Anquan Boldin traded to 49ers

[pearljammer10]

Wow. Crazy. From champ to runner up. Dumb move from
Baltimore in my eyes. Bolduin is a great great nfl receiver.

[KGs Knee]

Ok, I was unaware Flacco's contract technically didn't kick in until the following season.

To me though, that makes this even worse for Baltimore.  Not wanting to pay Boldin a perfectly reasonable $6m for this year is stupid.  No two ways around it.

Baltimore will regret this.

[crownontherocks]

"Several sources" tell CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora that the Patriots had considered a run at restricted free agent Victor Cruz before Cruz switched agents to Tom Condon on Monday.

[Neurotic Guy]

I am sure due diligence was done, but I am very surprised that the Ravens could not get anything better than the 2nd to last pick in the 6th ound for AB.  I guess it must be the cap hit that people are shying from. 

[Donoghus]

"Several sources" tell CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora that the Patriots had considered a run at restricted free agent Victor Cruz before Cruz switched agents to Tom Condon on Monday.

Interesting.

I'm sure the slapping off a first round tender after the fact wouldn't have helped matters, either.

[wdleehi]

"Several sources" tell CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora that the Patriots had considered a run at restricted free agent Victor Cruz before Cruz switched agents to Tom Condon on Monday.

Interesting.

I'm sure the slapping off a first round tender after the fact wouldn't have helped matters, either.

Eli Manning's agent as well. 

[Fafnir]

Ok, I was unaware Flacco's contract technically didn't kick in until the following season.

To me though, that makes this even worse for Baltimore.  Not wanting to pay Boldin a perfectly reasonable $6m for this year is stupid.  No two ways around it.

Baltimore will regret this.

Flacco's contract is in effect this year, its just due to salary cap manipulation they pushed back his cap hit till year 4 of his deal when it balloons to 30 million. At that point a renegotiation will essentially be mandatory

6.8 million dollars is over 5% of your cap. Depending on how your cap situation is that's a lot for a average to below average WR.

[RebusRankin]

Good move for SF. A nice 2nd receiver should aid Kaepernick's development and take pressure off Crabtree. Flacco just lost his security blanket.

[kozlodoev]

Wow. Crazy. From champ to runner up. Dumb move from
Baltimore in my eyes. Bolduin is a great great nfl receiver.

Word is Boldin refused to restructure and threatened to retire if traded.

[Moranis]

Ravens fan.  Hate to lose Boldin and especially hate they only got a 6th rounder, but I will reserve judgment until after I see what they do with the extra 5.5 million in cap space.  Probably means that they will not only keep Ellerbe, but also likely will be able to keep Kruger, both of which would have been major losses to the defense.  I suspect that also means they will bring Jones back. 

As far as the offense goes, I think Pitta and Dickson will fill Boldin's role and they will still have Smith and now maybe Jones for the deep balls that Flacco loves to throw. 

[Cman]

Ravens fan.  Hate to lose Boldin and especially hate they only got a 6th rounder, but I will reserve judgment until after I see what they do with the extra 5.5 million in cap space.  Probably means that they will not only keep Ellerbe, but also likely will be able to keep Kruger, both of which would have been major losses to the defense.  I suspect that also means they will bring Jones back. 

As far as the offense goes, I think Pitta and Dickson will fill Boldin's role and they will still have Smith and now maybe Jones for the deep balls that Flacco loves to throw.

Yeah, Smith is only going to get better over the next few years. Baltimore is fine at WR position.
How much room does Baltimore have now?

[Moranis]

Ravens fan.  Hate to lose Boldin and especially hate they only got a 6th rounder, but I will reserve judgment until after I see what they do with the extra 5.5 million in cap space.  Probably means that they will not only keep Ellerbe, but also likely will be able to keep Kruger, both of which would have been major losses to the defense.  I suspect that also means they will bring Jones back. 

As far as the offense goes, I think Pitta and Dickson will fill Boldin's role and they will still have Smith and now maybe Jones for the deep balls that Flacco loves to throw.

Yeah, Smith is only going to get better over the next few years. Baltimore is fine at WR position.
How much room does Baltimore have now?

Somewhere around 17 million.  Baltimore has a lot of free agents though.  Ellerbe and Kruger I mentioned, but they also have Cary Williams, Arthur Jones, Ma'ake Kemoeatu, as well as Pitta and Dickson (though I think everyone believes the two TE's will be back for sure).  And that doesn't count Ed Reed and Bryant McKinnie the two old men so to speak.  Matt Birk also retired along with Lewis, so they have a lot of holes with their own free agents.

[The Rondo Show]

Ravens fan.  Hate to lose Boldin and especially hate they only got a 6th rounder, but I will reserve judgment until after I see what they do with the extra 5.5 million in cap space.  Probably means that they will not only keep Ellerbe, but also likely will be able to keep Kruger, both of which would have been major losses to the defense.  I suspect that also means they will bring Jones back. 

As far as the offense goes, I think Pitta and Dickson will fill Boldin's role and they will still have Smith and now maybe Jones for the deep balls that Flacco loves to throw.

Yeah, Smith is only going to get better over the next few years. Baltimore is fine at WR position.
How much room does Baltimore have now?

Somewhere around 17 million.  Baltimore has a lot of free agents though.  Ellerbe and Kruger I mentioned, but they also have Cary Williams, Arthur Jones, Ma'ake Kemoeatu, as well as Pitta and Dickson (though I think everyone believes the two TE's will be back for sure).  And that doesn't count Ed Reed and Bryant McKinnie the two old men so to speak.  Matt Birk also retired along with Lewis, so they have a lot of holes with their own free agents.

They will resign Ellerbe, Reed, and they placed a 2nd round tender on Jones and Pitta with an original round tender on Dickson.

Ravens expect Mckinnie, Kruger, Cary, Kemo, to walk

[Moranis]

Not exactly a great start for Baltimore to free agency, but when I actually looked at the roster I felt much better.  I mean Baltimore currently has under contract these defensive players, which should still be a pretty solid defensive unit and they still aren't done in free agency.

DL - Ngata, Canty, Cody, McPhee

LB - Suggs, McClain, Upshaw, Ayanbadejo, McClellan

DB - Webb, Smith, Graham, Ihedigbo, Brown

Plus a bunch of young guys who on a team like Baltimore probably means at least 1 or 2 can play and that doesn't include their still as of yet un-signed free agents of Reed, Williams, Jones, Kemoeatu.

Clearly they could use another LB and safety, but they should still be a pretty solid defense without much else.  They also need a center and tackle on the OL, but the rest of the offense should be fine as long as they keep Jones, Pitta, and Dickson.

[Cman]

Not exactly a great start for Baltimore to free agency, but when I actually looked at the roster I felt much better.  I mean Baltimore currently has under contract these defensive players, which should still be a pretty solid defensive unit and they still aren't done in free agency.

DL - Ngata, Canty, Cody, McPhee

LB - Suggs, McClain, Upshaw, Ayanbadejo, McClellan

DB - Webb, Smith, Graham, Ihedigbo, Brown

I really like the Canty signing for Baltimore - great insurance and depth (though I'm not sure how much he's being paid).

On a related note, I gotta say I love the media. I've seen a couple articles saying that Baltimore has let a bunch of good guys get away, but "it's Baltimore and they're good, so they must have something up their sleeve". New England, on the other hand, lets a player go and its all over for them -- its a media pile on.