March 10, 2015
News/views: Ravens lose Ngata, Smith
Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs celebrate a sack at Heinz Field last November. — GETTY
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
News: The Ravens just traded Haloti Ngata to the Lions for … oh, hey, what’s the difference? He’s out of the AFC North, right?
Views: And with that move and another trade of starting QBs — Sam Bradford for Nick Foles — the NFL’s free agency season formally opens with multiple bangs.
We’ll track it right here all night, especially as it relates to the Steelers, who already are among the big winners on the day just for watching the nemesis Ngata shipped out of the division.
To this point, there have been nothing more than rumblings about Jason Worilds and Brice McCain, the principal figures in this scene from the local standpoint. Worilds has been been linked to several teams, McCain most prominently to the Vikings. But as we see on a nearly hourly basis on a day like this, one domino moves all the others.
UPDATE 4:25 p.m.: The Jets, per multiple national outlets, are the favorites to land Darrelle Revis, just in case you’re thinking irrationally high on this day.
4:27 p.m.: The Giants reach agreement with outside linebacker Jonathan Casillas. That almost surely takes another of the short list of suitors for Worilds off the list.
4:28 p.m.: And now, the Falcons, another team that appeared to line up with Worilds, sign two linebackers in Brooks Reed and Justin Durant. Oh, my. Reed, in particular, is a projected starter in their 3-4 defense. And as has been written here all winter, there just aren’t that many of those out there.
4:34 p.m.: Ngata is still out of the division. You know, it’s funny, but when I went to do a Getty search for pics of the big man, almost everything that turned up showed him doing something terrible to Ben Roethlisberger.
4:43 p.m.: And another huge loss for the Ravens: Torrey Smith, their top receiver, just signed a five-year deal worth $40 million with the 49ers. It’s a really good thing for Baltimore that Ozzie Newsome has faced situations like this previously and come out golden because this will put him to the test.
5:11 p.m.: Here’s something fun: Keenan Lewis, never one shy about expressing his own value, has told the Saints that he won’t play for them if they don’t guarantee the final three years of his contract. Good luck with that!
5:15 p.m.: Another Raven walks: Owen Daniels to Denver.
5:29 p.m.: The Steelers placed a phone call to the Revis camp early this morning, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, but nothing came of it. The reporter still expects Revis to choose between the Jets and Patriots, with the Jets having an edge. Don’t get too excited here, from the sound of it.
6:51 p.m.: McCain apparently has canceled or postponed a visit to the Vikings because he is visiting with another team and having a physical, per the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. For obvious reasons, that other team wouldn’t be the Steelers.
8:49 p.m.: Revis to the Jets.
9:50 p.m.: Not much else seems to be shaping up, certainly not from the Steelers’ perspective. If anything, Worilds now looks like a better bet to return to Pittsburgh than at any point in the process. Other 3-4 OLBs were snapped up. There isn’t much need left. And if Worilds, as is believed, has set his price at some unreasonable level, it’s about to come crashing down.
