2017 August - Pro Football Rumors

Month: January 2025

Let’s Figure Out Who Offered A Second-Rounder For A.J. McCarron

August 11th, 2017 at 9:59pm CST by Dallas Robinson

An unidentified team reportedly offered the Bengals a second-round pick for backup quarterback A.J. McCarron this offseason, as Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com reported earlier this week. Cincinnati rejected the offer, as it apparently wants a first-rounder for McCarron, who will once again act as a reserve behind starter Andy Dalton in 2017.

McCarron, 26, doesn’t have much NFL experience, as he’s only made four total starts (all following a 2015 Dalton injury) during his three-year career. Although he posted a decent showing in those appearances, tossing seven touchdowns against two interceptions, the former fifth-round pick’s track record is admittedly limited. McCarron’s contract situation is also up in the air: while the Bengals reportedly believe he’ll be a restricted free agent in 2018 because he spent his rookie season on the non-football injury list, McCarron and his agent may have a different take. An arbitrator hearing and resolution likely won’t come until next season.

With those caveats in mind, let’s look at the possible candidates for who offered a second-round pick for McCarron:

Arizona Cardinals

Let’s start off this exercise with the one true wild card on this list, as the Cardinals already have their starting quarterback in another former Bengal, 37-year-old Carson Palmer. Given that Palmer hinted at retirement all offseason, it’s entirely feasible 2017 will be his final NFL season, and Arizona hasn’t established a plan for the future. Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert aren’t realistic options to take over under center if Palmer does hang up his cleats after the upcoming campaign, so it’s possible the Cardinals would have floated a Day 2 selection in order to land a long-term successor like McCarron. General manager Steve Keim hasn’t been afraid to trade draft picks in the past, although his other significant deal — sending a second-rounder to the Patriots for edge rusher Chandler Jones — was a win-now move. McCarron’s 2014 NFL.com draft profile noted his lack of a “big-time, vertical arm,” which would theoretically present a problem in a Bruce Arians offense.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills hemmed and hawed on whether to retain incumbent signal-caller Tyrod Taylor, and though it appeared as though he’d hit free agency, Taylor ultimately agreed to a short-term pact that will keep him Buffalo through the 2018 season. While McCarron would seemingly fit in new play-caller Rick Dennison‘s offense, the timeline of the Bills’ front office turnover makes it unlikely they were involved in McCarron trade discussions. Buffalo reached a new deal with Taylor just prior to the start of the 2017 league year in early March, and former general manager Doug Whaley was fired two months later. Targeting another quarterback just after working out a fresh pact with Taylor seems improbable, and Buffalo’s ownership wouldn’t have let a lame duck like Whaley make such a franchise-altering decision.

Chicago Bears

While the Bears were never linked to McCarron, they were interested in trading for another high-profile backup quarterback — the Patriots’ Jimmy Garoppolo. Rival clubs didn’t believe Chicago would be forced to part with its No. 3 overall pick in order to land Garoppolo, as a package of multiple second-round selections was thought to be enough to get a deal done. Clearly, that view was misguided in regards to Garoppolo’s availability, but the Bears were obviously willing to ship away draft choices in order to bring in a passer. Ultimately, Chicago not only signed free agent Mike Glennon, but sent a bevy of picks to the 49ers in order to move up one spot in the first round for UNC’s Mitch Trubisky. Sending a second-rounder to Cincinnati for McCarron, then, wouldn’t have been out of the question.

Cleveland Browns

The one club known to have held McCarron trade talks with the Bengals is the Browns, who were reportedly discussing McCarron as late as the first day of the draft in April. However, negotiations between Cincinnati and Cleveland apparently didn’t get very far, as the Bengals were had assigned a high price tag to its backup quarterback. Based on familiarity alone, the Browns were an excellent fit for McCarron, as Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson was the Bengals’ offensive coordinator when McCarron entered the league in 2014. The Bengals didn’t seem to have any qualms about dealing McCarron to a division rival, and Cleveland seems like an obvious contender for the mystery team that offered Cincinnati a second-round pick, especially given that it owned two of them heading into the draft.

Denver Broncos

An armchair psychologist might say general manager John Elway‘s insistence that the Broncos are not currently trying to trade for McCarron (“150% false) is a bit on the defensive side, but even if Denver isn’t looking into McCarron at the moment, that doesn’t mean the club wasn’t interested in him earlier this year. Yes, the Broncos used a first-round pick on Paxton Lynch just a year ago, but reports on him and fellow quarterback Trevor Siemian haven’t been positive. Plus, Denver was linked to at least one signal-caller upgrade — veteran Tony Romo — this offseason, meaning the Broncos were willing to put Lynch and Siemian on the bench if a better option was discovered.

Houston Texans

One of the three clubs on this list that ultimately traded up to select a quarterback in the first round of the draft, the Texans are now set for the future with Clemson’s Deshaun Watson under center. But would they have been willing to ship a relatively early pick to the Bengals for McCarron before acquiring Watson? Possibly, although the fact that McCarron would likely need to be extended relatively quickly may have presented a problem. The Texans are staring at long-term deals for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, so cap space could quickly get tight. And after general manager Rick Smith whiffed on Brock Osweiler in 2016, Texans ownership may not have given approval for the front office to spend both draft pick capital and more cash on another unproven quarterback.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs actually selected another quarterback — Georgia’s Aaron Murray — one pick before McCarron came off the board to Cincinnati in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. But McCarron doesn’t look like a perfect fit for Kansas City, and like Houston, cap space problems would have likely come into play. The Chiefs are currently projected to be nearly $5MM over the cap in 2018, so extending or franchising McCarron would have possibly been untenable. As such, Kansas City needed the benefits of a rookie quarterback contract, and instead opted to trade up to acquire Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech.

New York Jets

Writing in early March, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com suggested the Jets may have looked into a possible Sheldon Richardson-for-McCarron trade, noting his belief that Cincinnati would have had to insert a draft pick to get a deal done. I completely disagree on that last point, as a quarterback — even a reserve — has more value than a unproductive edge rusher/defensive tackle (plus, Richardson is scheduled to earn nearly $8MM more than McCarron in 2017), the idea of Gang Green trading for McCarron wasn’t completely out of the question. New York isn’t trying to win during the upcoming season, however, and will limp through the campaign with Josh McCown, Bryce Petty, and Christian Hackenberg before presumably finding a quarterback in next year’s draft.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are one of the more interesting clubs on this list, as new head coach Kyle Shanahan should be allowed to essentially handpick his quarterback of the future at this point. San Francisco signed free agents Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley, and drafted Iowa’s C.J. Beathard in the third round, but any talks regarding McCarron likely would have occurred before the 49ers made those moves. Still, the idea that San Francisco would have offered a second-round pick for McCarron seems unlikely for a few reasons. First, the Niners’ second-rounder was No. 34 overall, an extremely valuable draft choice, and second, San Francisco is probably holding off on adding a long-term quarterback until the 2018 free agent status of Kirk Cousins — Shanahan’s former pupil — is resolved.

What do you think? Did one of these clubs offer a second-round pick for McCarron? Or was it another unidentified team? Weigh in here:

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/11/17

August 11th, 2017 at 9:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are today’s minor moves.

The Vikings placed Bishop Sankey on IR, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). Minnesota signed the former Titans second-round pick to a reserve/futures contract in January, but an MRI Friday revealed Sankey tore an ACL. He will miss the season. Sankey hasn’t played in a game since 2015.
Cut by both the 49ers and Jets in August, Bruce Ellington caught on with a third team this month. The Texans agreed to terms with the wide receiver/return specialist, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports. The Jets waived Ellington with an injury designation, but a Friday workout with the Texans provided a green light for the franchise to sign him. The Texans are currently reeling at wideout. In addition to Will Fuller‘s absence, Braxton Miller and DeAndrew White aren’t practicing. Ellington missed all of last season with a torn hamstring.
The Jaguars signed veteran running back Jonathan Grimes and waived running back Tyler Gaffney with an injury designation, the team announced. Grimes is a five-year NFL veteran whose most notable work came as a backup for the Texans from 2012-16. He gained 455 yards from scrimmage in 2015, the final year Arian Foster suffered a severe injury.
Defensive end Keionta Davis agreed to terms with the Patriots, who cut cornerback Dwayne Thomas to make room, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets. A rookie out of Chattanooga, Davis was invited to the Combine but wasn’t drafted or signed after the draft.
The Chargers re-signed tight end Matt Weiser, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter). A University of Buffalo alum, Weiser spent time with the Bolts during their final San Diego camp last summer but was cut just before the season.
The Colts reached injury settlements with tight end (and former VCU basketball standout) Mo Alie-Cox and wideout Harvey Binford, Wilson tweets.
Mykkele Thompson‘s time as a Giants secondary cog could be coming to a close. After Big Blue cut Thompson — a fifth-round pick in 2015 — on Thursday, he cleared waivers. NJ.com’s Dan Duggan expects an injury settlement to follow (Twitter link). Duggan notes this Thompson is battling a minor quadriceps injury.

Bills Address Trades Of Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby

August 11th, 2017 at 9:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bills made deals with the Rams and Eagles on Friday and secured two additional draft picks. They now have six selections in the first three rounds next year. However, in trading away their top cornerback and wide receiver, Bills brass are aware they have to sell these deals to fans and players.

Sean McDermott commented about how these trades could be perceived as weakening this year’s team — and hindering the chances of breaking major American sports’ longest playoff drought — in order to build for the future in the eyes of some fans.

“I get it. I absolutely get it. That’s why I didn’t sleep last night because these are tough decisions,” McDermott said, via Tim Graham of the Buffalo News. “I’m a part of that. When I signed my name to that dotted line, I became a part of that 17-year time period. I’m invested. I feel what (the fans) feel.”

New GM Brandon Beane said he was not actively aiming to trade Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby. Beane added these trades came together around the same time, inducing the back-to-back announcements.

“These aren’t easy decisions. I laid both trades out for Terry Pegula and Sean McDermott last night. This was absolutely a ‘we’ decision,” Beane said. “… People forget that we just signed (Anquan) Boldin. This isn’t a throw-in-the-towel move. You don’t know me if you think I’m throwing in the towel.”

Convincing veterans these were the right moves weighed on Beane’s mind. That process has already begun. An AFC GM, however, approves of the haul the Bills got for Watkins and Darby. The exec texted Graham that second- and third-round 2018 picks for players the Bills didn’t ultimately view as cornerstones was a good return. This follows the draft-weekend deal that allowed the Chiefs to move up to No. 10 and select Patrick Mahomes, dropping the Bills 18 spots in Round 1. Of course, Beane wasn’t yet on board when that occurred.

“Well, it’s hard,” Beane said of selling the move to the locker room. “They don’t necessarily know Jordan (Matthews) or E.J. (Gaines) So hopefully they’ll reserve judgment until those guys get in and strap the pads on and jump in with them. We’ll see where it goes from there.”

Speaking of Boldin, the veteran wide receiver said Friday he would have joined the Bills with or without Watkins. Boldin signed a one-year contract late last month. The Rams now have Watkins on a one-year deal since the Bills didn’t pick up the former No. 4 overall pick’s fifth-year option.

Back for a third season as the starting quarterback, Tyrod Taylor toed the company line as well after the Bills have now fully revamped his receiving corps.

“I have faith in our management, have faith in coach McDermott that they made a decision based on the betterment of this team,” Taylor said, via Graham.

Graham notes Kyle Williams needed to be convinced to return for a 12th season. The defensive tackle said his experience with NFL transactions makes this easier. As does the fact Matthews and Gaines are on the way.

“You could view it one way from my perspective if we got a pick (in 2018), two more two years from now,” Williams said. “We’re actually getting guys that are coming back to play those positions.”

Latest On Aaron Donald, Trumaine Johnson

August 11th, 2017 at 8:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams have made a substantial extension offer to Aaron Donald, Les Snead said (via Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com).

Donald remains a camp holdout, and the most recent news coming out of Los Angeles hasn’t moved the needle much on a re-up for the dominant interior defender. Dialogue between the Rams and Donald is ongoing, however, Snead said.

“We want Aaron here and we want to make him a Ram for a long time,” Sean McVay said, via La Canfora, “and in the little bit of time I’ve spent with him it doesn’t take long to see what kind of a special player he is, based on the tape, and what kind of person he is and how much he loves the game of football and his teammates. That’s why we want to get it figured out.”

The 26-year-old defender is due just $3.225MM this season. That number rises to $6.892MM in 2018 because of the fifth-year option. But Donald, a two-time All-Pro, has obviously proven he’s worth top-market money. Ndamukong Suh‘s six-year, $114MM — negotiated while Suh was a UFA — remains the standard for interior defenders. Von Miller‘s six-year, $114.6MM deal represents the high for all defensive players.

La Canfora added the Rams are open to making a trade as well. Shedding Trumaine Johnson‘s $16.742MM franchise tag salary would be an avenue to clear cap space — the Rams hold just $3.78MM at present — and La Canfora reports the Steelers are among the teams inquiring about a possible deal for the sixth-year corner. While that wouldn’t exactly be in Pittsburgh’s draft-centric nature, and La Canfora doubts L.A. would pull the trigger after the Gaines deal, Johnson has proven himself to be an upper-echelon corner. The Steelers return their cornerback trio from last season in Ross Cockrell, 2016 first-rounder Artie Burns and William Gay

Rams Eyeing Sammy Watkins Extension

August 11th, 2017 at 7:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams received the highest-ceiling talent in Friday’s seminal trades, and Les Snead wants Sammy Watkins to stick around in Los Angeles long-term.

The sixth-year GM said he “definitely” wants to sign Watkins to an extension, telling Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, “he’s 24, so you don’t just do (this trade) for the now.”

Snead said the Rams were eyeing Watkins from the time the Bills decided not to pick up his fifth-year option in the spring. With Los Angeles now armed with multiple slot options in Tavon Austin and Cooper Kupp, and featuring newly acquired No. 2 wideout in Robert Woods, Sean McVay coveted a field-stretching presence for his first Rams offense, La Canfora writes.

“It probably started a little bit in the spring as you’re talking to people and trying to improve your roster,” Snead said. “We started flirting with Buffalo and Sammy probably around the time when they didn’t put the fifth-year option on him and we didn’t put the fifth-year option on Greg (Robinson).

“And over time I had a conversation with Buffalo and then when Brandon Beane got the GM job we rekindled that a little bit during the summer and it came to fruition this week.”

The Rams traded a second-round pick and E.J. Gaines for Watkins, so the former No. 4 overall pick bolting after one season would not net the team a particularly good return on its investment.

Snead acknowledged Watkins’ medical history was a key discussion point before pulling the trigger on the trade with the Bills. But the Rams eventually signed off on it. Watkins missed eight games with a severe foot injury last season.

“We definitely discussed it,” Snead said, “and I think it’s probably one of the reasons they didn’t put the fifth-year option on him. But when we dove into it we felt comfort taking the risk and making this move and going forward.”

With a quality season, Watkins will be a coveted commodity come 2018 if he makes it to free agency. The former Clemson star has two 975-plus-yard receiving campaigns to his credit but is coming off his worst season. It’s possible Watkins will want to wait to sign a deal in hopes of re-establishing top-market value or near that level with a good season, but the Rams could preempt that with a quality offer beforehand.

Dolphins To Place Ryan Tannehill On IR

August 11th, 2017 at 7:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Dolphins placed sixth-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill on IR Friday night. He will undergo season-ending ACL surgery, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports, emphasizing there is “no chance” the 29-year-old passer returns this season.

Injured last week during practice, Tannehill will now undergo the surgery the Dolphins debated late last season. He opted to traverse a non-surgical course, but this latest setback will send Tannehill to the operating table.

Salguero reports Tannehill made this decision tonight after speaking to Adam Gase. Tannehill again considered other, less invasive treatment options but will undergo surgery next week. Salguero notes he is expected to be ready for training camp next summer. The precise type of surgery isn’t yet known, but Salguero reports this operation will definitely be a reconstructive procedure.

The Dolphins — and their bid to make a second straight playoff appearance for the first time since the 2000-01 seasons — are now in Jay Cutler‘s hands. The 34-year-old passer signed a $10MM deal which is fully guaranteed, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter), coming out of retirement in this emergency circumstance.

Tannehill completed a career-high 67 percent of his passes in Gase’s system last season, and although his season was cut short after 13 games, the former first-round pick piloted the Fins to an 8-5 record while healthy. Matt Moore guided the Dolphins into the playoffs before the Steelers ousted them in Round 1.

Tannehill will turn 30 next July. He’s under contract through 2020, although no money is guaranteed in 2019 or ’20.

Tramaine Brock Releases Statement, Eyes NFL Return

August 11th, 2017 at 6:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Authorities cleared former 49ers cornerback Tramaine Brock of wrongdoing in a domestic violence case earlier this week. And the soon-to-be 29-year-old free agent made his first public comments about the incident Friday night.

“I would like to formally apologize to my family and children for the verbal altercation that brought about this situation,” Brock said in a statement provided to Pro Football Talk. “These past five months have been a time to reevaluate and grow as a person. I had hoped to keep family matters private, but at this time I have to get the facts out. I have never put my hands on the mother of my children, as what has been publicly reported.

“The information in the police report is untrue. I stayed in an unhealthy relationship for the sake of my children, which was not in my best interest. As the case I was involved in has been dismissed, I am eager to move forward and focus on sharing custody of my two children and ensuring a stable environment for them.

“Lastly, I look forward to continuing my football career in the near future.”

The alleged victim’s attorney released a statement on Thursday indicating this was a verbal dispute. The NFL could still punish Brock, but as Mike Florio of PFT noted, that might be difficult without cooperation from the alleged victim.

Brock rated as the No. 23 cornerback in football last season, per Pro Football Focus. However, the 49ers seem to have moved on despite having plenty of cap space for a free agent of this sort. A former UDFA, Brock played the first seven seasons of his career in San Francisco.

Reactions From Bills’ Two-Trade Day

August 11th, 2017 at 6:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bills reshaped their team and 2018 draft with two trades on Friday afternoon. Buffalo unloaded Sammy Watkins to the Rams for E.J. Gaines and a second-round pick. The Bills then shipped Ronald Darby to the Eagles for Jordan Matthews and a third-rounder. Here’s the latest fallout from these deals.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman said the team didn’t shop Matthews but acknowledged the fourth-year wideout being in trade rumors since March accelerated the actual trade. Roseman, per Zach Berman of Philly.com (on Twitter) said when trade rumors are out there, “people call.” Roseman added Darby — a 2015 second-round pick — having two years left on his rookie contract cemented the deal for the Eagles. “The big factor for us was we weren’t getting a free agent back, too,” Roseman said (via Berman, on Twitter). “We wouldn’t have done the trade if a player had one year left.”
A perpetual injury risk, Watkins seeing another team take a chance on him in a contract year indicates belief he can stay healthy, ESPN.com’s Stephania Bell tweets. Bell adds a member of the Bills medical staff is now with the Rams. Watkins missed eight games last season and three in 2015. He played in all 16 games as a rookie.
ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano picked up a vibe while visiting Eagles camp the team was worried about their cornerbacks, and he notes the team is high on 2015 first-round wideout Nelson Agholor as a late-blooming talent. Although, he added the caveat of Agholor’s camp emergence could partially be due to Philly’s substandard corner situation. Graziano adds the Bills were worried about being too young at corner as well. Buffalo has overhauled its cornerback corps this offseason, cutting Nickell Robey-Coleman, letting Stephon Gilmore defect to New England and now trading Darby. The Bills added Shareece Wright, Tre’Davious White, Leonard Johnson and now Gaines. Darby is the latest Bills corner to join the Eagles, following Leodis McKelvin and Ron Brooks. Graziano notes Darby is a higher-ceiling talent than anyone the Eagles previously had.
Graziano added Jordan Matthews not receiving a contract extension so many of his teammates did recently was a bad sign for his future in Philly. Berman points out (via Twitter) Alshon Jeffery is the receiver the Eagles will try to keep long-term. Jeffery signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia in March. A Matthews re-up may have gotten in the way of that for an Eagles team that’s seen the aforementioned extensions tie up its 2018 cap for the time being. The Eagles as of now are projected to have just $1MM in 2018 space.
The Rams were the only team to not receive a cornerback in these trades, but Wade Phillips is confident in his group. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com notes (via Twitter) that means Kayvon Webster as well. The 2013 third-round pick’s a bit of an enigma in being buried behind Denver’s dominant trio for three seasons, but he’s in line to start in Los Angeles now. Robey-Coleman and Webster are now the top two candidates to play opposite Trumaine Johnson.
LeSean McCoy weighed in on the deal and praised his outgoing teammate while tabbing Matthews — his teammate in Philly for a year — as an inferior receiver to Watkins. “If you compare the two, it’s obvious you can agree who is better,” the Bills running back said, via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. McCoy added (via Rodak) he can relate to Watkins being traded for a player who he’s “probably better than” from the Eagles-Bills 2015 swap of McCoy and Kiko Alonso.
Watkins was due a $2.4MM bonus last week, according to OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald (on Twitter). He notes unless there was an unreported adjustment in the contract, the bonus was the Bills’, and not the Rams’, responsibility.

Latest On Ezekiel Elliott Suspension

August 11th, 2017 at 4:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Ezekiel Elliott suspension will reside as one of most memorable Friday news-dump sequences in the NFL’s history with this tactic, and the result has Jerry Jones “furious,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Cowboys owner and recent Hall of Fame inductee said as recently as late last week the domestic violence issue that now stands to drastically alter Elliott’s season was not an issue. Jones previously categorized the accusations against Elliott as being without merit, and while the running back will appeal the suspension, as of now the Cowboys’ top offensive weapon will be shelved until late October. This stands to give the defending NFC East champions a tougher road to defending that title.

Here’s more on the second-year running back’s suspension.

An NFL source relayed to Schefter this process took as long as it did because the NFLPA was responsible for a lengthy delay in delivering information requested in mid-December. Schefter reports (Facebook link) the NFL did not receive said information until mid-May.
Elliott’s ban was based on two components: the accusation of repeated domestic violence in July 2016 and the incident in March involving the running back removing a woman’s top on a parade float, Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets. The running back’s alleged involvement in a DJ breaking his nose at a club last month was not considered, Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
While the above NFL source accused the NFLPA of delaying this investigation considerably, union executive director DeMaurice Smith wonders independently why this took so long. “I just have a hard time understanding how come an investigation takes a year, results in a 165-page report and takes so long and so many person hours,” Smith said, via Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com. “As a homicide prosecutor and violent crimes prosecutor, I had to try a violent offender or a murderer 100 days after arrest or the person goes free. I know there’s a couple of prosecutors that are working with the league on these personal conduct issues but I gotta tell ya there’s a whole group of prosecutors and law enforcement folks laughing at them going, ‘Why does it take so long?‘”

Ravens’ Alex Lewis Done For Season

August 11th, 2017 at 3:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Ravens offensive lineman Alex Lewis suffered a shoulder injury that will require surgery, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) has learned. The operation will rule him out for the 2017 season.

Lewis is no stranger to injury as a high ankle sprain cost him a good chunk of the 2016 season. This year, he was slated to return as the team’s starting left guard. For a team that has been decimated by injuries all summer, this is a crushing blow.

The Ravens have lost three key interior linemen in recent months. Center John Urschel opted to retire this summer while rookie guard Nico Siragusa was shut down with a torn ACL.

The advanced numbers at Pro Football Focus painted Lewis as a below-average guard last year, ranking him 61st out of 75 qualified players. The loss still stings, however, since the team is already pretty shallow on the O-Line. The Ravens will likely look into signing a guard to replace Lewis, but they could alternatively add a center and slide Ryan Jensen over to guard. Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) suggests that moving tackle James Hurst to the interior could also be an option. The Ravens also have fifth-round rookie guard Jermaine Eluemunor on the roster, but he may be too green for the first unit.

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