Thursday, April 25, 2002

ProFootballWeekly.com asks personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the hottest topics in football. 

Ravens sign QB Blake

The Baltimore Ravens expanded their depth chart at quarterback Wednesday, signing unrestricted free agent Jeff Blake to a one-year contract. Blake will serve as the backup to Chris Redman, who was the lone quarterback on the roster after the Ravens released Elvis Grbac and Randall Cunningham. Blake, a 10-year veteran, was released last month by the New Orleans Saints. He drew interest from several teams, most notably the Buffalo Bills, who finally obtained Drew Bledsoe from the New England Patriots on Sunday. Baltimore was eager to get a capable backup for Redman, who has thrown just three passes in game situations since being drafted in the third round of the 2000 draft. Cunningham played well in place of an injured Grab last season, completing 54-of-89 passes for 573 yards and going 2-0 as a starter. Cunningham, 38, has said he would be willing to return to the Ravens, but the addition of Blake lessens the likelihood of that happening.

Buchsbaum: The Ravens signed Jeff Blake as a backup for Chris Redman as an insurance policy if Redman cannot handle the job. Blake has shown he could be a starting quarterback in the NFL, although an erratic one. He is fairly mobile and does throw a very nice deep ball and has some similarities to Randall Cunningham, who was the team’s backup quarterback last year. However, unlike Cunningham, he is much shorter and does not run nearly as well although he does have pretty good mobility.

Bears release QB Matthews

QB Shane Matthews was released by the Bears on Wednesday after six years in Chicago. The move allows Matthews to sign with Washington, where head coach Steve Spurrier, who coached him at Florida, had been pursuing a trade for him. However, the Redskins' intentions may have changed when they drafted QB Patrick Ramsey of Tulane in the first round of last weekend's draft. Matthews became expendable when the Bears acquired free agent QBs Chris Chandler from Atlanta and Henry Burris from Green Bay to back up starter Jim Miller. The 6-foot-3, 196-pound Matthews played in four games in 2001, including three starts. He rallied the Bears to overtime wins in back-to-back weeks against San Francisco and Cleveland.

Buchsbaum: The Bears basically released Matthews because there was very little interest in trading for him at the salary price that he would command. The Redskins seemed to lose much of their interest after they traded down and took Tulane QB Patrick Ramsey in the first round of this year’s draft to go with Danny Wuerffel and Sage Rosenfels, who has impressed Steve Spurrier quite a bit during the team’s offseason workouts. Thus, Spurrier may end up going with only one of his Florida quarterbacks, and that would probably be Wuerffel.

Saints add another cornerback

The New Orleans Saints signed free-agent CB Ken Irvin to a one-year contract Wednesday. Irvin, who is entering his seventh season, started 50 of the 60 games he played in during his last four years with the Buffalo Bills. He was released by the Bills in March. Irvin, a 5-11, 186-pounder, was the first of three fourth-round picks (109^th overall) for the Bills in the 1995 NFL Draft out of the University of Memphis. In his first three seasons, Irvin was a key performer in nickel and dime passing situations, and a stalwart on special teams. He took over as the starter at left cornerback in 1998 and posted career-high totals in tackles (65), passes defensed (25) and forced fumbles (2). In 1999 Irvin started 14 contests and had 56 tackles and an interception.

Buchsbaum: The New Orleans Saints, who seem to thrive on picking up cornerbacks and always pick up a bevy of them during the offseason have now added Ken Irvin to go along with Dale Carter among others that they have picked up during this offseason. Irvin is a decent corner who can be a fourth corner in the NFL, even a third corner, but he lacks big-time speed, which has always been a problem for him. He had some decent years as a second corner in Buffalo but got exposed when the Bills’ pass rush came up short.

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