00:00I don't get as involved with free agency, so I'm not going to spend as much time.
00:04We don't spend a lot of money in free agency, as Todd knows.
00:06That's why he's always hated the Baltimore Ravens.
00:09He's not lying.
00:10He's not lying.
00:11He's not lying.
00:12We're a draft and develop team, so a lot of our resources are going to be acquiring as many draft
00:16picks as possible
00:18and then using those on players, trying to hit on as many picks as we can,
00:21trying to hit on 60% of our draft picks every single year
00:24and trying to retain as many of those guys as we can for a second contract.
00:29So that was Eric DeCosto on the Inner Circle podcast.
00:32I think that was last week.
00:34An interesting cut because Bone did some digging.
00:38And Eric sometimes likes to push narratives and maybe skirt the truth a little bit,
00:45but the Ravens, excuse me, you saw a stat.
00:48They do not spend in free agency.
00:50I was stunned at how low the Ravens were since 2020.
00:55And that tweet happened because of that cut.
01:00There was a person from overthecap.com, which is a great resource that all fans can use with the calculators
01:06and you see all the cap numbers and everything there.
01:10And you don't have to do math.
01:11No, you don't.
01:12It does it for you.
01:13Yes.
01:13Which is very nice.
01:14It's very nice.
01:15Ravens since 2020 have our 31st in spending since in free agency, $74.3 million.
01:26And it's parsed with contracts given out that are $2 million annually or more.
01:33So that affects the comp pick formula, which the Ravens really covet.
01:36And they've only signed 11 free agents that fit that criteria.
01:41And that includes Marcus Williams.
01:42Yes.
01:43It does not include Earl Thomas in 2019.
01:46Boy, that was fun.
01:48Bringing this up, this is not to say, oh, the Ravens are cheap.
01:52The Ravens are cheap.
01:53Because the Ravens have signed several top of the market contracts to their own players.
01:59Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith, Nnamdi Matabike.
02:06Like, it's a lengthy list.
02:09But it's what Eric was saying.
02:11This is all how they construct their roster.
02:14And I looked at the teams in the bottom 10 in free agent money spent.
02:20And it includes going from 23 to 32.
02:24Rams, Colts, Saints, Chiefs, 49ers, Eagles, Packers, Bucks, Ravens, Cowboys.
02:30Those bottom 10, seven of those 10 have top 10 winning percentages in football in the five years.
02:39And then conversely, you get to the top 10 most spending in free agency.
02:45Seven of those 10 teams have the worst winning percentage over the past five years in that list from one
02:51to 10.
02:52Panthers, Jags, Texans, Patriots, Raiders, Jets, Giants, Titans, Dolphins, Vikings.
02:58Now, with that all being said, Ken, this is always going to be a draft and develop team.
03:07But is this an offseason where we see DaCosta take a swing?
03:11And he hasn't taken many.
03:13No.
03:13Earl Thomas in 2019, Marcus Williams in 2022.
03:17He does love spending money on safeties.
03:20It's been more of those value plays, like the Jadavion Clowney, the Kyle Van Noys, Ronald Darby.
03:27That all happened in 2023.
03:29But someone we've been bringing up a lot, Adafe Owe.
03:32Yeah.
03:33And Spotrack, their projections, which aren't always exact, but projects at Owe at $19.3 million.
03:42Yeah, he's going to make real money.
03:42That's an expense there.
03:44Hey, he might not be a top-tier pass rusher, but including the postseason, he got 10 sacks.
03:49And when a guy with 10 sacks gets on the open market, he's going to get paid.
03:52Yeah, you get double-digit sacks, you're going to get paid.
03:55Even a Khalil Mack, $18.4 million.
03:58It intrigues me.
03:59Exactly.
04:00So, is this a year where Eric DaCosta breaks tendency?
04:05And that's what I've been so interested in seeing, is how different he is going to operate this year.
04:13Because last year was not his finest 12 months as GM.
04:19Yeah, I'm very interested there.
04:21I was telling you this off the air.
04:23There is a Twitter school of thought that Eric, and Eric loves to play games.
04:31I think he enjoys it.
04:32I kind of enjoy it, because I think there's a trying to read between the lines with him.
04:38And when he's so far out in front talking about how they don't spend in free agency, talking this offseason,
04:44it makes me think this, and I'm not saying he's going to sign six guys.
04:48No, no.
04:48But I think that this might be the offseason where they do sign a guy because he's so out
04:53front saying, we don't spend.
04:55Yeah, this is probably, well, he's said it before, this is his favorite season.
04:59This is his favorite time of year.
05:01But it's the scouting part of it, because he's a scout.
05:03Exactly.
05:04But from the end of the season through the draft, you get all those games.
05:09And Eric DaCosta, I remember a couple years ago being at the draft luncheon, and someone
05:14asked him, hey, is the Liars luncheon, is that an appropriate nickname for this press
05:18conference?
05:18And he was like, yeah.
05:19Yeah.
05:19Yeah.
05:21I think he realizes the mistakes that he made last year.
05:26And we're about to play some of his cuts, because he met with the media earlier today.
05:30Scouting combine, on-field workouts begin Thursday, but coaches and GMs talking today.
05:36Talked a lot about the offensive line.
05:38He talked a lot about the need for edge.
05:41And they're going to have to spend money at those positions.
05:44Those are premium positions.
05:45So I expect them to go out and make a legit signing, or maybe two.
05:53Well, and the other thing that he said, and even Jesse Minter kind of echoed it, they know
05:57their trenches have to be better.
05:59And their trenches, and I'm talking about offensive and defensive line, they stunk a year ago.
06:03And, you know, you can, the draft can help you, but you're going to have to sign a, probably
06:09a dude or two.
06:10Like, they need to replace their guards.
06:12And okay, maybe Emery Jones is a guy, but who's playing the other guard?
06:17Because I don't think it can be either of the guys that played it a year ago.
06:19And I feel like they need to get back to bringing a mauler, man.
06:24Like, bringing a guy with some ish to him and some nastiness to him, like we've seen in
06:30past Ravens offensive lines, especially on the Ravens defensive line.
06:34Yeah, both of those areas, you don't see the Ravens get bullied much.
06:41And you saw a lot of that in this past year.
06:43And that was a big reason why they didn't end up making the playoffs.
06:46Uh, yeah, they, they, um, it's funny.
06:51You saw the NFL has come out in 10.
06:53Troy Vincent kind of walked it back, but said there were five plays they wish it could have
06:57back.
06:57And one of them was the Isaiah likely touchdown.
06:59So now they've admitted they made a mistake on the Travis Jones penalty, which changed three
07:03to seven.
07:04And they announced that immediately.
07:05They've made a mistake on the instant replay over rule of the Teddy Buchanan interception,
07:11making it a completion to himself to Aaron Rodgers.
07:14And now the Isaiah likely that's three calls that cost the Ravens in a very close football
07:20game.
07:21Yeah.
07:22Which could have, you know, could have been the difference of them winning the division.
07:25The likely play was so ridiculous because prior to that, we never heard of a third step.
07:32We never heard of a third move.
07:34It's a man like the third step.
07:35It's two steps.
07:36Exactly.
07:36And the play's over because he's standing in the end zone.
07:38What are we talking about?
07:39Yeah.
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