There was a lot of talk over the weekend about the upcoming July 15 deadline to sign designated "franchised" players to long-term contracts before they are locked into playing the season under the franchise tag.
The Dallas Cowboys reportedly made some progress in their efforts to sign wide receiver Dez Bryant. The New York Giants have a decision to make after their designated "franchise" player, pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul, hurt his hand in a fireworks accident over the weekend.
The Ravens?
They don't have to worry about the deadline because they haven't used the franchise tag since 2012, when they applied it to Ray Rice, a precursor to reaching a long-term deal with the running back.
But unless there's some movement over the next couple of months with certain Ravens heading into the final years of their deals – or perhaps one 2016 free agent in particular - it's very possible that the streak of not using it ends next offseason.
It seems extremely unlikely that the Ravens would use it on either of their starting guards – Marshal Yanda or Kelechi Osemele – because that would mean paying them in the neighborhood of $13 million for one season.
But kicker Justin Tucker is clearly the most logical candidate for the franchise tag. The cost of the tag at each position won't be set until well after the 2015-16 season, but it figures to be quite a bit north of $4 million. That seems pricey, but not when you consider how important kickers are in today's NFL.
Tucker, the most accurate kicker in the history of the league, has been a great find and bargain for the Ravens after he made the team as an undrafted free agent. Assuming he has another strong year, he has every right to want to be paid as the top kicker in the NFL.
Will the perennially cash-strapped Ravens be able to afford a deal like that in the same offseason where they'll need to restructure Joe Flacco's contract and have other key free agents like Yanda, Osemele, linebacker Courtney Upshaw and punter Sam Koch? That question can't be answered now, but one thing's for sure, they'll exhaust every avenue to keep Tucker.
-- The Ravens didn't need to hear about Rolando McClain's latest issues – he was suspended last week for four games for violating the league's policy against substances of abuse – to get further justification for moving on from the troubled linebacker.
But as well as he played for the Dallas Cowboys last year, McClain's suspension reinforced what the Ravens learned about the former Alabama standout during his near 15-month stay in the organization: he simply can't be trusted.
During his short Ravens' tenure, McClain was arrested once, retired once, bombed one workout and never participated in an official practice with the team, never mind played in a game.
The Ravens finally traded him to the Cowboys, who watched McClain make 81 tackles, one sack and two interceptions in 13 games. After the season, he was named a Pro Bowl alternate and finished tied for second in NFL Comeback Player of the Year voting behind New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.
McClain's talent has never been in question, but there remain more questions than ever about whether he'll ever be able to consistently avoid bad decisions off the field to have a long NFL career.
-- The Las Vegas bookmakers are apparently confident that the Ravens will be able to replace wide receiver Torrey Smith and defensive standouts Haloti Ngata and Pernell McPhee. Not long after the 2014 season ended, the Ravens were given 33/1 odds by Bovada to win Super Bowl 50. Ten other teams had better odds to win the Super Bowl.
Five months later and after an offseason where the Ravens lost several key players along with their offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, the Ravens are now carrying 25/1 odds, per Bovada. Seven teams have better odds: the Green Bay Packers (6/1), Seattle Seahawks (13/2), Indianapolis Colts (8/1), New England Patriots (9/1), Dallas Cowboys (10/1), Denver Broncos (12/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (20/1).
-- It certainly won't be a focus, but a host of Ravens will enter the 2015 season with some significant milestones at stake. My colleague, Aaron Wilson, wrote yesterday about how outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil is just 10 sacks away from hitting 100 for his career. Just seven current active players have that many. His pass-rushing partner, Terrell Suggs, will play in his 13th season for the Ravens, tying kicker Matt Stover for the second most service time with the Ravens. Ray Lewis played 17 seasons with the team.
With another 1,000-yard receiving season, wide receiver Steve Smith will become the only active receiver in the NFL with nine such seasons. Smith is also poised to move into the top 10 in the NFL in all-time receiving yards. Smith currently is in 14th place all-time with 13,262 yards, but with another strong year, he could move ahead of Torrey Holt (13th, 13,382), Andre Johnson (12th, 13,597), Henry Ellard (11th, 13,777), Cris Carter (10th, 13,899), James Lofton (9th, 14,004) and Reggie Wayne (8th, 14,345).
As for head coach John Harbaugh, he'd become the Ravens' all-time leader in wins if his team gets nine victories during the 2015 season. He currently has a 72-34 regular-season record. Brian Billick posted an 80-64 mark.
-- The folks at Football Outsiders, a statistical website, recently did an analytical piece about how injuries have affected teams and their findings may surprise you. The Ravens finished the 2014 season with 19 players on injured reserve, but Football Outsiders ranked them as the seventh healthiest team in the NFL last year and the ninth healthiest team in 2013. In ranking the teams, Football Outsiders used an "Adjusted Games Lost (AGL) metric based on two principles: injuries to starters, injury replacements and key situational reserves carried more weight than players who don't get on the field much; and the status of the players on the injury report.
I'm not going to claim that I know exactly how they arrived at the numbers, but the piece did prompt me to go back and look at the Ravens who finished the year on I.R. Really, just three of the players – tight end Dennis Pitta, offensive tackle Rick Wagner and cornerback Jimmy Smith – were considered offensive or defensive starters. Wagner only missed the one regular season game with his foot injury.