Zay Flowers and the Long-Term Salary Cap Outlook

0:00March is here and Uber Eats is delivering deals all month long. Score big savings on all the delicious food you need to fuel your sports fandom. Whether you're ordering in or hosting the whole crew, Uber Eats is serving up deals on wings, burgers, pizza, all from your favorite restaurants plus snacks from top stores. Perennial powerhouse, underdog, however the madness unfolds, these deals keep it going all month long. Visit the Uber Eats app for all the latest deals and start saving today. Sundays are for football, so tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select bounty and swiffer cleaning products, and more. Then once you're to do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop in store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's official partner of the NFL. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage cost and fees.

1:04Wasabi is the go-to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out wasabi's AI-enabled intelligent media storage, wasabi air, to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals, wasabi driving innovation and data storage for up to 80% less than market competition. Try for free at wasabi.com wasabi hot cloud storage proud partner of the iHeart podcast network. Welcome into lounge presented by draft kings. I'm Ryan Mink here with Garrett Downing and we have talked a lot about the Ravens off season moves that could be coming here for the 2026 season, you know, how they plan for that, what moves they still need to make. But whenever you're you're laying out that outline, you also have to look even further beyond that and you have to plan for the future. So today, we're going to talk about the Ravens salary cap outlook and what could be coming down the pike for preparing for 2027. So this is all part

2:11of the puzzle that Eric DeCosta and Nick Madio and the Ravens front office are putting together. So Garrett, this came to mind with the news this morning, especially that Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jackson Smith and Jigba has signed a four year extension worth 168.6 million dollars reportedly with 120 million dollars guaranteed at 42.15 million dollars annual average salary that makes him the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL. So he's the reigning offensive player of the year. He's a Super Bowl champion had an awesome awesome season last year. He also was in Zay flowers draft class. And so the natural kind of questions now is what does this mean for Zay flowers? So Garrett, do you feel like this has an impact on on Zay and his contract that to come? Yeah, I think whenever there's a player at your position that you're in the same type of

3:11category conversation with, it definitely has an impact on your contract. Like we see this all the time. Now, it doesn't necessarily guarantee anything. It doesn't mean that Zay's contract ultimately will match or surpass what Jackson Smith and Jigba's contract is. But at the same time, like it provides a framework for this is the going rate for a top of the market wide receiver. That's what his contract provides clarity to. What's the what's the top guy getting right now? And he hit the market. He actually hit the market. He went to the negotiating table at the right time. He's in the same situation as a, which is that 2022 or 2023 draft class. And coming off your third season, this is the first time that you're eligible to negotiate a contract. He's still signed through next year and so has a fifth year option and so has franchise tag after that. So like from a team control standpoint, he was very much under contract. But going to the negotiating table early can benefit both sides gives the player long term security, gives the team

4:16the knowledge that this guy's going to be here for the long haul. And so there's benefits to doing that. The Ravens didn't last year with Kyle Hamilton. And so all that said, I think that the contract that he just signed more than anything else provides a framework of this is what is going to cost for top market wide receivers at this point going forward. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's definitely a escalation of the wide receiver market. But that's what we continue to see at every position, right? Todd Linderbaum just blew away the market for a center to grab an escalator. Exactly. Exactly. And so this is another jump. Jackson Smith and Jigba at 42.15 is ahead of Jamar Chase at 40.25. Justin Jefferson was at 35 CD Lam at 34 DK Metcalf 33 DK signed last year, just last year with the Steelers, Garrett Wilson at 32 and a half. So, you know, I mean, he's more than $10 million average over Garrett Wilson, who comes in at sixth right now. Yeah. And then the other

5:19obvious wide receiver in this conversation and part of that 2023 draft class is Pukin, who when you stack up the production of that class, Pukas at the top, he's had 4,191 yards so far in his career. JSN is at 3551, Zay at 3,128. Over the past two years, Zay flowers ranked number nine in the NFL and receiving yards over the past two years, both Probo years. The point here is, Zay flowers is in that cluster of guys. He's in that grouping of top wide receivers. You're number nine in the NFL and receiving yards the past two years. You've gone back to back Probo's. You're in that top group. Yeah. And so this is just what this is what we see at a numbers that, you know, there could be an argument who was the top center in the game. Tyle Lindembalm or Creed Humphrey, right? And when Creed last year signed his extension with the chiefs, it was kind of like, all right. Well, now there's a framework for Lindy and to see just above that,

6:22does he get right at it? Does he get right? But whatever, right? There's a conversation. Lindy cleared it by a mile. Yeah. Right? And so like this is just how the market works. The salary cap keeps increasing every year, higher, higher ceiling, and guys keep getting more. And so there's this difficult challenge for front offices of, like you said, we have this counter contract right at a smaller number. How long do we hold on to that versus getting ahead of this deal for a guy that we want to keep long term and hit early because it's only going to continue to go up. So it's, it's a difficult challenge, especially, you know, when you have, when you have great players like Zay flowers is, it's a challenge. Yeah. It's a good challenge. Well, I think that the situation last year for the Ravens kind of underscores this point, which is it was the first time that both Kyle Hamilton and Tyler Linterbaum were eligible for contract extensions. They were able to get the deal done with Kyle Hamilton. They were not with Tyler Linterbaum. They opted not

7:23to pick up the franchise or fifth year option for Linterbaum giving the price tag on that. The other thing that's worth noting when it comes to the franchise tag and the fifth year option is that the entirety of that salary has to come up against salary cap that year. So you don't have any kind of cap flexibility, which like is a big factor when you're a team like the Ravens, who always spends to the salary cap. So like if you have that entire hit, whatever the number is, all one year, that's, that's significant. Right. When you look at 42.15 million dollars for an average, well, that's, that's not what he's going to get in year one. Right. You can, you can spread that money out and then you get another extension done down the road and you never have to, sometimes you never have to really eat that massive number. Yeah. Right. And that's how you kind of hope it works. Right. And the player keeps getting guarantees and all these things that works well for both sides. Yeah. Right. When you, yeah. When you play out the fifth year option, when you play out a franchise tag or whatever, you're, you're eating a smaller than the average number, potentially. Yeah. But it's a big number. Yeah. Right. And if you get the deal done in advance,

8:29there's, it's like, whoa, this is a huge, just like with like we're talking about with Jackson Smith, the jibber right now, man, this is a huge, huge number. There's a market setting deal, 42 million dollars, 43 million dollars that we're talking about here for, for the guy who's coming off offensive play of the year season. Right. We had the same conversations last year with about Kyle Hamilton. But then the other side of it is if, if a guy hits the open market, then you run the risk of them getting a offer that blows them away, which is what, of course, happened with Tyler Lindorbaum. So it's like, there's, there's pros and cons to each approach that you can take as a team. And the ravens have shown this interest, generally speaking, and trying to get deals done early, that's something that even at like very early on in his tenure that Eric DeCosta talked about is that we want to sign our own guys early because we know that the price just goes up and up and up. And they've done that with a number of different players. Right. And like you would think just out on the, on the surface, Zay flowers, that's a guy that you want to have. Of course, coming off two proble seasons, first proble receiver and team history, like that's a,

9:32that's a guy you like you want him here. And beyond that, you know, Zay his, his relationship with the Marjacks and he's a great fit with the Mar because of, you know, his ability to extend, extend plays, get open that way. I mean, he's a guy that works really hard. He hardly ever misses a practice. Yeah. Zay hardly ever misses. Like this is a competitor and he's a homegrown guy and the Ravens want to lock up their homegrown talent. So he, he definitely falls in that category. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And so, but then it comes out to the question of price. And so it's interesting. Last year when they, when they got it done with Hamilton, that was, that's kind of broke the trend of like the not a lot of guys just league wide. It, it happens, but it's, it's more rare that after your third season, especially for a first round pick when you have the fourth year and the fifth year option, that's earlier than normal. Like you mentioned Pukin to Kuhl in the Rams, that seems much more likely to me considering there's no fifth year option for him. He's

10:33fifth round pick. So there's no fifth year option that you could extend plus then the franchise tag. He doesn't have that. So I would think that and, and add in the fact that he was a fifth round pick who look at market value here is, is severely underpaid considering the production that he's put up. And so Pukin is going to get a massive, so he's going to get a massive deal. So that to me, like seemed like the clock is ticking a little bit more for him than the first round picks. However, obviously now a first round pick has been done. And, and it'll be really interesting to see, again, what Pukin gets. And then if the Ravens go, the Ravens is there at the negotiating table, if they've had conversations, this has not been something that Eric Coste has really been asked about this offseason. Is, are they negotiating where that stands, his view on this whole thing? Yeah. But I would expect that that's a question that comes up relatively soon. Yeah, owners meetings, that could see if he talks or a pre-drive press conference. Yeah, those are questions that I would not surprise me if they come up for him. Yeah, let's just look at the financials of the situation for Z right now. This is all according to over the cap.com. So in

11:382026, he's scheduled to have a 4.46 million dollar cap number. So obviously, given the his production, I mean, that's a good number for the ones clearly. So then you would get the fifth year option for Z flowers, which the Ravens would have to decide whether to pick that up by May first. My guess would be that they would. That the fifth year option for Z would come in at 27.2. Now, when you're looking at 41 point, whatever it is, 42.15 for JSN, 27.2 looks pretty darn good. Yeah. Right. So that's the fifth year option for Z. If they were to franchise tag him for 20.27 looking beyond, right now that stands at 31.5. That number will change as more contracts get signed. But that's what the number projects to be right now. So there's a lot of things in play here. And two franchise tag years too. If you really were to like the second franchise goes, yeah, it's even gets gets quite costly. But yeah, like those are just mechanics that are at play. Correct. And and so it's it's going to be really interesting. I think you and I both agree hope

12:44that they a long term deal with Z gets done would love to see him him here making plays for a lot longer. Yeah, no question like this is a guy. The Ravens for the longest time in the draft, we would talk about draft stuff and you would often talk about wider receiver and then you would throw out the the whole point they haven't drafted a proble receiver. And this is a conundrum that they've been trying to solve. And they solved it. Exactly. With Z flowers. Yeah. He's still he's delivered on what you hope to get out of him as a first round pick. And just has been he's been a great player. And I still think that there's I'm super excited to see what he does this year in this offense new offense with Declan Doyle's the offensive coordinator like I still think there's even another ceiling to his game. Yeah, absolutely. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we'll talk about other Ravens 2027 free agents. And some other players, the Ravens could get ahead of with contract extensions. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self injection or intravenous

13:47infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TremphayaRadio.com. Loes knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select bounty and swiffer

14:51cleaning products, and more. Then once your to-do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop and store are online now and earn your Sunday with help from Loes, official partner of the NFL. You're listening to the Lounge podcast. We're coming to you for the Seaky Studio. I want to mention our partners at Drafking Sportsbook. They are an official sports betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens Drafking Sportsbook. The crown is yours. So as we're looking ahead here, another player from that Draft Class of 2023 Draft Class who could be eligible for certainly an extension, I think the Ravens will consider this one is Tavius Robinson, player that is really highly regarded in this organization, well-liked, well-respected, plays exactly the way that you want as a Ravens defensive player, the edge setting, kind of a tone setter at that outside linebacker spot. I think that he is somebody that we haven't talked about a ton, but would not surprise me if

15:53the Ravens had extension talks with him this summer, into the season, and maybe they're able to work something out before he ends up hitting the market. Tavius Robinson is everything you want to Raven to be. He defines Raven and play like a Raven in all of those things. And so he's another just great guy. And also the fact of the matter is he was having a career year last year. He unfortunately suffered a foot injury, so he was limited to playing only 10 games, but he had four and a half sacks in 10 games. Four and a half sacks was a career high. So he was having a really good year last year. He had 28 tackles, three tackles for loss, and 10 quarterback hits. So it would be interesting to see how his role evolves now with Trey Hendricks in here. I would imagine Tavius certainly is known for his run-stopping ability and being able to kind of set that hard edge. And that will be, I think, a good complement to what Trey brings to the table. How do they also utilize Trey and maximize what he can do along

16:59with Tavius, Mike Green, whoever else they add. There's going to be more additions, probably including in the draft. So it'll be interesting to see how his role evolves, but I think that he's an ascending player. Now this is a guy that they drafted who was kind of a little bit more of a raw project. He was a bit more of a projection in late bloomer. Yeah. I mean, he's Canadian and came kind of got a little bit of a later start certainly to American football. And the Ravens drafted him, obviously a size, his intangibles, the way he plays the game, the way he hustles all those things. And he's refined his game and polished his game and works really hard at it. I mean, I'm not sure the guy ever leaves the building, like literally this season ends and Tavius is back the next day. And so he's a very good player that I think the Ravens could potentially get extension done that would work well for both sides, right? He hasn't had like a breakout kind of year yet, but I would think that maybe you could find a deal that works for both sides.

18:03We're talking about a different level of contract than we just spent the first time talking about with the receiver market. And the outside linebacker market can be big, but the guys who generally get the massive contracts at that position of the guys that are putting up doubles and just sacks. Right. As you mentioned, career high and sacks is four and a half for him. So we're not talking about a huge extension. I do think that that sack production could could grow. And you know, I would put him like several years ago, the Ravens, it's not the best comp, but it's one that kind of comes to mind. Tavius Bowser was a player for the Ravens. Now he came off. I believe he had a season where he had like nine sacks and ended up getting that contract extension. He had the interception. Yeah. So not the exact same player, but like a player who the Ravens liked at the time who got a, who got a fair deal was not a earth shattering contract. But like was a homegrown player that improved and developed and the Ravens gave him that contract. And so I think that there's potential that Tavius Robinson could potentially fall into a similar category. The number's going

19:08to be different because just the length of time and contract. But I do wonder if that's the type of deal that we're looking at for him. Broderick Washington was another example of that. Somebody that the Ravens kind of got ahead of early on got a deal done with him. So I think it would probably be a higher number than Brody's deal was different again, different position than a good, like good player, well liked within the organization, really hard worker. Ravens felt like ascending player and they got a deal done early with that would be kind of what I imagine for Tavius. But we'll see. Yeah, the thing too that you you spoke to this, but like what's cool about Tavius Robinson is like, this is a guy who like fourth round pick. So you get him on day three, late start to football in playing in Canada, plays it all miss. Isn't like this massively productive player in college, but you're taking a bet on the speed, the size, the intangibles here, the work ethic, the size, the grittiness, the toughness like all right, we're going to bet on like that compilation of skills

20:10and then he comes here and just continues to approve and develop and it's really just a I think it's a sign of success from a scouting department to find this guy and to to target him and then also a sign of success from the coaching staff and the organizational support to develop him. So you find him you develop him and then ideally you're able to reward him if the if the two sides are able to work out an agreement there. Again, I don't think it's a like a massive massive contract, but I think it would be he's a guy that's going to get paid next off season. So do you want to wait and and risk losing him or do you want to try to get it done before the market opens? Yeah, it's going to be a different off season next off season because the Ravens don't have nearly as many free agents. It wasn't like this year when you had all these 2022 this draft class that many of them almost all of them thrived and now you have a lot of guys hitting free agency. The 2023 draft class, the Ravens only made six picks that year, right? And the only guys that are still on the team are Zayflowers Trenton Simpson, Tavius Robinson Robinson and Andrew Voorhees.

21:16So four players, right? So Trenton Simpson will be another guy Voorhees another guy. What happens with them in their futures? I will say Trenton Simpson will be an interesting case. I thought he had his best season yet in 2025 played in all 17 games. You know, he only started six after Teddy Buchanan went down with his season ending knee injury. But I thought Trenton played pretty well. He had a career high two and a half sacks, 66 tackles. Mostly what I'll be interested to see is how different his role is and how much better he gets in a Jesse mincer defense. How does Jesse deploy him? I think that Trenton, obviously, hard worker, super athletic guy. I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued to see what his role will be, especially as Teddy continues to come back from that knee injury. That's going to open up some possibilities, some opportunities potentially for Trenton. So depending on what his role looks like and obviously the kind of season he has here in 2026, I think that'll dictate the opportunity that he has to get a contract extension here in Baltimore.

22:18And then Andrew Voorhees, you know, he was a full-time starter this past season. You look ahead to 2026. It appears he's going to be in a competition for a starting job at least with Emory Jones. Does he win that job? You know, the Ravens have a high draft pick at guard. Remains to be seen if Andrew Voorhees does end up winning a starting job and plays well, then he'll be in the conversation as well. It's going to be quite different from the 2022 class when it's sheer numbers. You had a ton of guys getting big time deals. The numbers hand some breakout guys in that class. Exactly. So the Ravens will have, it'll be a little bit easier in that regard. Now they will have some veterans and another one being Marlon Humphrey, who will be a free agent in 2027. So what does Marlon's future look like next all season? I mean, he's a really interesting case. I mean, this is a guy who, at the end of this past season was very much like, I don't know if I'm going to be back. I'm not sure if they might cut me. I don't know. I don't know what my future is. He said that

23:22multiple off seasons is another guy who's kind of hinted how much longer do I want to play kind of thing? Do I transition to safety? You know, you know, Marlon, he's always, he's always thinking a lot about everything. And so, you know, the Ravens said that they were going to keep him this year. And certainly that is, that's the plan, right? And what is going to happen? He's 29 years old. You know, last year he had some tougher moments by his own admission. You know, he felt like gave up too many big plays. He was disappointing with that. But he led the Ravens Interceptions two years ago. And Marlon, again, another guy that plays the game, the way you want it to be played. I thought he was, I thought he was excellent in 24. He was not as good in 25. And he, I'm excited to see what he does in this defense with Jesse Mitzor and Anthony Weaver. Sure. And I think the Ravens, like the fact that they're, the fact that they're keeping him,

24:29that was a question this off season, made the decision to keep him. I think that's a vote of confidence in his ability, the way he plays the game, all the things that you just mentioned. And so, I'm really excited to see what he does in this defense with Jesse Mitzor, because I think that he could have a resurgence season kind of back to what he did in 24. I think that that possibility exists. Yeah. I definitely think that. Marlon, like I just said, he's only 29. It's not like he, this guy is like that old. And it feels like he's been here forever because he came here when he was a kid. Yeah. And he was really young when the Ravens drafted him in the first round. And he's had a great career here in Baltimore. I do think that he could have a resurgence season, you know, fitting, fitting him in the right role. And whether that's a nickel, a fair amount or how much is outside versus nickel is important for him. Bringing back Chido Wuxier, you know, is a big part of that because Chido can kind of spell him outside opposite Nate Wiggins. And that moves Marlon closer to the line of scurvision inside. So there's a lot of things in play. I think he can ever resurgence season. The other thing I'll say about Marlon is there is a relationship here with the Ravens. Marlon has been pretty clear too.

25:31He said, well, I first got drafted. I thought I'd be one of those guys at plays for several different teams over his career. And like there's a lot of loyalty here. He has a real relationship with Eric de Costa. And there's just a lot of built up loyalty there. Yeah. And so it wouldn't surprise me. Honestly, if Marlon is one of those guys that's a Raven for life, he could be one of those dudes. Yeah. And he, this is his 10th season. And like he's even said this publicly like basically the only thing he, the main thing he has left the one thing that he has left to accomplish is winning the Super. Yeah. Like he's been a pro bowl or he's been an all pro player. He's got a lot of money. He's signed a big contract. And so the thing that's left on his to do list, he's won national championships out at Alabama. Like the thing that's left for him to accomplish is winning the Super Bowl. So let's just check that off. And so, and so yeah, play it from there. Like who knows he's predicting what Marlon's going to do. Who knows. But like, like I think that that's his focus is trying to win that Super Bowl. And how much longer he wants to play to be

26:31determined. And I think honestly, like how much longer he plays, the type of contract he could get next year. All those questions are going to be largely dependent on what happens this season. How he plays, how the team does, all that's connected. But as of now, he has scheduled to become a free agent after the upcoming season. Yep. And then of course, the huge domino on all of this is the Mar Jackson. Right. We talked about his contract a lot on this podcast. And you know, the Ravens restructured his deal reportedly opening about $40 million. He said to have a 34.3 million dollar cap hit according to over the cap.com next year that jumps now even more to 83.3 million dollars. So we'll say it for the hundredth time. You know, we hope that essentially gets done in Lamar's here for a very long time. It's just a matter of making it happen. And it hasn't yet. But I still have a lot of confidence that it will. And once that gets done, then the calculus on all this changes. Yeah. Look, the Mar Jackson's contract obviously is a huge

27:32business piece for this team. Yeah. And Eric Takasa said when he talked to reporters at the outside of free agency, while the goal was to get it done before free agency said they just basically ran out of time. But said that he's still optimistic about a contract extension getting done at some point. Yep. The other thing that we do know with Lamar, he has made it clear previously. And he said this publicly that once the season starts, kind of that shuts down the negotiating process. Once the season starts, he wants to really focus on football and the games, not the contract piece of things. And so if the deal is going to get done this off season, it kind of is a hard stop on when that would happen. So these next few months are critical. If a deal is going to get done this off season. And again, I think that the Ravens have made it clear. The hope here is to get another extension done with him. This is a guy that they won this quarter back for a long time. And I think it's a matter of time for just when that happens. All right. It's been a little while since we've read an email. As always, you can email us

28:34at the lounge at ravens.nfl.net. And Garrett, I believe you have one pulled up. I do. Well, thank you for the teaser there. This one comes from Marty Huff. And Marty says long time listener, first time email. I always love the long time first time. Yeah. So Marty, I appreciate that. He's a PSL owner and a Navy season ticket holder. Awesome. So he he's doubled deputy busy weekends for Marty to go Navy games on Saturday. Ravens games on Sunday. Mitch is P. J. Volcker coming over with it's a defensive coach here, a former Navy defensive coordinator. So a question that he has. He's got we got to do some scouting here because he's got two Navy guys and he's curious about from a draft standpoint. Okay. So on the defensive line, what are your thoughts on the Ravens drafting mini Aaron Donald? Mini Aaron Donald. I mean, I mean, so I'm sold already. And Landon Robinson from from from Navy. So Landon Robinson, just to give you a rundown here, mini Aaron Donald is Marty calls him. He's a smaller guy for a defense line at six foot to 90.

29:36So but but he's similar to I understand the comparison and that he's a guy that can get after the quarterback had eight and a half sacks last season. Okay. So similar to Aaron Donald as a guy that can provide interior pressure, I hesitate to compare anybody to Aaron Donald because he is truly a one of one type player. Robinson not invited to the combine did play in the Shrine Bowl. So you know the Ravens pay a lot of attention to some of those bowl games, Shrine Bowl, East West senior bowl, all of those. So I'm sure that they got a good scouting report on him as well as just being able to go down to Navy and get a look at him. But he's also the local the local combine. Local pro day is also local pro pro pro day. Exactly a lot of just so listeners if you're not familiar. Players from local colleges and also players who played their high school ball. Yeah, you're in the from the area from the area can all come back here to the under our former center and have a combine of not a common pro day. Yes. And so the Ravens scouts all attend

30:37that. And it's it's a great it's a great way to see the local products. Yeah. And not sure if Land of Robinson is participating in that or not. But but that is historically an opportunity to get a good look at these guys. So the Ravens have talked about the value of that. Sometimes it can really pay off with undrafted rookies in the undrafted class. The Ravens have found some real gems that way. Which Land of Robinson could be in that day three category to undrafted. And so athletic 4840 had a fake pun against Army. So you got to dig through the you know special teams special teams guy them. So I think that like the and then the other one here. Okay. I'll give the other one that Marty asked about running back. But really made his hey as a pass catcher. Oh, after Keaton Mitchell's departure. Could we add a midshipman key comparison to Christian McCaffrey. So we got the Aaron Donald and Christian McCaffrey comparison. Eli Hydenreich as a new third down running back receiver pass catcher. So we got Christian McCaffrey and Aaron Donald cops here. I mean let's big comparisons big comparisons. He says I

31:41would love to see one or both Marty's making the case for both guys to get drafted. I also looking up Hydenreich probably a day three pick as well. But like this guy was super productive as a pass catcher. 941 receiving our six touchdowns 57 catches last year. Six foot 200 pounds ran the 40 and 444. So like has good speed. How big is he? He's six foot 200 pounds. Okay. So like it's not like he's a small guy at all. Fine running back size. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of tall from running back standpoint. Yeah. So it's what do you think? Are the Ravens going to add one of these Navy guys? Christian McCaffrey and Aaron Donald step right up. I will say that like I think that I mean the Ravens have drafted from Navy before. They drafted Keaton Reynolds years ago. He was a guy that quarterback that they converted to wide receiver and special teamer and that then ultimately kind of work out with Keaton Reynolds. But that doesn't mean it with somebody else. It kind of fits the mold like a day three pick a player that you're projecting that you like the intangibles. Yep.

32:42And so like I'm not I'm honestly not ruling it out on either of these guys. Absolutely not. Yeah. Certainly. I think that a receiving running back for your immediate needs. Now Justice Hill would we talk about the far look ahead. Justice Hill is projected to be a free agent in 2027. Yeah. So maybe you know he could kind of be groomed for a year to kind of take over that role potentially in 2027. You know I don't see an immediate spot for him this season because Justice Hill is really that receiving third down back. Sure. Which it sounds like Hide and Rake is more in that mold. For really I think your immediate needs now Rushing Ali is certainly in that picture. You're kind of looking for another running running back. I just mean you're like yeah. Yeah. To be the number two to Derek Henry who maybe you groom him for way down the road. You know to take over a lead back role potentially. Yeah. That's more the immediate and kind of that's more the immediate need. I think though when you're when you're talking day three to undrafted range you're

33:45really not talking about filling needs. You're talking about projections and intangibles and look at your and this guy has a makeup that I like and do I want to take a chance here to turn it into something. Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree. So Marty we will pass that along Christian McCaffrey and Aaron Donald both on the block. We should have brought Keith Mills on the on the plot today. He could have given us a great scouting report on both guys. Yeah. Yeah. No doubt. So we always love hearing from our friends down that Navy. So I'm already thank you for the email. Make sure you send us your emails to the lounge at Ravens. NFL.net. We're sending out t-shirts. You send an email. We read your email on the air. You get a t-shirt. So Marty's got t-shirts coming his way and so everyone else that's listening if you wanted a chance to get one of your one of those lounge t-shirts added to the collection. Make sure you send us his emails and we'll send a shirt your way. It's going to be good week here. O's opening day coming up on Thursday. So big Baltimore sports week. We ready for that. It's Ravens off season but wishing to O's all the best in their opening day this week. So well more to come over the course of the next few days. Thanks for listening. We'll talk again soon.

34:48March is here and Uber Eats is delivering deals all month long. Score big savings on all the delicious food you need to fuel your sports fandom. Whether you're ordering in or hosting the whole crew, Uber Eats is serving up deals on wings, burgers, pizza, all from your favorite restaurants plus snacks from top stores. Perennial powerhouse underdog. However the madness unfolds, these deals keep it going all month long. Visit the Uber Eats app for all the latest deals and start saving today. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage cost and fees. Wasabi is the go-to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage wasabi air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals. Wasabi driving innovation and data storage for up to 80% less than market competition. Try for free at wasabi.com, wasabi hot cloud storage proud partner of the iHeart podcast network.

35:49Lowes knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select bounty and swiffer cleaning products and more. Then once you're to do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax and enjoy the game. Shop and store are online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowes, official partner of the NFL.