Quote: I'm not sure what happened behind the scenes regarding the Eugene Monroe trade. I was surprised the Jaguars didn't get more trade compensation and that the trade was made a few weeks before the trade deadline. But it's possible that Dave Caldwell did speak to more teams and he felt that there wasn't much interest in Eugene Monroe. Caldwell might have felt the Ravens would have gone in another direction if the trade wasn't completed around the time it was. Hence, Caldwell cashed in the Monroe chip even though it wasn't at premium value.


A key part of the whole situation also could have been that the Jaguars team brass didn't believe that Eugene Monroe would be worth the type of contract he was seeking. Both in terms of a LT option, if the Jaguars would have not drafted a LT prospect in Round 1, or as a long term RT option. One definite conclusion is the Ravens valued Eugene Monroe much more than the Dave Caldwell regime did.

Since Caldwell didn't draft Monroe, I got the feeling Caldwell wasn't going to go out of his way to sign him to a long term, big money contract in light of his performance during a 2-12 season. I know Monroe wasn't the worst player on that roster, but I feel that Caldwell wanted to remove all of the veteran "leadership" that saw 2 coaches in 1 season.

---