OTL: Steelers Country, Ready to Ride?

Greetings from sunny Sarasota, Florida, Flock. I’ve been down here at O’s Spring Training all weekend, where Baltimore’s other Birds are preparing for a division title defense of their own.

We came, we saw a win and a tie, we had ourselves a 7th birthday celebration pic.twitter.com/NdCjB5I7tG

— Eutaw Street Report (@EutawStReport) March 10, 2024

As junior and I soak in the sun and take in some ballgames, NFL squads are gearing up for the legal tampering window and start of free agency.

A few rules for today:

– Teams can begin engaging with agents at Noon ET today

– Deals can be agreed to, but not finalized. No deal can become official until after 4 PM ET on Wednesday

– Teams cannot speak to players who represent themselves without an agent until Wednesday…

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 11, 2024

Already we have big news that will impact the AFC North, as the Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly signing Russell Wilson to a deal on which Denver will still pay a ton of money.

Nine-time Pro-Bowl QB and former Super-Bowl champ Russell Wilson plans to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, per league sources. Wilson will sign a team-friendly, one-year deal in which the Broncos will wind up paying $38 million of his salary while Wilson wears the black and… pic.twitter.com/eqQC8w0tIK

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2024

Is Russ really cooked, as he appeared during his time in Denver, or will a change of scenery be just what he needs to revitalize his career? We’ll certainly be hoping for the former around these parts. As will Kenny Pickett.

Kenny Pickett seeing the Steelers signed Russell Wilson pic.twitter.com/EXFBbgXl3D

— GoldBoys x JD (@GoldBoysSupport) March 11, 2024

One player that could be on Baltimore’s radar is Bradley Bozeman.

Report: Panthers to cut Bradley Bozeman. https://t.co/qVUmQJ0Ec4

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 10, 2024

The former Raven spent two seasons in Carolina after playing the first four of his career in Charm City. While the Ravens are clearly set at center with Tyler Linderbaum, they could potentially be in the market for some reinforcements at guard, where Kevin Zeitler has just left quite the hole to fill. As a cut, Bozeman wouldn’t count toward the compensatory pick formula, and we know that factors into everything the Ravens do this time of year. Bradley played 32 games at LG here in 2019-20.

One factor that could play in here, as Tony Lombardi reminded me this morning, is that Bozeman’s agent is Joe Linta, who of course also represents Joe Flacco. He and the Ravens may not be on the best of terms.

As far as how much money the team even has to play with as the new league year kicks off, we got a little more clarity on Friday, as we learned the details of Justin Madubuike‘s extension. Brian McFarland breaks it down here:

Based on @ProFootballTalk’s report, this should be the breakdown of Justin Madubuike’s 4-year, $98M deal. The $22M 2026 base salary will become fully gtd in March of 2025, so these numbers will change then, but for now, this is how it breaks down. pic.twitter.com/dlZna4oKCM

— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) March 9, 2024

After that, they’re still about 75K over the cap, as calculated here.

So it should be a busy few days at The Castle with roster manipulations still to come.

Right after Mads signed on Friday, Chris Jones re-signed with Kansas City, and made Justin’s contract immediately look like a bargain by comparison.

It took just a few days after tagging Justin Madubuike for the Ravens to sign him to a long-term deal. Did wanting to beat the Chris Jones deal (signed the next day) provide extra motivation to get it done so quickly?

OVERALL VALUE
CJ: 5 yrs, $158.75M (No. 1 among DTs)
JM: 4…

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) March 11, 2024

Sarah makes a good point. I saw some members of the Flock griping about Beeks’ contract being an overpay. Do those folks still feel that way?

Today is my last full day in Florida, and we’re heading out to try to catch some fish. I fully expect my notifications to be going nuts with happenings from 1 Winning Drive while I’m away from my computer.

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