When you have the nickname “Baby Ray”, there is a good chance it’s going to earn you a spotlight blog on this site. First lets get to the salary numbers. The Ravens third round pick from “The U” signed a three year deal earlier this week worth $1.76 million.
Salary Breakdown:
$600,000 Signing Bonus
2008 – $295,000
2009 – $385,000
2010 – $470,000
Now let’s get to the good stuff.
It must have felt like home for Gooden to join the Ravens D with Hurricane brethren Ed Reed and Ray Lewis sharing the defensive backfield. Not only that, he has become the training camp roomie of Big Ray. The effects are already evident on the field as Troy Smith avoided throwing in his direction today in camp. The road to M&T hasn’t been an easy one though. He spent his first four years at Miami at OLB amassing only 137 tackles. Injuries didn’t make it any easier for him. He suffered a shoulder sprain on ‘04, torn labrum in ‘05 and a concussion in ‘06. 2007 proved to be his breakout season as he was moved to MLB and went on to be the Canes 2007 Defensive MVP.
This year will be one for learning and a lot of special teams play. He is slated on the depth chart behind Bart Scott but with his explosiveness, it will be hard to keep him off the field. With Lewis and Scott both in contract years, we could be looking at the future of this defense. Gooden could prove to be one of the biggest steals of the 2008 draft.
This guy could be the steal of the draft. You never know at this point but the kid is in shape and quick. If he plays well enough we could see the Ravens let Scott walk after the season.-