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Posted by Mike Florio on March 3, 2009, 9:57 a.m.
Our own Aaron Wilson, who when he isn’t cranking out blurbs right here covers the Ravens for the Carroll County Times, recently reported that free-agent linebacker Ray Lewis made “exorbitant financial demands” of the Jets.
It meshes with information we’ve previously obtained suggesting that the Jets initially came calling for Lewis, but that the proposals extended by his camp caused the Jets to pull the plug, and then to put the full-court press on former Ravens teammate Bart Scott.
Given that Jets coach Rex Ryan showed up at Scott’s house only minutes after the free-agency period opened at midnight Friday, this chain of information provides even more proof that pre-free agency tampering is a way of life in the NFL. A fair inference that can be drawn from the available information is that agent David Dunn made the “exorbitant financial demands” on behalf of Lewis at some point before the Jets decided to send a posse to Scott’s home moments after the period for permissibly talking to free agents and/or their agents opened.
Meanwhile, Peter King of SI.com dropped a strong hint on Monday that Dunn is the one who decided to put the thumb on the scale in the hopes of picking up for Lewis a big piece of the cap space that the Jets recently had cleared.
“Yes, David Dunn,” King wrote. “The offer in Baltimore for your client, Ray Lewis, is still on the table. But let’s not press the issue too much, shall we?”
Even Joey Sunshine got in on the act, offering some free advice to Lewis via Aaron Wilson.
“As a player of Ray’s stature, you don’t maintain a sense of reality,” former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Joe Theismann said. “There are few places for him to go in the first place, economically. In Ray’s situation, you look at some of the numbers that lesser known, less accomplished younger players are getting and you think, ‘Why can’t I get a piece of that?’
“In Ray’s case, the reality is that there aren’t a whole lot of options for him. The way you drive up the price is to have a lot of suitors for your talent. That’s the only way to get that done is to negotiate with other teams. Truthfully, Ray Lewis has made more money than he can spend in his lifetime. . . .
“It’s not just a question of economics. The numbers get skewed. Players think the numbers are equal to respect. I don’t agree with that. I think numbers reflect market value. It’s the free enterprise system. Free agency has always leaned toward youth.”
Lewis would be wise, in our view, to take the deal that the Ravens have on the table before the team realizes that, indeed, it might not make much sense to pay $24 million over three years to a guy whose career might be on its last legs.
Our own Aaron Wilson, who when he isn’t cranking out blurbs right here covers the Ravens for the Carroll County Times, recently reported that free-agent linebacker Ray Lewis made “exorbitant financial demands” of the Jets.
It meshes with information we’ve previously obtained suggesting that the Jets initially came calling for Lewis, but that the proposals extended by his camp caused the Jets to pull the plug, and then to put the full-court press on former Ravens teammate Bart Scott.
Given that Jets coach Rex Ryan showed up at Scott’s house only minutes after the free-agency period opened at midnight Friday, this chain of information provides even more proof that pre-free agency tampering is a way of life in the NFL. A fair inference that can be drawn from the available information is that agent David Dunn made the “exorbitant financial demands” on behalf of Lewis at some point before the Jets decided to send a posse to Scott’s home moments after the period for permissibly talking to free agents and/or their agents opened.
Meanwhile, Peter King of SI.com dropped a strong hint on Monday that Dunn is the one who decided to put the thumb on the scale in the hopes of picking up for Lewis a big piece of the cap space that the Jets recently had cleared.
“Yes, David Dunn,” King wrote. “The offer in Baltimore for your client, Ray Lewis, is still on the table. But let’s not press the issue too much, shall we?”
Even Joey Sunshine got in on the act, offering some free advice to Lewis via Aaron Wilson.
“As a player of Ray’s stature, you don’t maintain a sense of reality,” former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Joe Theismann said. “There are few places for him to go in the first place, economically. In Ray’s situation, you look at some of the numbers that lesser known, less accomplished younger players are getting and you think, ‘Why can’t I get a piece of that?’
“In Ray’s case, the reality is that there aren’t a whole lot of options for him. The way you drive up the price is to have a lot of suitors for your talent. That’s the only way to get that done is to negotiate with other teams. Truthfully, Ray Lewis has made more money than he can spend in his lifetime. . . .
“It’s not just a question of economics. The numbers get skewed. Players think the numbers are equal to respect. I don’t agree with that. I think numbers reflect market value. It’s the free enterprise system. Free agency has always leaned toward youth.”
Lewis would be wise, in our view, to take the deal that the Ravens have on the table before the team realizes that, indeed, it might not make much sense to pay $24 million over three years to a guy whose career might be on its last legs.
