Unhappy with the play so far this season of left tackle Bryant McKinnie, the Baltimore Ravens acquired left tackle Eugene Monroe from the Jacksonville Jaguars Tuesday night via a trade.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Ravens gave the Jaguars multiple third-day draft picks in exchange for the 26 year-old Monroe, who was originally selected eighth overall by Jacksonville in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Virginia.
Monroe will cost a little more than $2.9 million against the Ravens salary cap the remainder of this season and he is basically a rented player right now because the 2014 year of his contract will void two days after the regular season. Being as the Ravens only have $1.213 million in cap space as of Tuesday evening, his new team will likely need to restructure a contract or two in order to accommodate his cap charge.
Since the deal was first reported, several people seem to be upset that the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t make a move for Monroe.
First, the Steelers wouldn’t be able to afford to take on Monroe’s cap charge unless they were to restructure another contract or two. Second, Monroe is not under contract for 2014, so it would be silly for them to give up multiple future draft picks for a player that more than likely won’t be back in 2014.
Monroe had two solid seasons with Jaguars in 2011 and 2012, but has played pretty average so far this season. The Ravens are betting that a change of scenery will do him good and that he will be an upgrade over McKinnie, who has struggled in the run blocking department so far this season.
The Ravens are 2-2 right now and they will face the 3-1 Miami Dolphins this coming weekend.
