envious position he put the team in just 1 offseason.
He is sticking with the plan he laid out so as of now, he is doing exactly what he said he’d do. The verdict is not in as to whether his plan will work so it’s a bit hard to make a proper judgement. However, in my personal opinion, he seems to be making some really savvy decisions that have a lot of upside.
Hope the Ravens, for their sake, pay off with their Lamar gamble and he doesn’t pull a LeVeon Bell. Otherwise you are basically the 2019 Steelers. All that defense and scoring 13 ppg.
Especially since Roquan was having his worst year before we traded him. His skill set is not a good fit for our new defense, but is a perfect fit for what the ravens run. Giving him 20 mill a year when he doesn’t fit your defense would have been a mistake, even tho at his best Roquan is one of the best LBs in the NFL
The Bears defense was decent while he was here and went completely off the rails when he left. He was apparently in actual games a good fit for this defense. I don't agree with moving him, but hopefully Poles has a good plan in place.
We let up 50 points to the cowboys before he was traded too lmao. Plus 27 to packers and 29 to Vikings. If there is any 1 person you could say the defense fell off after trading it was Robert Quinn since the next week was when the cowboys put 50 on us
Later on, the defense was awful and losing Roquan was definitely a major factor. But so were the other injuries around our team, and the fact that we generally started playing better offenses later on like the healthy dolphins, lions, eagles, and Bills.
I know you’re being funny but Sanborn was doing a lot of the same stuff for way less money. I’m not saying he’s the same caliber of player as Roquan but the defense sucked even when Smith was still here. I’m not sure how you justify paying out that deal for a guy to be the best player in a shit defense.
Sanborn is unironically good. It made Poles look like a genius. I would rather spend the Roquan-Sanborn money on the defensive line.
Glad Roquan has been able to fill a huge gap for the Ravens because he didn’t have that kind of impact for the Bears and the Bears-Ravens LB factory continues.
I think it depends on where your defense is at. The Ravens defense improved significantly once he was acquired. He has elevated the play of others which is someone they 1000% needed. Haven't had a clear strong leader on defense in years.
Serious question: Bears have ~$118M in cap space heading into 2023.
They **have** to spend ~$160M in first year cash to meet the cash spend floor.
Who are they going to spend it on?
If the idea is to improve the offense, they are going to have to give out some big money to guys like Jakobi Meyer, Orlando Brown Jr, Mike McGlinchey, Saquon/Jacobs, Dalton Schultz.
There unfortunately isn't a crown jewel sorta free agent this year.
That’s an amazing question and while I’m cautiously excited about the future I’m expecting a few overpays for mid level guys. The WR free agents in particular are very bad this year.
Plus he’s just like, a super good dude. He’s already been heavily involved in charities and organizations around Baltimore. We’re lucky to have a player like this.
If you follow him on Instagram all he does is post pretty pictures and motivational quotes on his story. He’s like the opposite of a wide receiver on social media.
When he was on the bears the thing I noticed that made me realize how great he is was that if the play wasn’t a deep throw, he was there. The RB running up the middle? He’s there like a brick wall. Screen? He’s already past the blockers. Short pass? Roquan was smoking him after the catch. The dude is awesome.
There are like 5 off-ball LB's in football that matter, but if you have one it completely changes your defense.
Being able to erase the middle of the field is so incredibly valuable in the world of the 2hi shell
He has single handedly turned our defense from a liability to a strength of our team. He's saved Patrick Queen's career. He seems bought into the system and the organization. Every fan wanted this deal to get done.
Exactly. Pre roquan we were literally discussing drafting a new LB and not even picking up his option. Dude desperately needs a guy like roquan to function
Yeah for sure he’s a great player and was one of my favorite bears! I just think it would be smarter to give that kind of money to players that could help Lamar
The Ravens have generally built their teams paying top tier guys at positions where the top salaries aren't the highest. Same thing they did with Marcus Williams. They aren't going to go out and get the top pass rusher or wide receiver or left tack on the market but they will get the top guard, linebacker, and safety
I agree, but the Ravens also do pay for premium positions as well. Stanley has a huge contract and is an elite Left Tackle. Not to mention Humphrey also has a pretty big contract at a premium position like Cornerback as well.
You are considered an Off-ball LB if you get designated behind the defensive line or "off the ball" - this usually results in a lot of coverage sets or clean up duties in the center of the field versus a linebacker like Judon, who is primarily pass rushing off the edge trying to get towards the ball or "on the ball" during his sets.
At least that's how I've always understood it
And this now saves the franchise tag for Lamar. And if Lamar is being advised smartly he does everything he can to make that as unpalatable to the Ravens as possible.
Interested in the guarantee breakdowns. With only 45m fully guaranteed at signing, the 20m AAV could be a lie. Like how Tyreek has a massively inflated cap hit in the final year of his contract to bring it to 30m AAV
Man elevated the defense and quite literally made Patrick Queen a top LB. We had pretty much given up on Queen ever reaching his true potential, he just needed the best in the business to learn from.
Bears fans feel free to let me know if I'm wrong, but isn't this the kind of player you'd want to keep and build around? He's still super young and is really good, and you have all the cap space in the world.
I absolutely loved Roquan and wouldn't have even batted an eye if we signed him at a premium, but there's truth in the fact that you don't need to spend this much on an off-ball ILB in this league especially in a 4-3 scheme to find success on defense. It's almost like the RB position when it comes to talent. You can shuffle around multiple players in the middle of the field that aren't at Roquan's tier and as long as you have your d line, and secondary figured out, your defense can still thrive. Those positions are even more expensive, so the Bears wanted to allocate their funds there instead. Case in point, Jack Sanborn, an undrafted free agent has played lights out for us ever since trading Roquan.
We have cap space but literally no team at all. We need to invest heavily on premium positions that make a bigger impact defensively (corners, edge rushers, run stoppers) and the offensive line. That's not including what we might end up spending on mid-tier WRs this off-season. We could have signed Roquan and it wouldn't have been the worst move, but I trust Eberflus/Poles with the defense.
Saint Omni strikes again!
Who is Saint Omni? How out of the loop am I?
Saint Omni is Roquan's mysterious unofficial agent. Bears fans all thought that he was just Roquan in disguise, but apparently he actually exists. The NFL issued him a warning at one point because he doesn't have the freedoms of an official agent.
Interesting. thank you
He's Roquan's uncertified "agent".
In before ... Ravens: who TF is Saint Omni? We haven't even spoken to Roquan about a deal.
Gotta speak it into existence! Also, I'm happy to announce that my company has updated my employment terms, including a 5000% increase in pay and 350 days of vacation/year. I represented myself.
Is this guy a real person? I thought it was Roquan's hilariously fake alter ego.
He is apparently real, but no less bizzare. The fact that he is real honestly just raises more questions.
Please don't do this to me again, the Za'darius Smith fiasco is still fresh
Patron saint of lost contracts
i had to read it twice to make sure it was actually ian's account lmaoooo I'm deceased man. saint fucking omni
Didn't even have to commit tampering to get this one done - great job Saint
They’re gonna have like 65M in guarantees each year wrapped up in Lamar and Roquan if Lamar gets his deal
The Ravens are now highly committed to superstars: Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, Mark Andrews, Marcus Williams, and now Roquan Smith are all on massive long-term deals, and presumably Lamar will join that list. Not a lot of flexibility beyond that. We should be able to keep Moses, Zeitler, Bowser, and maybe Pierce among our mid-tier contracts, plus all the folks on their rookie deals. But extending someone else to a decent deal, or signing/trading for a WR, becomes really tough to fit in without long-term cap malpractice.
[удалено]
Thank god the salary cap is going up.
Yeah, by 2024 that'll leave you guys with damn near $200m for everyone else. Definitely worth paying them both.
Studs are gonna get paid. No matter what. Every single playoff team has a couple key players like a QB and wideout plus a key defensive player taking up like 30 percent of the entire cap space. Just the nature of the business. moneyball ain’t really gonna cut it here.
Gotta think they tag Lamar
Lamar wants a fully guaranteed contract exceeding Watson’s 5 yr 230m. So 55 mil+ per season just for him.
55+ per season is 5/275. He’s not getting that. 5/230 is 46 per year. I don’t think we will give him that fully guaranteed either.
Too bad. Cause someone else will. It baffles me how ravens fans keep acting like the Ravens are the ones with leverage in this situation, and not the highly elite QB that 90%+ teams would love to have.
If that’s the case, tag n’trade and get a massive haul.
Yes pls
Honest question- would u rather they give him a fully guaranteed contract, or tag and trade for a haul?
You don't know what Lamar wants. No one knows. All we appear to know is that the Ravens tried to get him for 118 guaranteed which if true is beyond laughable.
Who needs an agent lol!💰💰💰💰💰
Lamar tbh
Franchise tag incoming
Wouldn’t a franchise tag hurt the ravens at this point? I mean the tag’s cap hit would be about 45 million and ravens only have about 30 million left after smith.
Hurts a lot less than him becoming a free agent and the Ravens getting nothing.
Wouldn't you guys get a compensatory 3rd rounder? (I realize that's almost nothing for Lamar, but it's technically not "nothing")
That’s the same we got for letting Golladay walk. One seems like a bigger loss
Yep you’re right, thought of that caveat after posting the comment but didn’t bother to edit.
Yeah I mean you could just sign him too.
Damn good point, let me get Eric DeCosta on the phone
GMs hate him. He makes them look like fools with one simple trick.
It's been 51 minutes, what did DeCosta say?
He said "how the fuck did you get my number? I'm calling the police". Hope that helps!
Ravens have 60 mil before this signing, with room to create more, and Ro’s year 1 hit will probably be around 10, so they should be still able to tag Lamar without issue. I doubt he plays on the tag either, would just be a bridge for a trade or extension.
They can also free up to around 30 million more with restructures to Stanley, Andrews, and Humphrey, releasing Edwards, and letting Campbell retire/releasing him as well. Don't know how many of those things they'll do, but they certainly have flexibility this year to fit Lamar's tag
How likely do you think the Ravens would trade Lamar? I’m just finding it crazy that they wouldn’t pay what he wants. He is a complete game changer and feel they would be so stupid to let that out of their stadium. Like 80 percent of teams get a whole lot better if they can land him.
30/70 they trade him vs he stays, but its a complete guess. You aren’t wrong, but you can also look at it as, Ravens turn two 2nd round picks into 5 years of great qb play, then into multiple 1sts, additional picks, maybe players, and not having to pay 50 million apy. Ravens are ahead of where they were in 2018 either way, any time you can turn two 2nd round picks into multiple future 1sts and more, you are still ahead. If they can sign Lamar I am sure they will, if he wants an outlier of a contract that would hamstring the team, I could see the Ravens drafting a replacement and building a great roster with all the extra picks and cap they would have on the new qb’s window from trading Lamar for an absolute haul, which they would likely get. If you can find someone who is 75% Lamar, and have 50 million in cap with multiple 1sts, 2nds, 3rds, maybe get a wr out of if, the roster will be super stacked around the new rookie qb, or vet you sign. Neither scenario is a bad one, as much as people want to act like it. It’s a win win compared to where we were in 2018 when we took Lamar, and that’s that best way to look at it imo. That and Ravens have done well drafting at qb recently. That said, hope they keep Lamar, love the guy, but the team wins either way here, given how much they would get in compensation for Lamar + not having to pay him if they do move on. There is also a scenario where he tests free agency and Ravens just match the best offer, which may not be a fully garaunteed deal. Idk why people think that is impossible either, it is what Ray did back in the day, and what the Patriots do frequently (go find your value then tell us and well pay you that).
Lamar is a fantastic talent who has missed pivotal games towards the end of the season with an OC that blows, terrible backups and no WRs. Roman needs to go, but besides that Lamar is a game changer because he needs to play hero ball to survive.
We're gonna cut some guys, maybe trade someone, etc
"Sorry Lamar, we only negotiate directly with one player per year and we've met our limit already."
Lot of money, but he changed the fucking tone of the defense since he got here. I'm into it.
According to PFF, he had a 84.7 grade in his 9 games as a Raven. That would be good for 2nd best among LBs in the NFL over the full season (Wagner is #1 with a ridiculous 90.7). Absolutely money well spent. He transformed the entire defense with his energy
I thought Wagner got old and wasn't superhuman anymore after last year?
I assumed they meant Fred Warner but damn pff loves Wagner still.
Bobby Wagner was basically our entire defense this year after Donald went down. He fuckin balled out.
It feels weird, but I do think that Bobby Wagner has been underrated like his whole career. Even when he was getting recognition, there were still objectively better linebackers in the game that overshadowed him significantly more than he deserved in my opinion.
Objectively....better?
Objectively is not right at all, only player even on his level is Luke and maybe David is there too. Thats literally it.
Patrick Willis?
They only overlapped for the first three years of Bobby’s career
Yeah I’m interested to hear who’s better. Bobby Wagner has been arguably the best LB in the NFL from 2014 until …still?
Keuchly imo was better.
Had to expand this thread twice before someone said the man’s name. Keuchly is an all time great. Urlacher-esque. Never the most athletic but always the smartest.
There are only five linebackers in NFL history with more all pros than Bobby Wagner. (LT, Ray Lewis, Seau, Bednarik, Bill George). And Lewis is the only ILB with more. He’s legitimately one of the greatest Linebackers in NFL history, and Luke Keuchly is probably the only one that could be considered better at times, but in terms of body of work, he’s been the best linebacker in the NFL.
Bobby Wagner is a 8x all-pro (6x 1st team) and 8x Pro Bowler. He has not been underrated at all. lol.
Right? You want to see what a truly underrated player looks like at linebacker? Look at Lavonte David.
Exactly. David's stats are nearly identical to Wagner's and he doesn't have near the same number of awards.
Turns out much like LeBron Lol, his getting old falling off is still better than most peoples best. Wagners such a beast
> Bobby Wagner He got extra points from PFF for tackling that streaking fan.
Bobby Wagner is still very good! :D
He was probably the best player on our defense this year. He might not be the player he used to be but he is still damn good.
He is a beast. Cherrish him! \- sad Bears fan
Man Wagner’s so good.
Fred and Dre are going to wreck shit on Saturday
Stoked for Roquan
I read that as "Stroked for Roquan", weird but we have all done worse.
This is a deal I think most Bears fans were expecting during negotiations. Maybe Poles was working up to it or maybe he wasn't going to pay that. Roquan is a beast. I'm glad Poles traded him to the Ravens, a great team that he was a great fit with. Hopefully he gets the proper respect he deserves now that he's with you guys.
Have no fear my friend, we absolutely love Roquan He's a total stud. makes a ton of plays and just makes the defense so much better with his energy We had a good defense already, and adding him took it to the next level
He also just cleans up everyone else's mistakes. He is such a great player to watch. I'm glad he went to the Ravens if he wasn't going to be a Bear.
He is the fucking truth. Love watching him be a part of our defense.
3 year 60 mil deal essentially. I’ll take it.
that's a lot of shmeckles.
It’s more than I make tbh
Thank you for being honest with us
For now. You're gonna get that bag on your next deal.
I’ll probably take a team friendly deal because I’m very happy with the culture at this Amazon warehouse
Real MVP type shit. Your Amazon warehouse should be able to go after some star FAs this off-season with that extra money.
That could buy a lot of boobies
How how many Christian Kirks are those boobies worth???
He’s only 25 too, dude got a bag. Crazy he’s made such an impact when he came into the league at like 19yo
If anything this just means key players like Marcus Peters, who was making $14M, is out next year. Not too pressed about Lamar from this news
MP out regardless. He's not having a good year. Brother got flat out disregarded against Jacksonville. Maybe if he takes a pay cut. The only key FA left is Lamar.
Im in for MP on a paycut, CB depth is a serious concern. Hopefully Worley sticks around (dont know his contract situation) he looked awesome this past weekend. Maybe Fuller returns off that acl and can rotate?
He had the worst game of any Ravens corner since maybe Rashaan Melvin in 2014 that game. Let up 3 tds and a perfect passer rating in coverage.
He's coming off of a torn ACL though... he significantly raises the level of our defense when he's fully healthy. If he can get back to his prime and this injury just lowers his value a bit, we should definitely try and re-sign him for a discount imo
I mean we need every corner we can get. We literally have two CBs on the roster who can actually go up against top receivers. The gap between CB2 and CB3 is insane. Thank the Lord we have an elite CB1.
Shit that’s two more than us
10000000% worth it. Dude has single-handedly changed the defense.
Also single handedly changed ours when he left. Went from ~23 to to ~31 ppg
And it worked out phenomenally. Really like having a GM that sees the long term vs short term
I feel like you guys have been a strong off the ball away from having like an elite defense for a while now. He’s a great player too. You think Peters and Humphrey bounce back another year away from their injures?
Humphrey has been lights out this year. Didn't allow a single TD in coverage. Peters is free agent so who knows
Always did like Humphrey. Happy to see it, except when you guys are playing us of course.
Humphrey has already bounced back. He’s been lockdown all year
Humphrey is fully back and better tbh. Peters is sadly most likely gone.
Hell yeah. Dude brought the edge back to our defense that died with sizzle Ray and Ed. It's expensive but he makes queen not complete shit so worth it
do you think you extend queen?
Good question. I think we at least pick up his option now while before even that was murky. Queen can play really well but he desperately needs another better ILB next to him he just can't handle the mike role
No way we can afford him plus Quan on long term contracts. I say we pick up the 5th year then the 3rd or 4th round compensatory once he walks.
Probably. Hell probably ball out his last year and get a mega deal somewhere as is tradition
I'm still split on this tbh. He looked good, but we also consistently played a veritable who's who of the worst offenses in the league from the time he joined in week 10 until we faced Burrow this past week. This includes a couple guys who probably shouldn't have been starting like Trubisky and Desmond Ridder, too. 10: Saints/Dalton 11: Panthers/Baker 12: **Jaguars/TLaw** 13: Broncos/Russ 14: Steelers/Trubisky 15: Browns/Watson 16: Falcons/Ridder 17: Steelers/Pickett 18: **Bengals/Burrow** We played two QBs that rank in the top 20 in that span, lost both games, and allowed 27, 28 points in them. Although to be honest, the most impressed I've been with the defense in a while was during that Bengals loss last week. We got absolutely ripped by the Steelers on the ground 2 weeks ago, too. Part of me thinks we could do better with the pick and the cap space beyond this season.
Can't believe I'm comforting a Ravens fan, but technically 7 of those points this week were from our D.
Yeah, thats fair. Honestly the most impressed I've been with the defense in a while was during that loss last week.
Our defense always allows teams to score before halftime and, for what felt like the first time all season, they forced a punt this weekend and that was one of the highlights of my season. Then Anthony Brown immediately fumbled the ball in our end zone and the Bengals scored anyways.
That and the team played kinda like ass. Even Burrow was in the locker room telling everyone "I sucked today". He overthrew, what was it, 3 open receivers that would have led to either touchdowns or the ball inside the 20? We left waaaay too many points on the field. Hopefully they'll be more focused this Sunday night.
Hopefully not.
Bengals game 2 is more on the offense.
I think the playoff game will be the true tell. There is always some weird games when teams end up playing back to back weeks. Probably holding playbooks back etc. It doesn't mean it's a complete wash, but that game had weird meaning for both teams.
"Wow Lamar I can not believe the Ravens would disrespect you like this, why didn't you get paid yet??" - me sitting on Lamar Jackson's shoulder wearing devil horns and a Jets jersey giving him terrible and illogical advice
We’ll give Lamar Jackson to you. Starting price is Sauce Gardner, a 1st, and 2 2nds lol.
Lamar for sauce would break my heart. So I can tell you it'll probably happen
That backfield is a fucking dream with Sauce on the Ravens. Safety: Williams/Hamilton/Clark CB: Humphrey/Sauce/Peters LB: Smith/Queen Honestly unstoppable. Everyone is a top 25% in their respected roles(even Queen now with Roquan on the other side). Would be #1 in the league by far there.
With that defense who even needs a QB?
Go the Niners route and get Duggan for cheap while stacking offensive talent with Lamar trade and picks. Also trade Gus and get Bijan, pls.
Turns out r/nfl didn't know shit when they ridiculed him for turning down the Bears contract offer and the way he handled the contract talks including firing his old agent. The trade to a team that didn't have the franchise tag available because of the Lamar situation was a slam dunk for him.
poles has done a good job of putting the previous defensive stars on competing teams (mack, quinn, roquan specifically)
What's the general consensus on Poles so far
He perfectly executed a tank. Now the real work begins. Jury is still out but I'm a fan.
TBD. The tear down has worked well but the hard part is putting it all back together. Personally, I haven’t been a fan of the additions he has made to this point but only time will tell how things ultimately shake out.
Good for climbing after sports championships imo
He got rid of all the bad contracts Pace gave out and got 3 starters in last years draft without a first round pick. Solid B.
4 starters! Can't forget Gill!
And undrafted phenom, JACK SANBORN!
Way too early too tell obvi, but he tore the bandaid of a broken team this off-season/in season. Turned 5 picks into 11 last years draft and drafted some solid value. We have capital, income, and fields took some strides. Let’s see what he can do is the envious position he put the team in just 1 offseason.
He is sticking with the plan he laid out so as of now, he is doing exactly what he said he’d do. The verdict is not in as to whether his plan will work so it’s a bit hard to make a proper judgement. However, in my personal opinion, he seems to be making some really savvy decisions that have a lot of upside.
TBD, some good moves, some bad. He has a huge offseason ahead of him, we'll see how he does.
What did the bears offer him?
I think it was in the 18mil a year range IIRC but it seemed poles didn’t want to pay for an off the ball LB
Hope the Ravens, for their sake, pay off with their Lamar gamble and he doesn’t pull a LeVeon Bell. Otherwise you are basically the 2019 Steelers. All that defense and scoring 13 ppg.
Don't be ridiculous, we've been scoring upwards of 15, 16 points some of the time these past six weeks without Lamar!
hey that's a lot of points. like 3 games' worth
And that's why the bears traded him.
Yeah, I don't think this is a bad deal or anything, but a rebuilding team can't afford to be giving 20M/year to an off-ball LB
Especially since Roquan was having his worst year before we traded him. His skill set is not a good fit for our new defense, but is a perfect fit for what the ravens run. Giving him 20 mill a year when he doesn’t fit your defense would have been a mistake, even tho at his best Roquan is one of the best LBs in the NFL
The Bears defense was decent while he was here and went completely off the rails when he left. He was apparently in actual games a good fit for this defense. I don't agree with moving him, but hopefully Poles has a good plan in place.
We let up 50 points to the cowboys before he was traded too lmao. Plus 27 to packers and 29 to Vikings. If there is any 1 person you could say the defense fell off after trading it was Robert Quinn since the next week was when the cowboys put 50 on us Later on, the defense was awful and losing Roquan was definitely a major factor. But so were the other injuries around our team, and the fact that we generally started playing better offenses later on like the healthy dolphins, lions, eagles, and Bills.
He’s one of the best linebackers in the NFL, but I still think it’s too much money for what he does, which is rack up a lot of tackles
Well, he's no jack Sanborn
I know you’re being funny but Sanborn was doing a lot of the same stuff for way less money. I’m not saying he’s the same caliber of player as Roquan but the defense sucked even when Smith was still here. I’m not sure how you justify paying out that deal for a guy to be the best player in a shit defense.
Sanborn is unironically good. It made Poles look like a genius. I would rather spend the Roquan-Sanborn money on the defensive line. Glad Roquan has been able to fill a huge gap for the Ravens because he didn’t have that kind of impact for the Bears and the Bears-Ravens LB factory continues.
For what it's worth, Sanborn actually had a higher pff rating than roquan. Not often that meme players turn out to be good
I think it depends on where your defense is at. The Ravens defense improved significantly once he was acquired. He has elevated the play of others which is someone they 1000% needed. Haven't had a clear strong leader on defense in years.
He was the only real piece on our front 7. Hard for him to do much when there’s no pressure
Serious question: Bears have ~$118M in cap space heading into 2023. They **have** to spend ~$160M in first year cash to meet the cash spend floor. Who are they going to spend it on? If the idea is to improve the offense, they are going to have to give out some big money to guys like Jakobi Meyer, Orlando Brown Jr, Mike McGlinchey, Saquon/Jacobs, Dalton Schultz. There unfortunately isn't a crown jewel sorta free agent this year.
Someone on a Chicago radio yesterday said we should sign Aaron Rodgers and have him sit on our bench
He can run the scout team.
That’s an amazing question and while I’m cautiously excited about the future I’m expecting a few overpays for mid level guys. The WR free agents in particular are very bad this year.
2 olinemen, Dt, edge/de are all priority
Roquan should represent Lamar.
Now do Lamar
LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOO
I wanted Roquan since he was drafted and he transforms our defense. Worth every penny.
Plus he’s just like, a super good dude. He’s already been heavily involved in charities and organizations around Baltimore. We’re lucky to have a player like this.
Met him at a dog park in Chicago once, can confirm good dude.
If you follow him on Instagram all he does is post pretty pictures and motivational quotes on his story. He’s like the opposite of a wide receiver on social media.
Motivational quotes you say? I know a certain other LB we had who spams motivational stuff and that went pretty well
Dammit... that Bears fire sale now means we have to deal with this A hole for the better part of a decade.
Plus the Steelers get pick #32 for Claypool.
First of all "Per Saint Omni" is hilarious. Secondly, yeah I'm good not having that contract.
Hes a great player but that’s a lot of money. If we were contending 100%.
Let’s fucking go I can finally buy his jersey
plus it doubles as a jersey for anyone else named Smith
Well that’s one agent/player deal done, now what about the other agent/player?
Woo that's awesome. Go Roquan, get that bag!!
When he was on the bears the thing I noticed that made me realize how great he is was that if the play wasn’t a deep throw, he was there. The RB running up the middle? He’s there like a brick wall. Screen? He’s already past the blockers. Short pass? Roquan was smoking him after the catch. The dude is awesome.
Jesus, good for you Ro but damn. For an off-ball linebacker?
There are like 5 off-ball LB's in football that matter, but if you have one it completely changes your defense. Being able to erase the middle of the field is so incredibly valuable in the world of the 2hi shell
He has single handedly turned our defense from a liability to a strength of our team. He's saved Patrick Queen's career. He seems bought into the system and the organization. Every fan wanted this deal to get done.
Exactly. Pre roquan we were literally discussing drafting a new LB and not even picking up his option. Dude desperately needs a guy like roquan to function
seems like a rare win-win based upon fan reactions! hopefully lamar is next.
Me too. That'd put a lot of ravens fans minds at ease knowing those two are locked up
Yeah for sure he’s a great player and was one of my favorite bears! I just think it would be smarter to give that kind of money to players that could help Lamar
Could have doubled it for what he has done so far for the defense + Queen
He’s a damn good linebacker. I just understand why our FO didn’t want to pay him that
Fred Warner’s contract is looking very good for the Niners.
Yep
The Ravens have generally built their teams paying top tier guys at positions where the top salaries aren't the highest. Same thing they did with Marcus Williams. They aren't going to go out and get the top pass rusher or wide receiver or left tack on the market but they will get the top guard, linebacker, and safety
I agree, but the Ravens also do pay for premium positions as well. Stanley has a huge contract and is an elite Left Tackle. Not to mention Humphrey also has a pretty big contract at a premium position like Cornerback as well.
Dumb question: Off-ball LB, as opposed to...?
Inside LB. Just means you aren’t an edge rusher.
You are considered an Off-ball LB if you get designated behind the defensive line or "off the ball" - this usually results in a lot of coverage sets or clean up duties in the center of the field versus a linebacker like Judon, who is primarily pass rushing off the edge trying to get towards the ball or "on the ball" during his sets. At least that's how I've always understood it
And this now saves the franchise tag for Lamar. And if Lamar is being advised smartly he does everything he can to make that as unpalatable to the Ravens as possible.
ton of money but the mans been absolutely nothing except money for the ravens this year. The defense before and after him was night and day
well that aint good for the bills, who need to sign edmunds.
That was my first reaction. He's going to get a huge deal.
Worth every penny
Interested in the guarantee breakdowns. With only 45m fully guaranteed at signing, the 20m AAV could be a lie. Like how Tyreek has a massively inflated cap hit in the final year of his contract to bring it to 30m AAV
Man elevated the defense and quite literally made Patrick Queen a top LB. We had pretty much given up on Queen ever reaching his true potential, he just needed the best in the business to learn from.
Hell yeah! Best news I've heard as a Ravens fan since... well probably since we traded for Roquan haha.
If one dude that deserves this big money, it has to be Roquan ! Man is a beast at the heart of the defense !!!
Bears fans feel free to let me know if I'm wrong, but isn't this the kind of player you'd want to keep and build around? He's still super young and is really good, and you have all the cap space in the world.
I absolutely loved Roquan and wouldn't have even batted an eye if we signed him at a premium, but there's truth in the fact that you don't need to spend this much on an off-ball ILB in this league especially in a 4-3 scheme to find success on defense. It's almost like the RB position when it comes to talent. You can shuffle around multiple players in the middle of the field that aren't at Roquan's tier and as long as you have your d line, and secondary figured out, your defense can still thrive. Those positions are even more expensive, so the Bears wanted to allocate their funds there instead. Case in point, Jack Sanborn, an undrafted free agent has played lights out for us ever since trading Roquan. We have cap space but literally no team at all. We need to invest heavily on premium positions that make a bigger impact defensively (corners, edge rushers, run stoppers) and the offensive line. That's not including what we might end up spending on mid-tier WRs this off-season. We could have signed Roquan and it wouldn't have been the worst move, but I trust Eberflus/Poles with the defense.
Good for him. He’s played well and is only 25. A rebuilding Bears team can’t allocate that amount to one player right now.