Willie Snead is probably headed to Baltimore. He’s signed a two-year deal worth up to $10.4 million that the Saints have five days to match.
New Orleans already has Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn and Brandon Coleman and a few weeks back signed Cameron Meredith to a two-year contract worth $9.6 million. So it will probably opt to let Snead go. (I think).
The Ravens have busily been re-working their receiving corps. They’ve signed Michael Crabtree and John Brown, and they signed Ryan Grant to an offer that was later pulled off the table when he failed his physical. Snead could presumably play in the slot. Mike Wallace and Jeremy Maclin started for Baltimore last year, but they’re both gone.
I take this as evidence that the Ravens aren’t particularly interested in signing Dez Bryant.
I find it interesting that Snead’s contract is slightly larger than Meredith’s. Meredith is coming off a knee injury that likely scared off the Bears, but he was very good in 2016, putting up top-20 receiving numbers in the final three months of the season. Meredith looks like the better of the two receivers to me.
New Orleans seemed to sour on Snead last year, perhaps triggered by him beginning the season by serving a league-triggered three-game suspension. While he was out, they settled on Thomas, Ginn and Coleman as their three main receivers. Coleman is huge, and maybe they like what he adds as a blocker.
Whatever the reason, Snead was the intended target on only 16 passes all year, and he caught only eight of them, for 92 yards. I’m not sure why, but Coleman wasn’t active for the playoff game at Minnesota. Snead filled in that game and caught 2 passes for 18 yards.
If Snead can get back to playing like he did earlier in his career, he’ll probably play plenty for the Ravens. He caught 69 percent of the passes thrown his way back in the 2015-16 seasons. There were 27 other wide receivers with at least 200 targets in those seasons, and only four of those players caught a higher percentage of the passes thrown they’re way.
I’m not arguing that Snead is one of the league’s 10 best wide receivers. He’s been playing with Drew Brees, and he has often lined up in the slot, where the catch rates tend to be higher. But could be a competent receiver for the Ravens.
| WIDE RECEIVER CATCH RATES (2015-16) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Pct |
| Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 228 | 172 | 2197 | 12.8 | 21 | 75.4% |
| Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz. | 295 | 216 | 2238 | 10.4 | 15 | 73.2% |
| Antonio Brown, Pitt. | 347 | 242 | 3118 | 12.9 | 22 | 69.7% |
| Golden Tate, Det. | 263 | 181 | 1890 | 10.4 | 10 | 68.8% |
| Willie Snead, N.O. | 205 | 141 | 1879 | 13.3 | 7 | 68.8% |
| Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 297 | 204 | 2293 | 11.2 | 8 | 68.7% |
| Pierre Garcon, Wash. | 225 | 151 | 1818 | 12.0 | 9 | 67.1% |
| Anquan Boldin, S.F.-Det. | 206 | 136 | 1373 | 10.1 | 12 | 66.0% |
| Julio Jones, Atl. | 332 | 219 | 3280 | 15.0 | 14 | 66.0% |
| Brandin Cooks, N.O. | 246 | 162 | 2311 | 14.3 | 17 | 65.9% |
| A.J. Green, Cin. | 232 | 152 | 2261 | 14.9 | 14 | 65.5% |
| Jeremy Maclin, K.C. | 200 | 131 | 1624 | 12.4 | 10 | 65.5% |
| Randall Cobb, G.B. | 213 | 139 | 1439 | 10.4 | 10 | 65.3% |
| Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 243 | 158 | 1801 | 11.4 | 11 | 65.0% |
| Julian Edelman, N.E. | 247 | 159 | 1798 | 11.3 | 10 | 64.4% |
| Demaryius Thomas, Den. | 321 | 195 | 2387 | 12.2 | 11 | 60.7% |
| Odell Beckham Jr., NYG | 327 | 197 | 2817 | 14.3 | 23 | 60.2% |
| Michael Crabtree, Oak. | 291 | 174 | 1925 | 11.1 | 17 | 59.8% |
| Amari Cooper, Oak. | 262 | 155 | 2223 | 14.3 | 11 | 59.2% |
| Marvin Jones, Cin.-Det. | 206 | 120 | 1746 | 14.6 | 8 | 58.3% |
| Davante Adams, G.B. | 215 | 125 | 1480 | 11.8 | 13 | 58.1% |
| Travis Benjamin, Cle.-S.D. | 200 | 115 | 1643 | 14.3 | 9 | 57.5% |
| Emmanuel Sanders, Den. | 273 | 155 | 2167 | 14.0 | 11 | 56.8% |
| Brandon Marshall, NYJ | 301 | 168 | 2290 | 13.6 | 17 | 55.8% |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 289 | 160 | 2572 | 16.1 | 11 | 55.4% |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 343 | 189 | 2475 | 13.1 | 15 | 55.1% |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 321 | 170 | 2527 | 14.9 | 15 | 53.0% |
| Allen Robinson, Jac. | 302 | 153 | 2283 | 14.9 | 20 | 50.7% |
—Ian Allan