It certainly made news throughout the NFL that two-time MVP Lamar Jackson was present on the first day of the Baltimore Ravens offseason program. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the work ahead for rookie head coach Jesse Minter as Eric DeCosta and the scouting department have their hands full in trying to improve last year\u2019s disappointing 8-9 roster. Lots of question marks and possibilities ahead with the 14th pick in two weeks at the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Host the Baltimore Positive crab cake tour event at Faidley\u2019s in Lexington Market on Friday, welcoming fans and serving the world-famous Faidley crab cakes.<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Bring and distribute new Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets (including existing Harlem Globetrotters tickets and fresh Maryland Treasures tickets) to attendees at the crab cake tour events in Catonsville\/Faidley\u2019s, Costa Cmonium on the 16th, and Koco\u2019s Pub on the 23rd.<\/p>\n
Lamar Jackson\u2019s OTA Attendance and Contract Status<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio discusses the significance of Lamar Jackson attending OTAs, noting that Chad Steelman criticized his attendance.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones explains the nuances of OTAs, emphasizing that they are not the end-all but also not entirely meaningless.<\/p>\n
Luke highlights that Lamar\u2019s attendance on the first day is a positive sign, as it indicates he is likely to attend more sessions.<\/p>\n
The conversation touches on the financial aspect, noting that Lamar did not receive the $750,000 bonus for attending OTAs.<\/p>\n
Contract Extension and Lamar\u2019s Commitment<\/p>\n
Luke Jones discusses the lack of a contract extension for Lamar Jackson before free agency, noting the restructuring of his deal.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones speculate on the reasons behind Lamar\u2019s attendance, suggesting it indicates no hard feelings towards the organization.<\/p>\n
Luke mentions the cap space available for a potential extension, indicating the possibility of an agreement in the spring or summer.<\/p>\n
The conversation shifts to the impact of new coaches Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle on Lamar\u2019s commitment.<\/p>\n
Offseason Program and Player Attendance<\/p>\n
Luke Jones explains the voluntary nature of the offseason program, noting that it includes lifting weights, conditioning, and some meetings.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the attendance of key players like Derek Henry, Mark Andrews, and Rashad Bateman.<\/p>\n
Luke highlights the importance of players showing up early in the offseason to build rapport with new coaches.<\/p>\n
The conversation touches on the impact of new coaches on the team\u2019s dynamics, particularly the absence of John Harbaugh.<\/p>\n
Matt Abigail\u2019s Neck Injury and Its Implications<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the uncertainty surrounding Matt Abigail\u2019s ability to play due to a neck injury.<\/p>\n
Luke explains the complexity of neck injuries, noting the need for thorough medical evaluations and the potential risks involved.<\/p>\n
The conversation highlights the impact of Matt Abigail\u2019s status on the team\u2019s defensive plans and the potential need to draft a defensive lineman.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones speculate on the team\u2019s contingency plans if Matt Abigail is unable to play.<\/p>\n
Upcoming Draft and Team Needs<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming draft, focusing on the team\u2019s needs for a left tackle, center, and edge rusher.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the 14th pick, suggesting it could be used for an offensive lineman or a defensive player.<\/p>\n
The conversation touches on the potential for trading back in the draft to acquire additional picks.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the team\u2019s history of drafting impact players and the importance of finding value in the draft.<\/p>\n
Team\u2019s Financial Commitments and Player Performance<\/p>\n
Luke Jones highlights the significant financial commitments to key players like Lamar Jackson, Roquan Smith, and Marlon Humphrey.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the performance of these players in recent years, noting concerns about their value relative to their contracts.<\/p>\n
The conversation shifts to the impact of new coaches on player performance, with hopes for a renaissance under Jesse Minter.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones emphasizes the need for the team to draft well to address the financial and performance challenges posed by these high-value contracts.<\/p>\n
Offensive Line and Team Depth<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the team\u2019s offensive line, noting the lack of a clear starting caliber center.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones highlights the importance of the offensive line in protecting Lamar Jackson and maintaining team success.<\/p>\n
The conversation touches on the potential for drafting offensive linemen and the role of new offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the depth of the team\u2019s roster, noting concerns about the availability of key players.<\/p>\n
Team\u2019s Overall Roster and Future Plans<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the overall roster, noting the team\u2019s strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the 14th pick in addressing the team\u2019s needs and improving the roster.<\/p>\n
The conversation touches on the potential for trading back in the draft to acquire additional picks.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the team\u2019s future plans, including the potential for drafting impact players and addressing key positions.<\/p>\n
Impact of New Coaches and Team Dynamics<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of new coaches Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle on the team\u2019s dynamics.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones highlights the potential for a renaissance under new leadership, noting the importance of player buy-in.<\/p>\n
The conversation touches on the team\u2019s history of drafting impact players and the need for continued success in the draft.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the importance of maintaining team cohesion and addressing any potential issues early in the season.<\/p>\n
Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones wrap up the conversation, discussing upcoming events and the team\u2019s plans for the draft.<\/p>\n
The conversation touches on the importance of the 14th pick and the potential for addressing key positions in the draft.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio highlights upcoming events, including the crab cake tour and various community engagements.<\/p>\n
The conversation ends with a focus on the team\u2019s overall goals and the importance of maintaining a positive outlook.<\/p>\n
SUMMARY KEYWORDS<\/p>\n
Lamar Jackson, OTAs, contract extension, Jesse Minter, Eric DeCosta, offensive line, draft needs, Matt Abigail, neck injury, roster depth, cap space, free agency, player attendance, defensive line, quarterback pressure.<\/p>\n
SPEAKERS<\/p>\n
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 00:01<\/p>\n
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. It\u2019s, it\u2019s baseball season here, but it\u2019s football season out knowings Mills this week, we\u2019re going to be doing the crab cake tour beginning on Friday. Re, re taking it back out on the road. We\u2019ll be a fade as it lexing the market. They are getting the new fishmongers daughter open in Catonsville. I promise. We\u2019re going to get over there before the spring is over with onto that beautiful second floor, right next to state fair, right across Mel guapo. It is opening soon. We\u2019ll find out more on Friday when we were down at Lexington market, the San Francisco Giants are in town. Steve Miles is going to join us. Luke will be making his way to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Friday. All of it brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery. I will have new Maryland treasures scratch offs to give away, including some handful of my Harlem Globetrotters still left over from February and March, but we will have the fresh ones. And then next Thursday, we are at Costa cmonium. And then on the 23rd Thursday, the 23rd will be at Koco\u2019s Pub in laurelville, and I can\u2019t wait to get back there and get a bowl of soup and some proper coconut shrimp and a Greek salad and all the things that I love, Spring has sprung, but not quite in Chicago, where they\u2019re playing afternoon baseball the next couple of days, but certainly here in Baltimore, as the weather picks up, Luke, I was stunned, because you and I like to talk about whether Lamar comes to OTAs or not, and Chad steel literally took my press pass, told me I didn\u2019t come to enough OTAs, if you can imagine what a liar he is. But nonetheless, I know you don\u2019t take the OTAs as seriously as I have. John Harbaugh had sent me texts back when he was way back when he was the coach of the team, in regard to Lamar Jackson not coming to camp and to being around the building and being the $60 million player and the leader and all of that. But so far, Jesse Minter and Eric di cost have Lamar out so much so that when I looked up on televisions on Monday night, I was at a Cooper\u2019s pub in Timonium, I looked up every television had talking heads. Must be slow in the NFL right now the Mendoza thing must be slow that the Lamar Jackson showing up in Owings Mills for the first days of the Jesse Minter administration. It means something to somebody.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 02:13<\/p>\n
Where\u2019s the Super Bowl being played this year? Right? I mean, get everything ready, right? It\u2019s decided. Now I look you and I have talked so much this time of year about OTAs, whether it\u2019s Lamar or other players in the past, and as I\u2019ve always tried to put it, I think there\u2019s nuance here. No OTAs, especially this point in the offseason program, I don\u2019t think is the end all be all. I mean, I can flat out, read to you the description the first couple weeks. I mean, they\u2019re lifting weights. They\u2019re doing conditioning on the field there, there\u2019s some meeting time, but, I mean, they\u2019re not even, you know, they\u2019re not putting on helmets or anything like getting to know you, right? Yeah, but, but on the flip side, I\u2019ve never said that they\u2019re utterly meaningless to the degree that everyone\u2019s wasting their time being out there, right? There\u2019s, there\u2019s some middle ground here. I think the biggest thing for me and I and the idea that Lamar was there for the first day, great, right? Because if there was one lingering question for me, it was not, well, the first day means he\u2019s going to be there every day the rest of the spring, right? Because that\u2019s not the case either for Lamar or any veteran player. I mean, Derek Henry was there, Mark Andrews was there. So we know veteran players sometimes are in and out of the spring program because it\u2019s voluntary, and there\u2019s but there\u2019s also the $750,000<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 03:36<\/p>\n
that they offered him to show up, and he didn\u2019t so but he has<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 03:39<\/p>\n
not even about money. Yeah, he hasn\u2019t cared about that the last couple years. But if there was one lingering question for me, and it was going to be not evident, but you\u2019d start to wonder if he hadn\u2019t been there Monday, if he hadn\u2019t shown up for the start. And again, we\u2019ll see what the attendance is like, and we won\u2019t even know entirely, right? I mean, we\u2019re still a long way out. I mean, the Ravens don\u2019t start actual OTAs when they can be on the field as a full team, even on a voluntary basis, until May 18. Now, they do have a voluntary mini camp, which this is part of having a new football coach. I mean, they started their program Monday. They were the first team in the NFL to start their offseason workout program.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 04:22<\/p>\n
Well, that\u2019s why it was news, because they\u2019re the only ones that were like, sure, yeah, yeah,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 04:26<\/p>\n
but, but my point is, we\u2019re still more than a month away from the OTAs, which to me, that\u2019s where you really start to get, where you throw the foot some meat, right? Some meat to what you\u2019re doing. But for what I was interested in seeing was understanding the ravens and Lamar did not get a contract extension done before the start of free agency. Steve bashati had talked about and Eric dicostia had talked about them wanting that right? They ended up doing a simple restructure. My lingering question much more so than whether Lamar was. Going to show up for OTAs and all that, because I think at the end of the day he\u2019s going to be there. He was there when, you know, when Todd Monckton was a nuke coordinator, when they\u2019ve had changes such as that, he tends to be there, right? And whether it\u2019s 100% or most of the time, he\u2019s been there, you know, when it\u2019s been a little bit less, it\u2019s either been a question about a contract, which we\u2019re going back four or five years ago now with that, or if, if it\u2019s a case where you\u2019ve had the same coordinator, same quarterback coach, like, like he had the last couple springs. So for me, I was just wondering, was there any sense of hard feelings, or any sense of delivering a message to the organization in the aftermath of not them not getting a contract extension done in March, right? So the idea that he was there on the first day not just a good sign for Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle, but also a good sign for the organization that regardless of where things might stand with him from a contractual standpoint in terms of wanting to get an extension done. Look, they can still get an extension done this spring or summer, right? It\u2019s not there\u2019s nothing prohibiting that, other than just the two sides needing to come to an agreement, right? There\u2019s no mechanism in place that just because they restructured his deal now that they can\u2019t extend him. In fact, they have cap space kind of baked in right now that I think is there in case they do extend him, now that they can actually raise his cap number now so it looks better for next year and moving forward, right? So, so that\u2019s part of the thing, but he\u2019s<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 06:30<\/p>\n
only got this year and next year. Let\u2019s get the contract Right, right? Okay, of course.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 06:34<\/p>\n
But, but my but my point again, the fact that he showed up Monday, he was there taking part, that, to me, was a good sign that what, for whatever reason, they didn\u2019t get the extension done in March, like they the that the organization had hoped. There\u2019s not<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 06:51<\/p>\n
like, he\u2019s not disgruntled, there\u2019s not bad<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 06:52<\/p>\n
feeling, right? And that, and that, to me, was the biggest takeaway. Again, we\u2019ll see. I mean, they have the first couple weeks, and then, like I said, they do have a voluntary mini camp for veterans. That\u2019s something that they normally don\u2019t have, but teams that have a new head coach, you can do that. The New York Giants will have that, for example, with John Harbaugh. So you know, Buffalo will have that right around the same time. So you have a mini camp before the draft, you have your draft, you have rookie camp, then the weekend after the draft, and then OTAs will begin may 18, right? And they can have 10 of those. And every every three OTA days, one out of every three has to be open to the media. So you know, we\u2019re not going to get a whole lot of as far as a glimpse of what\u2019s happening right now. They will have an availability later this week where we\u2019re talking to a few players. And I don\u2019t know if Lamar will be one of those. I\u2019m guessing probably not, but maybe he will be. I haven\u2019t heard officially, one way or the other, and we\u2019ll get to hear from the strength coach so early on, this is, this is a big day for Jesse Minter and the assistant coaches, but those guys aren\u2019t allowed to do any on field work with players just yet. So it\u2019s lifting, it\u2019s running. I mean, everyone saw the social media videos of, you know, whether it was Derek Henry or Lamar running around. I mean, seemed like they had pretty good attendance. I mean, gathering, you know, just looking at the little the clips and some of what they sent out to the media. You know, there was, you know, Lamar was there. Derek Henry was there. Mark Andrews, Rashad Bateman, zay flowers was there. I mean, it was mostly everyone that you, you know, from a veteran stand, Trey Hendrickson was there. I saw roquan Smith. Roquan Smith was there. I think I don\u2019t know if I said Marlon Humphrey or not, Kyle Hamilton, Malachi Stark. So, it was well attended. That was good to see, right? I mean, and, and we all understand, especially, at least I understand this point in the offseason, with it still being more workout driven. I don\u2019t need to see these guys here every single day of every single week, but you don\u2019t want the scenario where guys are showing up at mandatory mini camp, and that\u2019s the first time you\u2019ve laid eyes on them since January, and<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:02<\/p>\n
they gain 12 pounds or something, right,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 09:04<\/p>\n
right, right? I mean, you know, I mean Michael Pierce, what was that seven years ago? I think it was where they, they actually pulled him off the field during mini camp, because he was, you know, not in a position where he was ready to practice in their minds, but you\u2019re just, you know, you want guys to at least show their face and be around and start to build some rapport with their new position coach, or the head coach, the coordinator, whatever, just to see how<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:28<\/p>\n
different the building is. When you walk through, there\u2019s going to be different oxygen in there without John Harbaugh, no question.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 09:34<\/p>\n
I mean, and I think, and I think in most cases, that\u2019s why the players get that too. You know, they\u2019re feeling this out. I mean, most of these guys don\u2019t know who Jesse Minter is, you know, other than maybe having a phone call and a couple text messages with them, I mean, in many cases, these guys were meeting him for the first time this week, so like in person. So there is some curiosity.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:58<\/p>\n
Max Crosby\u2019s still way. Satan, yeah,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 10:02<\/p>\n
although Max Crosby\u2019s not ready, it has not<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 10:04<\/p>\n
been an un tumultuous offseason. I mean, it really, from a general standpoint, I\u2019m inking My dear Sashi letter as I\u2019m getting going. And dude, it\u2019s real. I mean, we\u2019re two weeks in tomorrow away from a draft like it\u2019s<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 10:16<\/p>\n
here, it\u2019s definitely, I mean, business is picked up. I mean, obviously, I mean, free agency was just so strange, just because of the Crosby thing hanging over everything. I mean, it still feels like we haven\u2019t given the proper oxygen to the fact that they signed Trey Hendrickson. I mean, like, that\u2019s a big deal. I mean, that\u2019s one of the, you know, in terms of money given to an outside free agent, it does. It\u2019s the biggest they\u2019ve had, right? I mean, they went, they pivoted from the biggest trade they ever made to the biggest outside free agent signing they\u2019ve ever made in terms of dollars, right? Well, and it<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 10:51<\/p>\n
also means they better get after the quarterback, sure.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 10:53<\/p>\n
I mean, they began whatever<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 10:54<\/p>\n
way, whatever Mike Green, whatever best laid plans, whatever Kyle van Noy or Clowney, they\u2019re going to wind up signing because they\u2019ll wind up signing somebody late. That\u2019s a veteran guy, yeah, some, some Elvis doumerville type in Gok way, you know, whenever that will happen, but this defensive coach coming in, there better be pressure on the quarterback, and the Matta BK thing looms as a huge mystery, but there have been spots and starts with whether he can perform or not. And by the way, John Harbaugh already has his first pissed off a superstar in New York, huh? Sexy Dexy says, nah, nah.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 11:35<\/p>\n
Well, nah. I don\u2019t know how much of that was him or how much he\u2019s just he hasn\u2019t been happy with his contract for a couple years now, from what I now, from what I understand. So we\u2019ll see how that plays out. I mean, I\u2019ve already seen a few people speculating. It\u2019s like, hey, could, uh, could John Harbaugh and Eric dicost A broker a deal there. But without knowing the reality of where matabique is, it\u2019s really tough to look at that. I mean, they\u2019re on the hook for paying Matt ABK regardless, right? I mean, this this year is guaranteed for him whether he\u2019s going to be able to play or not. So you\u2019ve already paid Travis Jones. Can you take on another big contract on your defensive line? I doubt it, and I\u2019m I\u2019m guessing, even if it\u2019s not playing spite, I\u2019m guessing John Harbaugh\u2019s probably, probably not going to be in any kind of a, you know, have any kind of an inclination to help the Baltimore Ravens get better, so I\u2019m guessing it was fun to talk about, and we\u2019ll see. But, but, yeah, I mean, the Matta BK thing, they\u2019ve just been so tight lipped about it. He\u2019s we know he\u2019s working out. We\u2019ve seen that on social media. I don\u2019t think that necessarily means he is playing,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 12:37<\/p>\n
but means he wants to,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 12:39<\/p>\n
doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s not playing either. So I think whenever you\u2019re talking about a neck, and I cited this example a couple weeks ago when we were talking about this, I mean the part of the story for Zach Orr that we forget as far as his retirement was his attempt to go get cleared by another team. If you recall, it was, it was May. I think it was June, you know, I think it was, you know, when it\u2019s probably right around when teams off season<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 13:06<\/p>\n
programs, was that Jacksonville, that it was<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 13:08<\/p>\n
going to let him play. No, well, he coached in Jacksonville, I don\u2019t know, no. Ultimately, no one cleared him, right? He may have, he may have visited a couple teams, but I think they\u2019re their medical teams. Looked at the imaging for his neck and came to the same conclusion. So point is, with that, and we just talked about this a lot with Max Crosby. We\u2019ve talked about this with various Orioles players with physicals and things of that nature. It\u2019s it\u2019s not a pass, simple cut and dried pass, fail proposition. In a lot of cases, there\u2019s a lot of gray area. But when you\u2019re talking about a neck man, you just, you have to have so much caution there and to really be sure and look, could there be a scenario where, where matabike is playing? Yeah. I mean, there have been guys that have had neck conditions and questions and things of that nature, and then they end up coming back and can play and and times where that has worked out fine. But we also know, when you\u2019re talking about the neck, forget about football. I mean, that\u2019s mortality, that\u2019s quality of life. You know your life could be in danger depending on the condition of your neck and the risk that you could be taking. I mean, these guys, we know that football\u2019s a major risk. I mean, we know that whether it\u2019s a traumatic, acute injury, or whether you\u2019re talking about CTE and the various health challenges that players have, you know, whether you\u2019re talking about knee replacements, hip replacements, all that. I mean, it\u2019s a brutal game. So when you\u2019re talking about a neck concern, you know, a neck injury of some sort, or a condition of some sort, man, you better get solicit every opinion that matters out there before you make a decision one way or the other, whether you\u2019re the team that\u2019s going to clear a player or the player who says. Is, hey, I can play. But I also realize I\u2019m taking some risk here, and even if the team that I\u2019m with is okay with that risk as well, I need to think about that right. As much as I love the game, I also want to be there for my family long term. So I understand it\u2019s been frustrating, believe me, from a media standpoint, it\u2019s been frustrating that we\u2019ve asked, starting with John Harbaugh, back in what October it was, I guess, when we started asking these long term questions about matabique, and you know, whether it\u2019s been horrible, whether it\u2019s been bashati, whether it\u2019s been to Costa. Sashi Brown, no one has given a is given a definitive answer of much substance at all, and we haven\u2019t heard from Matt abigay. He he has social media, you know, if he wanted to put something out there, he could, and he hasn\u2019t yet. So that that\u2019s their prerogative. I understand that there is a sensitive nature to a neck injury that I can recognize, and that we all should recognize.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 15:56<\/p>\n
But the mystery in the middle of the defense for our purposes, for drafting purpose?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 16:01<\/p>\n
It makes it really interesting. I mean, let\u2019s, let\u2019s call a spade a spade. I\u2019m guessing the Ravens have a pretty good idea of whether namdi matami Kay is going to play football this year or not. Whether they\u2019re ready to broadcast that or not is a different story. But I\u2019m guessing, even if it\u2019s not 100% right now, I\u2019m guessing they have, you know, percentages they have, they\u2019re either hopeful<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 16:23<\/p>\n
or they\u2019re or they\u2019re dismissive of it. At this point, if they\u2019re dismissive of it, they\u2019re gonna prepare.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 16:29<\/p>\n
They need to go accordingly. They need to go draft another defensive lineman, right? I mean, you kind of look at where they are right now, it\u2019s like, okay, they have Travis Jones. They brought back john Jenkins, right? I mean, they\u2019re, they\u2019re in the position. I mean, it was interesting to see they, you know, they had a free agent visit with DJ reader, you know, a while back. I mean, he\u2019s more of a nose tackle, but certainly someone who could make an impact. And you know, whether that was a tell about Matta BK or not. I mean, they\u2019re not the same kind of player.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 16:55<\/p>\n
But what also speaks to Minter being a defensive genius, and how he wants to play it, sure, and how he\u2019s discussing it with Anthony Weaver to say, if this then that they\u2019re, they\u2019re scrimmaging all of that long before they\u2019re scrimmaging who they\u2019re going to pick in the second or third round<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 17:10<\/p>\n
two weeks from now. Yeah, and, and, really, it\u2019s not you have to do that with every player to some degree, right? I mean, you have to go through the what ifs not to say that you\u2019re going to have a perfect answer for every scenario, like, for example, if Lamar Jackson, heaven forbid something happens to him, it\u2019s Tyler Huntley. I mean, there\u2019s not another Lamar Jackson you can go get right it\u2019s Tyler Huntley. Or where you go kick the tires on some veteran quarterback. But you have to go through some semblance of scenarios for every position group to say, Okay, if this happens, what\u2019s the pivot? If this happens, what\u2019s the pivot? If this happens, what are we doing there? So you have to do that. And like I said, in most cases, you\u2019re dealing with hypotheticals. But in the case of MATA BK right now, whether it\u2019s 100% or whether they know it\u2019s 0% they\u2019re not broadcasting that, but you always have to have contingencies. I mean, as much as you can right, understanding that there\u2019s a salary cap and you\u2019re not going to have a great backup at every position. And you know, it\u2019s why some seasons just come down to the mercy of whether you\u2019re healthy or not. I mean, it really is. It sounds like excuse making, but you\u2019ve heard me say it for years now, next man up sounds great until you reach a certain threshold, and it\u2019s no more than a t shirt slogan, because you just say, well, we\u2019ve lost four corners. Did you really expect our number five or number six or Number Seven Corner to be as good as a starter? Right? I mean, it\u2019s why you do need to have depth, but that\u2019s why you need guys to stay healthy. It\u2019s why availability is such an important part of a skill set, and that\u2019s why you know, in the case of Matta BK, I mean, and if they have him, and you have him rushing from the inside with Trey Hendrickson rushing from one edge, man, that\u2019s just going to open things up that much more for the mike greens and the Travis Joneses of this roster, so you hope, but until we hear anything definitive, and because it is a neck injury and not a knee or an ankle, even in the case of Ronnie Stanley years back, I think it\u2019s important to pump the brakes and still have a certain amount of sensitivity and just respect for the unknown when You\u2019re talking about an injury of that kind of nature.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 19:22<\/p>\n
Of nature. He\u2019s Luke Jones. He\u2019s covering all things at National Football League as we get up on the draft. By the way, I had, I had a pal on Dwayne reader, who is the museum Clemente museum guy in Pittsburgh. And I, you know, I heard Kevin Brown and Ben McDonald, Pete Alonso talking about going to the Clemente museum. And I thought, hey, we probably have people going up to Pittsburgh for this NFL draft in two weeks from now. They\u2019re expecting 1 million people in Pittsburgh, 1 million people on that little island two weeks from Thursday night and Friday as the draft makes its way to Pittsburgh. So if you\u2019re heading up there, had a great conversation with the museum curator. Of all things Clemente, and it\u2019s a real legitimate he\u2019s a great guy. He was a part of my day with Mike Tomlin 10 years ago when we did our give a spit tour up in Pittsburgh. And it\u2019s been a little while since I\u2019ve had him on so I did enjoy that a little bit, even though he brought up 71 and 79 a little bit more than I wanted him to this. NF, by the way, afarin and Durham are also doing all of our sports. If you are on the wnst tech service, you know it\u2019s brought to you by Call Roofing and Gordian energy. There was a minor trade for the Orioles in the morning. I\u2019m not assuming anything happens here with this 14th pick. I mean, you and I have not talked about the draft or the players or the needs, although the needs are pretty acute, right? Whether it\u2019s a left tackle, whether it\u2019s a center, whether it\u2019s another edge rusher, whether it\u2019s something in the middle of the defense. They\u2019ve used secondary picks here several times, and it feels like that part where Wiggins and stark should be coming into their own, and Kyle Hamilton\u2019s one of the best players on Earth, and I don\u2019t know where they\u2019re going in this draft with this pick, but there\u2019s a lot of potential, right? I mean, there are four or five spots on their roster where you\u2019d say, Oh yeah, that makes sense.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:09<\/p>\n
Yeah. I keep coming back to the airline though. I mean, I think, look, could they add another pass rusher, sure, could they add their left tackle the future? Sure, could. Could they add another defensive lineman because of Matta BK status? Sure. What\u2019s their starting offensive line right now? Not good<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 21:30<\/p>\n
enough, behind a $60 million quarterback in a hall of fame running back on the heels<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:35<\/p>\n
of a 2025 offensive line that wasn\u2019t good enough, right? So that\u2019s where I keep coming back to this thing and saying, Look, we know that. We know the reality with best player available, it\u2019s best player available that fits a need. We understand that, right? So well.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 21:50<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no point they were going to give lender bomb that money.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:53<\/p>\n
I mean, not not 20, not 27 million a year, not 28 million a year, right? I mean, no one else was other than the Raiders, right? I mean, so, but that said you still have to replace them, you know? I mean, just because that was the responsible move to make. And as I said to me, that the time when they lost Linder bomb, it was really last spring and summer. I mean, that was the time to get a deal done, when you\u2019re into in that position and that kind of player, as I said, it weeks before it happened, it ended up playing out in a very, very similar fashion to what happened with CJ Mosley seven years ago. Same deal. They all things being equal. They wanted them back. But if you don\u2019t get it done within the certain window, that player gets closer and closer to market, and all it takes is one team and the New York Jets were the case with Mosley raiders were the case with Linder bomb, where they\u2019re willing to not just reset the market, they obliterate that market. You know, they they blow that market up by 4 million. You know, in the case of Linder bomb, it was way more than that. But even in Mosley\u2019s case, I mean, he got four or 5 million more per year than the next highest paid inside linebacker, so, but you have to pivot and right now. I mean, they don\u2019t have a starting caliber center on their roster right now. I mean, I, I Corey Bullock\u2019s a Maryland guy, great. You know, he made the roster. He\u2019s the backup Center last year. The fact that he wasn\u2019t ever given any consideration to play guard. Considering how weak their guards were last year, tends to make me think he\u2019s probably a backup at best, and maybe not even a good backup, right? So certainly not someone that you\u2019re going to pencil in there. So it\u2019s tough and look, that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re drafting a center in the first round. I want to be clear about that. But, you know, that\u2019s where I look at I own, you know, big I own from Penn State, or Spencer, for know, from Utah, like O lineman, right? Whether it\u2019s, this is one of those<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 23:52<\/p>\n
things with that 14, if they back up into 23 and get another pick, that\u2019s kind of how they would take a center first, right?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 23:59<\/p>\n
Yeah, yeah. I mean, that would be the scenario for a center. And, you know, full disclosure, and this is one thing that I\u2019m not a huge like, dive into the nuts and bolts of the draft, because baseball has become more of my focus over the last month, right? So, but the overall sentiment that you\u2019ve heard about this draft is it\u2019s not necessarily a draft that has 15 franchise altering kind of players at the top of the board, right? The thought is, I don\u2019t know there\u2019s eight, and I\u2019m just, you know, I\u2019m kind of making up a number. I don\u2019t know that for sure, but the sense you\u2019ve gotten is picking 14th isn\u2019t necessarily that dramatically different from picking 23rd compared to 28th in this draft. So when you have that kind of scenario, yeah, if you\u2019re Eric da Costa, you might say, Hey, can we move back eight spots and pick up an extra day three pick in the price? A, you know, early day three or very late day two pick in the process, and then get another quality player there that, you know, another quality backup, or another quality depth developmental piece. Is there that scenario? Sure. Problem is, if you feel that way about the draft class, chances are there a lot of other teams feel that way, and that\u2019s when it\u2019s a little more difficult to trade back, because if you\u2019re trading back, someone has to come up, right? And if there\u2019s a perception that there aren\u2019t quite as many true difference makers early in the draft, then the thought is, well, we might just want to stay put with where we are, rather than spending extra draft capital to move up eight spots to get player x so, but they certainly have needs, and you kind of go through quarterback All right, you know what? Even if we want to talk about lamar\u2019s contract status two years from now, they\u2019re certainly not taking a quarterback in the first round or the second round or anything like that. But, you know running back well, Derek Henry, you know, he\u2019s signed through next year, but he\u2019s gonna be another year older and more. You know he\u2019s gonna be expensive next year. You know you\u2019re not gonna take a running back in the first round. I wouldn\u2019t think, I mean, I certainly wouldn\u2019t endorse that kind of a decision, whether you love the Notre Dame back or not, but, you know, that\u2019s a position you could think of tight end. They, they need another tight end. There\u2019s no doubt about that. I mean, they lost Kohler.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 26:29<\/p>\n
I think they\u2019re going to regret giving the money to Andrews instead of likely. I That\u2019s my my gut is they, they felt like they needed a binky for for Jay. I see Mark Andrews as as a declining, declining player. Yeah, I mean, and I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m wrong about that or right about that, and has nothing to do with him not showing up in the podium after he dropped the ball two years ago. Although I thought that\u2019s I\u2019m not a fan of Mark Andrews in a lot of ways, including having talked to him. But that being said, I don\u2019t know that I\u2019m feeling 13 million in love for him. I think they could have been much more desperate to keep linderbaum around and overpay him than to just sort of have got and the zay flowers thing, where his value is going to be, and how they\u2019re going to figure out how to maximize that and get him 108 touches this year. You know, in this offense, somehow, some way that that better happen if they\u2019re going to be a good team this year, not what they were last year, not what got the coach fired, not Lamar is hurt or in or out or whatever, they\u2019re going to be a good team this year if they\u2019re going to win 12 or 13 games. I don\u2019t know where it\u2019s coming from, because I don\u2019t think it\u2019s coming from roquan Smith. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s coming from Marlon Humphrey. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s coming from Ronnie Stanley. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s coming from Mark. Coming from Mark Andrews. And I\u2019m wondering whether it\u2019s really going to come from Derek Henry and zay flowers too. I mean, I\u2019m wondering where this productivity, it\u2019s not going to be Lamar running for 1200 yards, and, you know, running 18 times a game anymore, that\u2019s over with. So it better be Lamar throwing the ball, and it better be these other pieces in regard to this, and I don\u2019t know, I don\u2019t I\u2019m not bullish on their team right now. I don\u2019t know anything about the coach. Coach could be the next coming of Bill Belichick, for all I know. But right now, that the max Crosby thing, just how they\u2019re being run, how they treat people, just in a general sense, the smarmy president they have in this new moon guy that I keep hearing about, the moon the moon the moon the moon guy. There\u2019s a moon guy there who apparently is become real friendly with everybody in the front office there, who\u2019s been there 100 years. So, you know, they\u2019ve got some when bashati showed up, he was all full of piss and vinegar and turmoil and all that. Then he shows up for the press conference, but not a part of the press conference doesn\u2019t want to speak to P just all of it to me, they\u2019re eight nine, with a fire coach and a quarterback who\u2019s trying to prove himself again with all of this going on around him with without, Marshall yond is not here. Stanley and his Prime\u2019s not here. I\u2019m not even sure that Derek Henry in his prime is here. I know zay flowers is in his prime. He\u2019s the one guy I look at and say, All right, that guy\u2019s in his prime. How you getting them the ball? How much you getting them the ball? And you know, he is five foot nine, with 150 pounds. When he gets tackled the wrong way in space, turns an ankle, you\u2019re going to lose him for six weeks, if anything were to happen. And I don\u2019t know. They don\u2019t feel like the deep depth team they felt like to me two or three years ago, when they felt like they were freight train because roquam was there, Stanley was coming back, Derek Henry, was being imported into this that they don\u2019t scare me on paper, on this, Lamar, yes, the rest of it, I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 29:40<\/p>\n
I\u2019m surprised to hear you down on, Derek Henry. I mean, Derek Henry, finished the season. I mean, it was as good as anyone in the league at the in December.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 29:49<\/p>\n
I keep wondering how long that\u2019s going to go.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 29:51<\/p>\n
I mean, I I hear some of what you\u2019re saying, and without an offensive<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 29:55<\/p>\n
line opening holes too. I mean, really,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 29:56<\/p>\n
for me, it comes down to it comes down to the off. Of line. I mean, everything else you mentioned, I pushed back on a lot of that, like I think Derek Henry will have another good season. Zay flowers has become, you know, one of the more underrated wide receivers in the NFL at this point. Don\u2019t let the size fool you. He\u2019s their number one wide receiver.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 30:15<\/p>\n
Well, they are right now where they are with linderbaum A year ago, which is sure, if you\u2019re not going to sign him, then you\u2019re going to lose him, and if you\u2019re going to lose him, sure enough. I mean, they\u2019ve had a hard time finding wide receivers around here, as you and I can attest, over the last two decades. Yeah.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 30:28<\/p>\n
I mean, and look, I\u2019m not going to sit here and say that I love, you know, the prospects of having to play pays a flowers more than $30 million a year to keep them, which is what it\u2019s going to be. You know, I don\u2019t necessarily love that, but at the same time, like, what\u2019s the alternative, right? I mean, I agree with your point about Andrews, if you recall, I I wasn\u2019t enamored with that deal when they I thought it was kind of bizarre, a little weird. I mean, like, weird at best. That said, is, Isaiah likely going to become a star. We\u2019ll see about that too, right? I mean, but if you\u2019re asking me all things being equal, which one did I want moving forward, I would have picked likely, just because he\u2019s four and a half years younger. So that is it, but, but everything else you mentioned, look, I think a lot of that you can do that with every team in the league. You\u2019re going to find position groups that are or That guy\u2019s older, or that guy needs to take the next step, right? You\u2019re going to find that around. And I\u2019m talking about other contenders too. You can do the same thing. You know, Buffalo right now has all kinds of positions of question right now Kansas City. I mean, is Patrick Mullins going to be ready for week one, let alone talking about everything else on their roster? But it comes down to for me, I mean, first and foremost, lamar\u2019s health. No matter what the rest of their rock rosters look like, when Lamar Jackson has been healthy, they\u2019ve been a good football team, and in many cases, they\u2019ve been a great football team, at least in the regular season. So is he healthy? And what\u2019s the biggest factor in keeping him healthy, the offensive line, that\u2019s the part of this team. That\u2019s the<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 32:04<\/p>\n
part of this and they don\u2019t have a plus player right now. I mean, maybe Rosengarten, maybe on his best day. I think he\u2019s,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 32:12<\/p>\n
he is, he is. He has the highest floor at this point in time. I mean, look, Ronnie Stanley wasn\u2019t bad last year, like, I don\u2019t want to make too much of that, by any means, but he\u2019s another year older. Is he going to stay healthy as he continues to get older? Now, he has been healthier the last couple years, and that\u2019s been a good sign, and that\u2019s a credit to him, and it\u2019s a credit to the organization, because I think they\u2019ve, they probably have done a lot of trial and error to kind of see, how do you need to work out. What does your workload need to be? How do you need to practice? When do you need to practice? How much do you need to practice? When you\u2019re talking about someone who with that kind of history, especially with his ankle, there\u2019s a lot of management that goes on. And to their credit, they have found ways for him to be on the field the last couple years, way more than he had been the previous years. But is that going to continue? So point is, with Stan Lee\u2019s a year older, and you know that injury, is he 32<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 33:07<\/p>\n
Yeah, I I\u2019m gonna look him up, dude. I\u2019ll get, I\u2019ll get the right age.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 33:11<\/p>\n
His birthday was in March. Yeah, he\u2019s 32 okay. But you know, is he going to be the same guy, or is even if he stays healthy, is that going to start to backtrack. Rosengarten has not become a pro bowl right tackle, but he\u2019s a rock solid starter. And you\u2019re hoping that, you\u2019re hoping that Dwayne led for their new offensive line coach, can get more out of him, right? I think a big part of that equation, I mean, it\u2019s going to have to be based on how they\u2019re presently constructed, even if they go draft two linemen, there\u2019s, you\u2019re still going to be talking about rookies, right? Even if it\u2019s a first and second round pick spent on their own line, they\u2019re still going to be rookies. So they are putting a lot of stock into the offensive line coaching and developing these guys. And you know, they believed in Emory Jones when they drafted him last year, last year was an incomplete for him, because he missed the entire spring and summer. You know, I don\u2019t think you can really judge him based on the little bit that he played that said, I\u2019m not ready to just hand him a starting job. No questions asked, but Center is a complete. I mean, as big of a question mark as they\u2019ve had this time of year going into a draft in recent years, right? I mean, that that\u2019s, that\u2019s what you\u2019re talking about right now. So doesn\u2019t mean they won\u2019t find one. I mean, they drafted Linder bomb, and he was a day one starter, and did the job for four years. No questions asked. You didn\u2019t have to worry about it. Well, they\u2019ve got to worry about it now, until they find their next guy. So they\u2019ve brought in a couple of veterans, but to me, those guys are more likely to be an upgrade from Corey Bullock as the backup center than someone you practically expect to become your starting center. So that\u2019s everything else you mentioned. You know veteran players needing to hold on and you know guys that are valued. Concerns, if you\u2019re talking about what roquan Smith\u2019s being paid compared to the production, same with Marlon Humphrey, every team, even other contenders, have questions like that. But where I\u2019m really hesitant, and you\u2019ve already seen it, I mean some of the sports books in Vegas and everything they had the Ravens right at the top in terms of over, under for win total. I don\u2019t see that until I need until I see their offensive line in a better state than what it looks like right now. That\u2019s that\u2019s the big one for me, because it\u2019s so incredibly important to keeping number eight healthy. So it\u2019s hard for me to just say, Oh, well, you know, Tyler Linder bomb, well, they weren\u2019t going to pay him $27 million a year. Understood. But fiscal responsibility doesn\u2019t play center for you in week one. You know what I mean? Like, you still have to go replace them. So that\u2019s where I still look at the and, and we haven\u2019t even mentioned it, like they bring back John Simpson, and fine, like, I\u2019m fine with it, but three years ago, John Simpson was the weak link on their interior offensive line. Now he\u2019s the anchor on paper, right? So I need to, that doesn\u2019t add up, right? I need to see some serious work done with the O line. And look, Dwayne Ledford, their new offensive line coach has a great reputation. I think that was a great hire. I want to be clear about that. He still needs to have something to work with, right? You can\u2019t just give him, you know, you can\u2019t make chicken salad at it chicken, you know what? Right? So there has to be a baseline of talent there that, okay? John Simpson at left guard, fine. I\u2019ll even sign off on Emory Jones being you can even try to convince me that he\u2019s the favorite to play right guard, but you better have another really serious contender competing with him. You know, whether it\u2019s a veteran or another guard you draft, well, you made a heck of a<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 36:56<\/p>\n
case for using their first pick on an offensive line. I mean, that\u2019s sometimes I just keep<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 37:00<\/p>\n
coming back to that. I mean, I\u2019ll take it a<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 37:02<\/p>\n
guard at 14. I can\u2019t imagine, right?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 37:05<\/p>\n
I mean, you could, and this is where it\u2019s a little little more interesting, because you could always go the Jonathan Ogden approach, right? I mean, Jonathan Ogden was drafted fourth overall. The Ravens had Tony Jones, who was a Pro Bowl caliber left tackle at that spot. Now, they knew he wasn\u2019t going to be there long term, but what did they do? They played Ogden guard for a year. Could there be a scenario like that with the idea of, you know, Ronnie Stanley? I mean, I don\u2019t, I don\u2019t know if that guy\u2019s going to be available, that you really feel that way about. But point is, man, you need to come out of this draft with, I assume, unless you\u2019re going to be trading for a center at this point in time, which I suppose is possible. Especially draft weekend, we\u2019ve seen a deal like, you know, deals like that go down. The Ravens have made deals like that with, you know, during the draft, where they\u2019ve traded for a veteran player, but, and I just look at that interior right now, if they had to line up today, and your interior offensive line is John Simpson, Corey Bullock, or what, Pinder at center and Emory Jones or Andrew Voorhees at right guard. I mean, that that\u2019s not the Super Bowl favorite on paper to me. I mean, it\u2019s just not, no matter what the rest of the roster might look like, and it\u2019s not as though they don\u2019t have some other positions that they can really stand to improve. So hey, the draft is, hey, it\u2019s part of roster building, right? I mean, the 14th pick is a way better asset than they\u2019ve normally had in the draft in recent years. So I don\u2019t want to dismiss the importance of that, but it also increases the importance of, you\u2019ve got to knock that pick out of the park, right? You can\u2019t draft someone 14th, and then they\u2019re struggling to get on the field, right? I mean, that\u2019s, you don\u2019t want that, that this, this is not a roster that\u2019s, you know, think of Nate Wiggins two years ago, Nate Wiggins didn\u2019t need to be a starter day one, even though he ended up playing a lot as a rookie. But this is not two years ago. They need that guy that\u2019s drafted 14th overall to come in and play and play and be a big part of what they do, because they do have a couple more holes in their overall roster. When you look at the depth chart, they have a few more weaknesses than they normally do. And look some of that\u2019s inevitable. When you look at how expensive some of these guys have become, you look at the state of there, you know, my, you know, I\u2019ll kind of leave you with this, the top of their salary cap right now. In terms of CAP numbers, Lamar Jackson at 34 million now. I mean, that\u2019s that\u2019s cap wise, a bargain, even though obviously still getting cash, and you still need to get something done long term. But roquan Smith at 32 point 7 million, now that\u2019s not his salary, that\u2019s just his cap numbers. So keep in mind, that\u2019s not cash, but you have so 32.7 Matt a BK, is just under 30, and you don\u2019t. Know if he\u2019s playing this year or not. At least we don\u2019t publicly know that Marlon Humphrey, 26.3 I mean, right there. I mean, we just 30% of your cap. I mean, Lamar.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 40:12<\/p>\n
It\u2019s $90 million worth of players. I mean,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 40:15<\/p>\n
take Lamar out of that equation. Just roquan Smith, Matt ABK and Marlon Humphrey, $90,000,000.02 guys that you know, in the case of Marlin, had a bad year. Roquan wasn\u2019t bad last year, but I think we would agree, has become more of a value concern relative to what his contract is. And Matt abigay, it\u2019s a total one, no, didn\u2019t play. You know, didn\u2019t play after week two last year, you don\u2019t know if he\u2019s going to play. So that\u2019s a lot in terms of CAP dollars invested in three players who, to varying degrees, are some kind of a question mark for you. I mean, I don\u2019t want to put roquan in that category quite as much, but, but there\u2019s no<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 40:55<\/p>\n
thought that Matt abigay\u2019s coming back playing 17 games are going to be a pro bowler, certainly no thought that Marlon Humphrey has that in him at this point, right? So we are looking at and roquan, you know, I guess roquan will play 17 games and be a plus player and whatever, but not a $30 million player or feel like that, like that sort of impact. It hasn\u2019t trended that way the last two years, not even for a minute. I haven\u2019t seen him fly around on the field and say, Whoa. You know, like shades of Ray. I haven\u2019t had any vibe about that. Just a solid player at this point who\u2019s going to go out and be a leader and play fine, but that\u2019s a<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 41:28<\/p>\n
lot of money. I mean, it\u2019s, it\u2019s a value concern. I mean, I\u2019ll push back on something you did say, if Matt API case cleared, like, I don\u2019t think, like, this isn\u2019t, I don\u2019t think this is like a degenerative like, oh well, he\u2019s going to have to be a part time player or anything like that. I think this is much more. What is the state of his neck and his spine and all of that. If he gets to the field, you<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 41:51<\/p>\n
feel like you\u2019ll be an impact. He gets to the field, I<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 41:52<\/p>\n
assume he\u2019s just, you know, he\u2019s either going to be cleared or not, right? I mean, Zach Orr, it\u2019s not like Zach or became an old man overnight when they discovered his congenital spine condition, that was more like, hey, like, this is too high of a risk profile for you to play at all. Forget about like being an everyday player or anything like that. So I think it\u2019s more with Matt Abigail. It\u2019s more like that, more so than like how we viewed Ronnie Stanley with a chronic ankle injury that you know, can he play 17 games? Remember, they rotated him with McCary a year or two there even, so, so. But your point is well taken. And the point that we\u2019re making here is those are three of your four biggest cap numbers. And there\u2019s some question with each of them, right, whether it\u2019s a great a question of whether he\u2019s going to play at all in Matt abigay\u2019s case, in the case of Humphrey, can he bounce back? I mean, Marlon Humphrey was a Pro Bowl player two years ago. So can you get the guy that\u2019s closer to that than what he was last year? If you can, then there\u2019s no problem with him making what he\u2019s making, right? But if he\u2019s like he was last year, then that\u2019s a major value problem. And in roquan\u2019s case. I mean, I think you\u2019re looking at him. That\u2019s where I kind of look at the Jesse Minter effect. You\u2019re hoping. Jesse Minter, fresh mind, great, defensive mind, all of that, that there could be a little bit of a renaissance with a couple of these guys that are a little bit older. You\u2019re hoping. Doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019ll happen, but I think you\u2019re hoping for that, but, but, yeah, you kind of look at this roster, and you know, we haven\u2019t even gotten into, you know, Trey Hendrickson only has a $15 million cap number, but cash value, we know he\u2019s one of the big contracts they have. Same with Hamilton. So not that you\u2019re worried about those two guys. But the point is, this roster has become a little more top heavy over the last couple years, just in terms of how big those cap numbers are. And to be clear, that\u2019s not a bad thing if those players are all playing at the level that you expect them to. But when you have a couple of those guys that have either gotten older or guys are hurt or, you know, they\u2019re just not quite that same guy, then that\u2019s when you look at that and say, Man, you better draft well, and you better find some diamonds in the rough, and day three and and all of that, because that\u2019s, that\u2019s how your roster, you know, that happened to Kansas City big time, right? I mean, you have some big contracts, and then suddenly a couple guys get older, and you know, Chris Jones isn\u2019t the guy he was, or Kelsey two years ago. Kelsey not the guy he was, and suddenly you kind of look at it and say, Oh, we\u2019re we\u2019re having to put a lot more on our quarterback now. And if Lamar is healthy, generally speaking, that\u2019s been okay, you know, to put a lot on him, but if he\u2019s not like last year, then you see they suffer and they\u2019re not as good. So point is, they still have a lot of work to do here. Now, there\u2019s no doubt about that. And the good news is they do have the 14th overall pick to hopefully you know whether it is an O lineman or whether a corner at edge rush. Some people<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 44:55<\/p>\n
have them mocking the tight end.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 44:57<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, they\u2019re gonna draft a tight end. I just. Yacht. I don\u2019t, I don\u2019t see that. I don\u2019t know how early, right? I mean, I for one thing, look at their history. They drafted Hayden Hurst, and then they drafted Mark Andrews after the fact, they drafted Ed Dixon, and then they drafted Dennis Pitta after the fact, it Historically, it\u2019s been the second swing that they take in a draft where, where, you know, Charlie Kohler and then Isaiah. Likely Kohler was good, but likely was the more more of an impact guy. So I think they\u2019re going to draft a tight end, but I think that\u2019ll be more of a late day two or day three thing, because to me, that\u2019s a position where they\u2019ve proven capable of drafting some impact players. It doesn\u2019t even necessarily have to be early. I mean, like, okay, Todd heap and Hayden Hurst were first round picks, but they\u2019ve drafted some really good tight ends in the third round, the fourth round, so that\u2019s where you\u2019re hoping, because that is a need, but not necessarily your most pressing need, that that\u2019s where you\u2019re hoping you can take a swing and connect later in the draft, because they certainly need to add another tight end. I mean, you know, they, they added a Durham Smythe, you know, to go, you know, he\u2019ll, he\u2019ll be the Charlie Kola replacement, and I think he\u2019s a good blocking tight end, but they need another pass catcher, because I do share your Senate, your sentiment, as far as some concern about, like, what exactly is Mark Andrews at this point in time. I mean, not to say he can\u2019t be productive and be a good player, but I don\u2019t know if you can suddenly view him as thinking he\u2019s going to be the guy he was four or five years ago, statistically, because he hasn\u2019t been that, at the very least over the last year or two. Yeah, yesterday<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 46:30<\/p>\n
was a long time ago. It is still football season around here, although we\u2019re talking baseball birds in Chicago. And of course, I headed back home on Friday. We will be at faidley\u2019s at Lexington market. I keep saying that I\u2019m going to get over to the fishmonger\u2019s daughter the second it\u2019s open in Catonsville. We\u2019ll be over there. They\u2019ll be serving the world famous faithless crab cakes right in Catonsville, right near the airport, and ship them out and but we will be down at Lexington market on Friday. The giants are in town. We will be at Costa simtimonium Next Thursday, the 16th and then the 23rd we move to Koco\u2019s Pub. It\u2019s all brought to you by friends of the Maryland lottery. I\u2019ll have the fresh scratch offs in the Maryland lottery. I have a handful of these Harlem Globetrotters lucky batch, but we\u2019ll have the Maryland treasures on Friday, also our friends at GBMC keeping me healthy and alive. And I have my my big checkup later on in the month. And of course, farnand and Dermer, they check up your HVAC as well as your plumbing. They are the comfort guys. We are glad to have them on our team. Zach joined us last week, talked a little baseball, and then came by and helped me with a serious plumbing thing going on here last week. So if you need a plumber, you got one. They are the comfort guys at Farnham and Durham, or he is Luke. I am Nestor, little baseball, little football. And we\u2019re going to dive into the politics. We have the election coming up on June 23 here in Baltimore County, we\u2019ll have a lot of political hopefuls, a lot of conversations about the state of democracy and war in America, as I\u2019ve just gotten back from South America. He\u2019s Luke. I\u2019m Nestor. We are W N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It certainly made news throughout the NFL that two-time MVP Lamar Jackson was present on the first day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2052],"tags":[184,117,2282,7,6,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-859257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-ravens","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-ravens","10":"tag-baltimoreravens","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-ravens"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}