Kruger's price tag is bound to be at a premium after arguably being the Ravens top defender on their SB run, although there's no question he can play in our scheme. The one reservation I have is that he's not good at all in coverage on athletic TEs and RB's- if you're going to pay big $$, I'd make sure it was on someone who had the full range of tools. That's why Woodson was such a good signing for us- up until the last season and a half, he could literally do it all for us (cover, hit, blitz, spy, tackle).
Smart notes about Ray Lewis and Ed Reed's large salaries coming off the books for the Ravens. That said, like others have mentioned, if Flacco is going to hold out for more than Peyton money, I still don't see how they sign him and anyone else of note.
Our problem is going to be that we have three big contracts to take care of in house: ARod, CM3 and Raji are all notable renegotiations that need happen before we go spend large on other premium free agents.
It ain't flashy, but so far resigning our own high performing blue chip talent has been a really stable and rewarding strategy. It drives people crazy, but the best way to fill holes is with young talent obtained through the draft where the first four years offer impact at a very affordable price tag.
I think it's funny that the NBA is now facing the same reality as the NFL has lived with for the better part of a decade- even LeBron knows that three max salaries can't deliver championships in the new CBA, and that teams are going to need to be optimal at getting performance and value out of draft picks if they hope to contend, or else the luxury tax penalties are insane...