Fantasy Impact: Derrick Mason Retires
July 13, 2009 at 8:41 pm | Article by Paul Hickey |
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Ravens 35 year old receiver Derrick Mason announced his retirement from the NFL, but unlike when most players call it quits, Mason’s announcement could have some serious collateral impact in the world of fantasy football.
With Mason gone, the Ravens have probably the thinnest receiving corps in the entire National Football League. After losing a man who has hauled in 80 or more balls in five of the last six seasons, and 1,000 or more yards in seven of the last eight seasons, they’re left with the likes of Mark Clayton, Demetrius Williams and Marcus Smith - none of whom has caught more than 67 balls in a season.
For an organization that expects to compete for a Super Bowl title this season, this move is a crushing blow. Even though Mason is 35, he’s been incredibly productive. After making it known that he wanted a new contract in 2009, this move definitely comes as a bit of a surprise, and we believe one or more of the following things are true with regards to this announcement.
1. Baltimore will actively seek out signing or trading for another wide receiver. There were rumors a few weeks ago that the Ravens were looking at trading for Brandon Marshall, and now the Anquan Boldin rumors are flying around again. Basically, what we’re saying is - don’t get too excited about Clayton, Williams or Smith getting an opportunity to shine as a WR1 or WR2 in Baltimore. We believe that veterans like Amani Toomer, Marvin Harrison, Matt Jones (fresh off having finished his punishment for drug possession charges) or even Plaxico Burress could be possibilities for Baltimore. Even Drew Bennett, Mason’s former teammate in Tennessee, could pop on the radar. One of these names will likely be in purple this year, if not two of them. So, smart dynasty owners may want to move Clayton while his value is momentarily looking up.
2. The plethora of current free agent WRs will benefit from this move. WR is a skill position - more so that RB in today’s pass happy NFL. The point is that it’s not easy to find two solid, consistent starting NFL WRs, and there seem to be a lot of teams who are now very thin at the position. The Jets, Bucs, Lions, Jags, Dolphins, Titans, Chiefs, Raiders and Bears have all expressed interest in getting stronger at the position this off-season. Now, the Ravens need to get stronger. Once Baltimore picks up one or two of the names above, the other guys will become more sought after. Think about it - who wants to take a risk on Plax, Marvin or Matt Jones when safer guys like Toomer are available? Well, once Toomer gets swooped up, look for the WR-needy teams to pounce on the riskier guys. By the start of the season, just about all of these names will be on NFL rosters, and most of them will be worth a look in 10 or 12 team fantasy leagues. Yes, that’s right folks - even Plax. Mason’s retirement is the key event that will make the free agent fodder turn into hot commodities.
3. Mason may not be done. One of Mason’s best friends and collegues, Steve McNair, recently passed away. McNair was only a year older than Mason - and from a human perspective, that has to be making him think about things pretty hard right now. On an unrelated note, everyone knows that veterans who retire, then decide to comeback prior to the start of the season can’t get fined for missing training camp. Brett Favre - and to a certain extent - Michael Strahan - have both modeled that recently. Sniffing around a new contract, then retiring, kind of smells like Mason is pulling a bit of a move here. Whether or not it’s premeditated on his part, we wouldn’t be surprised to see number 85 come back for the season opener in the purple uniform. Unfortunately though - for the time being - his dynasy owners get screwed, as he has abosolutely no trade value leading up to drafts at this point.
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