The NFL’s free-agent signing period begins Friday. In a three-week series, Post staff writers Paul Schwartz and Mark Cannizzaro analyze this year’s class, position by position. Today: linebackers, and offensive and defensive linemen.
EVEN with the Ravens placing their franchise tag on Terrell Suggs, there remains some intriguing talent at linebacker in the free-agent pool, which will be available for bidding beginning Friday.
The marquee name available is Ray Lewis, who amassed more than 1,600 tackles, has 331⁄2 sacks and 28 interceptions during his 13 seasons in Baltimore.
Nevertheless, there are some issues. Though he still is productive, Lewis is entering his 14th season. Also, he most likely will re-sign with the Ravens, though at the Pro Bowl he said he was not going to give Baltimore a “hometown discount.”
He also raved about the Jets and their new head coach Rex Ryan, who previously was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator. Lewis said he and Ryan were a great fit and he predicted the Jets as an immediate Super Bowl contender if he were to sign with them.
That, however, was a stir-the-pot moment in preparation for free agency, hoping to raise the stakes for a new contract. The reality is that the Ravens and Lewis’ representative already have reportedly talked parameters for a new deal and he probably will end his career where it began – in Baltimore.
Lewis’ teammate, Bart Scott, however, could be a different story.
It’s possible the Ravens, after franchising Suggs and likely to re-sign Lewis, might not want to invest more big money in Scott, who’s seeking big money. Even Scott, in a recent interview with Sirius radio, said it will be tough for the Ravens to re-sign all three linebackers.
“It’s unique to free agency that you have three star linebackers up at the same time,” Scott said. “You can make an argument for any one of those guys [to be re-signed]. If you’re able to keep all three of us you’d almost have to be a miracle worker.”
And he said he could make an impact if he were to land with the Jets.
“I can go to the Jets and I can set a tempo,” Scott said. “I have some unique things to my game that’s unique to just Bart Scott that everybody else can’t do. You don’t have to take me out.
“You can put me over the tight end, you can take me out of the box, you can leave me in the box. Every linebacker can’t say that. You can put me in any situation [and] I’ll flourish.”
The Jets are unlikely to re-sign LB Eric Barton, who will head to the open market, and that leaves an opening at the position.
“I can go in there and I can guarantee all that running coming up the middle, that’ll stop,” Scott said.
Barton, who made 119 tackles and had 11⁄2 sacks last season, likely will not re-sign with the Jets unless he does so for low money since the Jets’ salary-cap situation is tight.
Among the other available linebackers is Mike Peterson from the Jaguars. He’s a productive middle linebacker who has six seasons with more than 100 tackles. There are injury concerns with him, though. He hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2005, though he did play 15 last season and had 84 tackles. He could be a bargain signee.
There also is New Orleans’ Jonathan Vilma, the former Jet, who had 132 tackles, a sack, an interception and two forced fumbles last season. Vilma is still young (26) and very productive and will be pursued if he hits the open market.
Much harder to acquire will be Arizona’s Karlos Dansby, who was a key part of the Cardinals’ run to the Super Bowl this past season. The team tagged Dansby as their franchise player, meaning it will take two first-round draft picks to sign him away, and that’s not going to happen.