Ed Reed Contract Situation

[sp6488]

Although I doubt this happens, as it would make the Reed-Ravens relationship worse, it would be interesting if the Ravens were to use the tag on Reed after his contract is up. If I'm not mistaken, this would actually lower his salary going into next season.
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[coordinator0]

If they get a deal done with Flacco there really aren't any other candidates to use the franchise tag on other than Reed. The next best unrestricted free agents on the team will Cary Williams and Paul Kruger and I highly doubt either plays well enough to earn the franchise tag with the positions they play. They don't have to use the franchise tag but I think they would for Reed.

[raven5255]

This is an interesting dilemma for us. Reed has flirted with the idea of retirement for the last 2 or 3 years yet he wants a long term commitment which kind of sends a mixed message.

It was reported that the Ravens offered Reed a multiyear extension prior to last season but he turned it down, which would seem to indicate that the money wasnt enough. Now for what its worth Chris Mortenson is saying the Ravens will let him test free agency. A lot could depend on the season Reed has, but as much of a game changer as he is, Im not sure what type of contract a soon to be 35 year old safety will get. Charles Woodson got a pretty nice contract extension around Reed's age so that might be what he's targeting.

The franchise tag would make sense from a financial standpoint, but Im not sure I see us going that route. Im really not sure how much Reed has left in the tank, could be a year, could be 3 or 4 years like he claims. But we need to be careful about how much money we are putting into future years especially for a player of Reed's age and durability. Suggs, Ngata, Webb, Yanda, Rice and soon Flacco are all set to have pretty sizable cap numbers a couple years down the road.

[Flaccomania]

[coordinator0]