As soon as the news broke that wide receiver Torrey Smith will be released by the San Francisco 49ers, the biggest question among Baltimore football fans on social media became: What are the chances that Smith will reunite with the Baltimore Ravens?
The answer: It likely depends on Mike Wallace’s future in Baltimore.
It doesn’t make sense for the Ravens to add another downfield threat if they keep Wallace to go along with Breshad Perriman. But if Baltimore doesn’t pick up Wallace’s option this week, that could pave the way for QB Joe Flacco throwing the ball deep to Smith again.
Last week, coach John Harbaugh said he anticipates that Wallace will be on the team in 2017. But economics, especially for a team looking to maximize every cap dollar, can alter plans.
Wallace, 30, is scheduled to make $5.75 million in 2017 (which includes a $1 million roster bonus) and count $8 million against Baltimore’s cap (fifth-highest on the team). If Smith’s price would come in lower after two disappointing seasons in San Francisco, the Ravens would have to seriously consider swapping Wallace for one of their playmakers from the 2012 Super Bowl team.
Smith, 28, averaged 897 receiving yards over four seasons with the Ravens and Flacco. Smith averaged 465 receiving yards in two years with the 49ers.
In those four years with the Ravens, Smith produced 44 catches of at least 25 yards and 11 touchdowns of at least 25 yards. In his two years San Francisco, he managed 10 such catches for five touchdowns.
“Joe’s a quarterback you want to play with, you want to play for,” Smith told Glenn Clark Radio in Baltimore on Monday. “You know he’s going to have your back, regardless, and you’re going to have his. He’s laid-back, to a certain extent, but he’s a heck of a competitor. He works his tail off. I think for a player, he’s a guy you can rally around and you want to play well for him.”
A 2011 second-round pick of the Ravens, Smith went to college nearby at the University of Maryland and became entrenched in Baltimore. He will hold his annual charity basketball game in the city’s downtown arena on March 19.
When he left the Ravens in 2015, Smith posted on his blog: “Although I may no longer be a member of the Baltimore Ravens, at heart, I will always be a Raven.”
While nostalgia is on Smith’s side, that shouldn’t overshadow the impact Wallace made last season. Wallace totaled 72 catches for 1,017 yards and four touchdowns in his first season in Baltimore. That’s more receptions than Smith had in any single season and more receiving yards than in all but one of Smith’s six NFL seasons.
The Ravens have never brought back one of their top players after they have gone elsewhere. General manager Ozzie Newsome has had a good feel for when to let players leave.
But the Ravens haven’t been presented with a situation like this one. The team has to explore a potential move, and many in Baltimore are rooting for it to occur.