The Ravens remain in the market for pass rushing help, but when asked today about Greg Hardy, head coach John Harbaugh replied, “Greg Hardy? He won’t be a Raven, I can tell you that” (Twitter link via Todd Archer of ESPN.com). Harbaugh also said that free agent linebacker Courtney Upshaw is still on the team’s radar, but Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tweets that Upshaw’s return sounds unlikely.
Here are a few more updates related to free agency:
- GM Scot McCloughan confirmed today that Washington still has interest in free agent tight end Vernon Davis, who paid a visit to D.C. earlier in March (Twitter link via Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com). In fact, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) suggests that Washington has made Davis a contract offer, in the hopes of pairing him with Jordan Reed and giving Kirk Cousins an additional weapon in the passing game.
- Although there’s still a significant gap between the Jets‘ offer and Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s asking price, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes that the “Wild Wild West stare-down narrative has been exaggerated.” A source tells Mehta that the two sides have had an open line of communication in recent weeks.
- Packers head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed that Green Bay is moving on from free agent wideout James Jones, says Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Jones’ agent said as much on Monday.
- Before he re-signed with the Cardinals, running back Chris Johnson was believed to be deciding between Arizona and Miami. However, Johnson tells Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that the Patriots also had interest in him.
- Colts owner Jim Irsay said today that the team will continue to meet with free agents this week, but Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star cautions (via Twitter) that the team won’t be making any major moves.
Hardy is something of an imperfect fit in Baltimore schematically, but even if that weren’t the case, the Ravens are probably the last team that would want to deal with the negative PR associated with Hardy. I would expect the Ravens to address their pass-rushing needs in the draft, which is fairly deep in that regard, and to perhaps pursue Dwight Freeney.