00:00Welcome in Jonas Schaefer from the Baltimore Banner. Jonas, how are you? I wasn't sure if you were going to
00:04make this or you had a lot of writing to do.
00:07Yeah, I had a lot of sleeping to do too, guys. I'm here with you.
00:11Appreciate it, man. So your initial thoughts on, I guess, let's start with Max Crosby and we'll get to the
00:16other two things that have happened.
00:18The fallout there. What were your take on it when you first read it and hearing some of the stories
00:22that are now coming out?
00:25Yeah, I mean, obviously utter shock last night. Probably even more shock than I was when I first saw the
00:31news that the Ravens had agreed to a deal with Max Crosby,
00:34knowing the Ravens as well as we all do, knowing their reluctance to give up first-round picks, to say,
00:40to give up a first-round pick, to say nothing, to give up two first-round picks.
00:44But then, you know, you go back and you read some of the reporting from guys like Albert Greer and
00:49Ian Rappaport.
00:49And, you know, Greer had, I think, reported early February about how, because this was a meniscus repair, not a
00:56meniscus trim,
00:57the idea that he might be, like, fully diagnosable by the start of free agency was a little bit of
01:06a question mark.
01:08And so now we get to a point where the Ravens bring him in, by the way, you know, like
01:12a few days after that deal was agreed to,
01:16which, in hindsight, I think looks pretty bad all around.
01:20And, you know, obviously we have not heard from the Ravens on the record one way or about this.
01:24But the idea that they did not like what they saw, I'm sure that they got some prior imaging from
01:31the Raiders
01:31in terms of, like, how this all gets done and how the sausage gets made.
01:35But for them to pivot from this to now Trey Hendrickson, a guy who I don't think that's done nearly
01:42as well,
01:43and obviously they're giving him a lot more guaranteed money than they ever would have Max Crosby
01:48until they renegotiated that deal or got an extension.
01:52It's just a kind of remarkable pivot.
01:54Like, I think Max Crosby was such a better fit for this Ravens defense because of what he brought to
01:59you as a run defender,
02:00because of just the leadership locker room aspect that he had.
02:04Trey Hendrickson is not a tough need.
02:07I mean, like, he's a great guy who, you know, had more sacks in 2024 than the Ravens had
02:13from their edge rushers all last year.
02:16But this is, I don't know, my mind is still kind of really just how much has changed
02:22and how much the paradigm has shifted in the past 12, 14 hours, wherever we are right now.
02:27Yeah, hey, what's up, Jonas? It's Femi.
02:29I mean, you know, the Lamar deal, hey, good to see you, brother.
02:33The Lamar deal, you know, I was hoping extension, not restructure,
02:36but I guess if I'm in Lamar's shoes, you know, I'm thinking, hey, I get another, you know, crack at
02:41it next year.
02:42And being in the highest paid quarterback next year after a few other deals go through,
02:47it makes me a little uncomfortable because it's just hard to kind of envision going into him being in the
02:51last year of his deal.
02:52And he has a chance, you know, after 2027 to kind of hit free agency.
02:56Kind of what are your thoughts on it?
02:57You know, should we not be overly concerned about it?
02:59You know, where does your head go in regard to the restructure versus the extension?
03:03I mean, if I'm a Ravens fan, I'm hoping like hell that this season goes well.
03:08Because if I'm, I don't want Lamar to be in a situation where he feels like he's part of a
03:16poorly run franchise that can't, you know,
03:20buy an offensive line to protect him or can't buy a defense to support him.
03:25I mean, obviously, you know, we're all kind of wondering when exactly that next Lamar shoe will drop.
03:31And it's entirely possible that whatever negotiate, whatever restructure that they have today is just a mere prelude to them
03:38getting an extension done later this offseason.
03:41But like if we head into the 2027 offseason, knowing that there's a possibility that Lamar might not sign because,
03:50as you said, I mean, like if he plays very well,
03:52that the next two years, he could have just an unbelievable market, you know, in 2028, in the final year
04:00after that deal gets done, you know, nothing is off the table.
04:07You know, I guess the middle ground for what the timeline for a Lamar deal could be is you have
04:14a bunch of really, really impressive young quarterbacks
04:16who are going to be eligible for extensions for the first time next year.
04:19You can think about Caleb Williams, you can think about Drake May, Jaden Daniels, I guess even Bo Nix in
04:26that mix.
04:26And if the Ravens are worried that Lamar Jackson could wait until after one or two or all four of
04:33those guys sign deals for them to set the market for him,
04:36then that is a realistic concern.
04:39Like I said, everything is on the table if you are a, you know, doomsayer about what exactly might happen
04:46here.
04:46Yeah, I think, you know, like looking at the situation, as we're talking to Jonah Schaefer, Baltimore Banner here,
04:52getting Trey Hendrickson, getting your first round picks back, if you want to look at the positive,
04:56I still think that's a, it's pretty special to have that.
04:59The one thing that I think a lot of people have brought up, do you feel like had this not
05:03happened,
05:04maybe they could have brought back some of their own because they lost a lot of players to free agency?
05:09Yeah, I mean, it's tough to tell.
05:13There are just so many, so many, you know, plates in the air right now.
05:17It's just like, it was very, very hard for smart people like Brian McFarlane to do behind exactly where exactly
05:25the Ravens stood with their cap space
05:27because we didn't know if Lamar was getting the restructure or an extension.
05:30We didn't know if the Ravens were going to, you know, hit the restructure button on Max Crosby's deal
05:35and when, that there's just so much obtuseness and all this, all this was a black box.
05:41And I mean, I'm sure that the Ravens probably would have hoped to have a better handle on their free
05:49agents who are leaving.
05:49Like, would they have had the cash right now to, you know, make a million dollars, make an offer of
05:56a couple million dollars more, for instance,
05:58and re-sign Jordan Stout or re-sign Patrick Card or Charlie Kohler?
06:03Who knows?
06:04I don't think we're going to get really all that much clarity from Eric Acosta or from Jesse Minter whenever
06:09that press conference is.
06:12But yeah, I mean, like, this does not look like a typical Eric Acosta offseason because a typical Eric Acosta
06:20offseason is, you know,
06:21we're going to stay away from these, quote-unquote, irrational markets.
06:24Like, he doesn't want to be the highest-priced bidder on the biggest and baddest dude out there.
06:29He just wants to make moves that he thinks are more measured.
06:32And for the Ravens to be the top bidder in this Trey Hendrickson market when he'd already been out there
06:39for a couple days,
06:40he just makes them look desperate.
06:42Yeah, Jonas, you know what's interesting is when I put kind of my game theory hat on and I pretend
06:46I'm GM for a day,
06:47you know, I'm always going to be pro player as a former player,
06:50but let me just kind of move away from that for a moment and pretend that I'm in charge.
06:56I look at Broderick Washington.
06:57I assumed he wouldn't be back.
06:59I assumed Justice Hill may not be back.
07:02I would love to bring back Chido Biawuzia.
07:05Keaton Mitchell, for me, like, you know, as a former running back, I feel like he's just a game-changer.
07:10Speed kills, he's cheap.
07:12I'm wondering now that kind of the Lamar extension is done.
07:16We've got Trey Hendrickson.
07:18We've got our draft picks.
07:19Man, I really personally hope that they figure out a way to keep Biawuzia and especially Keaton.
07:25Have you heard anything?
07:27What are your thoughts?
07:28What are your concerns?
07:29I know for a fact, and I can't divulge my sources now, but you could probably do a little math
07:33on my end on people that I know.
07:35I know there's at least three teams that are interested in Keaton.
07:37My assumption is they're going to see who offers him the largest deal, and either they're going to match it
07:42or they're going to let him walk.
07:43Any thoughts?
07:44Anything in the wind on your end?
07:49Yeah, you know, I don't know much about Biawuzia, but obviously the fact that the Ravens just didn't tender him,
07:54I think, is a pretty bad indication of where things would head there.
07:58I thought that when I was mapping out this kind of 10-point plan for the Ravens offseason, none of
08:04which the Ravens have followed, by the way, which is a little flip in my face pretty spectacularly.
08:08I thought that they would reach a compromise between that low tender and second-round tender.
08:12Or, you know, like, pay him $4 million a year and make it back over that second year.
08:21Because what does Declan Doyle want for his offense?
08:24It's explosive plays.
08:25Who has been more explosive at running back on a per-play basis than Keaton Mitchell?
08:30Probably no one.
08:31Like, I think over 20% of his runs over his career have gone for, like, over 10 yards.
08:40So, like, I think then what is probably just, you know, big picture, 30,000-foot view, the most vexing
08:47part of all this is, like, the Ravens had a chance to bring in a guy who could define or
08:53redefine what it meant to play like a Raven in Max Crosby.
08:57Obviously, that fell through.
08:58But in perhaps all the run-up to getting that deal done, you lost so many of the guys who
09:06made this Ravens offense a real pain in the neck to deal with over these past three years, five years,
09:12seven years.
09:12Like, how hard would it have been for a normal defensive player to prepare for a Charlie Kohler, to prepare
09:20for an Isaiah Likely, or a Tyler Winderbaum, or a Pat Ricard?
09:24Like, there are not a lot of 300-pound fullbacks out there.
09:26And now the Ravens, it seems like, are pivoting to an offense that is more conventional, more boring, more level
09:33personnel, like fewer 13 personnel reps, fewer 22 personnel reps.
09:38And could it work? Absolutely.
09:39I've heard nothing but great things about Declan Doyle and just how smart he is and how he connects with
09:44players.
09:44But there does feel like something important was kind of lost here, DNA-wise, from the Ravens and what made
09:51them special, what made them unique, what made them just a real pain-to-game plan for in the past,
09:57you know, three days or so.
09:59Jonah Schaefer, Baltimore Banner.
10:00At least Trey Hendrickson doesn't have to take a physical, right?
10:02Oh, never mind.
10:03So, I guess we still pump our brakes on this.
10:05You're right.
10:06Hey.
10:07It's not like he's coming off his own core muscle surgery last year, too.
10:11Jonah Schaefer, Baltimore Banner.
10:12Appreciate it, as always, man.
10:14Go have fun with today.
10:15I know it's going to be a crazy one, but appreciate your time.
10:17Of course, guys.
10:18Thanks so much for having me.
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