Garceau: Tucker Kicks Back At The Ravens
Sounds like an ultimatum to me. Justin Tucker, through his agent, has let the Baltimore Ravens know if they don't sign him by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 15, that's today, he wants a football divorce.
The Baltimore Ravens are on the clock. The question, will they blink?
Tucker will be here for the 2016 season because the Ravens have placed the franchise tag on their Pro Bowl kicker but after that all bets are off. His agent used words like "disillusioned" to describe Tucker's reaction to the negotiation process.
According to an ESPN report, Tucker's agent said there had been progress in the negotiations but that changed Thursday when the Ravens made an offer that actually paid him less than their prior offers and less than Packers kicker Mason Crosby.
So far we are only hearing Tucker's side of the story but if it's accurate it does seem strange that the Ravens would reduce the offer a day before the deadline. It may not be the case, but I'd hope it isn't one of those situations where the man says, "You better accept this great offer now or we'll reduce it."
Justin Tucker isn't your dumb jock; my God the man can sing opera and sell Royal Farms chicken like nobody else in the NFL. If he feels the Ravens did him wrong he'll take the second most accurate leg in NFL history and run out of town. I don't what the going rate is for an NFL kicker but I do know the Ravens have one of the very best in the league.
Tucker has converted just under 88 percent of his career field goal attempts that's the second best conversion rate in NFL history, and those new longer extra points that we saw getting missed last season well they weren't getting missed by the Ravens, Tucker was a perfect 29 for 29. Kickoffs seldom get returned against Tucker his touchback percentage of 85.1 was second best in the NFL last season.
On the day many Ravens fans received their season tickets in the mail came this, at least for the moment, gloomy news about their popular kicker. Baltimore's kicking game with Tucker and punter Sam Koch is among the best in the game. I like to think these two can make up for deficiencies from the offense and defense much like the Orioles bullpen can save those shaky starting pitchers.
Ozzie Newsome is fond of saying "right player, right price." While the sides try to negotiate the "right price," Raven fans know Justin Tucker is the right player and hope all parties are hugging by 5:00 p.m.
Tick, tick, tick…..
