We probably could have told you back in December that the Ravens would use the franchise tag on Ray Rice.
Now we can officially tell you in March that it happened. The Ravens announced the long-anticipated move on Friday. Chris Carr and Lee Evans were also released.
If there were Vegas odds on “Who will hold out the longest?” this offseason, Rice may very well be the favorite. The Ravens usually take care of their best players with long-term deals, but Rice’s contract will be tricky. Rice has intimated he will skip offseason workouts, and the Ravens can probably live with that.
The team knows Rice well enough to know that he’s going to keep himself in fantastic shape whether he’s working out with the team or not in the offseason.
We expect a lot of ink to be spilled this summer about the situation, with a deal finally hammered out before any damage is done.
Rice is the centerpiece of the Ravens offense. That won’t be changing anytime soon.
