James Hardy, Andre Ramsey Sign Futures Deals With Ravens

by MattRichWarren on Jan 18, 2011 7:00 PM EST in Buffalo Bills News

Two former Buffalo Bills have signed off-season contracts with the Baltimore Ravens. Wide receiver James Hardy and offensive lineman Andre Ramsey will be with the Ravens through OTAs, and could remain longer should they impress John Harbaugh and his coaching staff.

Hardy was Buffalo's second-round pick in 2008. He suffered a torn ACL in his rookie season, and never found his groove in Buffalo. Hardy missed most of training camp this year with an ankle injury, and was cut at the beginning of September. He worked out for the Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants and the Ravens during the season, but was out of football in 2010.

Ramsey was a member of the Bills during the 2009 season. He was signed to the practice squad after being released by Seattle, and ended up on the active roster after Demetrius Bell landed on IR. He appeared in two games for the Bills playing extensively against the Atlanta Falcons in place of an injured Jonathan Scott. Ramsey was waived as part of the team's final cuts in September of 2010, and spent time on the Jets' and Ravens' practice squads.

Only players not residing on an active roster can be signed to a reserve/futures contract. It means the team wants to keep a player around for off-season work, and they sign them ahead of the end of the league year in March.

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I really wanted Hardy to work here.

thats a negative. Good Luck to him tho

"War Memorial Stadium looks as if whatever war it was a memorial to had been fought within its confines."-Brock Yates

by Blo2Death on Jan 18, 2011 7:06 PM EST reply actions

ehhh

never did anything and as far as im concerned, Nelson is his replacement and much better.

"The Buffalo Bills have just exploded all over the Cincinnati Bangles"
-Steve Tasker-

by billsoferie on Jan 18, 2011 7:11 PM EST reply actions

Wholeheartedly agree.

Even if Hardy turns out to be a decent #2, Nelson has the potential to be just that. Seeing as we got him for free it’s a nice mea culpa for using a 2nd round pick on Hardy.

Ryan Fitzpatrick -- Buffalo's new flavor at QB -- Diet Flutie

by NordicBillsfan on Jan 18, 2011 7:24 PM EST up reply actions

Hmm

If Hardy couldn’t make the cut with the Seahawks or the Colts, I don’t think his future is too bright. The Seahawks found life with Mike Williams and the Colts made some kid named Jacob Tamme a star.

What could have been never was.

In the year two thousaaaaaaand.
In the year two thousAAAAAAND!

Current song recommendation: Ween "Mr. Richard Smoker"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 18, 2011 7:19 PM EST reply actions

Jacob Tamme is a tight end.

Editor-in-Chief, BUFFALO RUMBLINGS®
@BrianGalliford

by Brian Galliford on Jan 18, 2011 7:46 PM EST up reply actions

Oh i’m aware.

I meant that they were so decimated by injuries that he became their focal point. Hardy should have been able to latch on and make a difference.

In the year two thousaaaaaaand.
In the year two thousAAAAAAND!

Current song recommendation: Ween "Mr. Richard Smoker"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 18, 2011 7:58 PM EST up reply actions

… but Hardy stinks. And is a terrible fit in Indy’s timing offense. The place he should have latched on is Seattle.

Editor-in-Chief, BUFFALO RUMBLINGS®
@BrianGalliford

by Brian Galliford on Jan 18, 2011 8:00 PM EST up reply actions

I think you and I agree. We both got caught up in a Tamme.

In the year two thousaaaaaaand.
In the year two thousAAAAAAND!

Current song recommendation: Ween "Mr. Richard Smoker"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 19, 2011 10:49 AM EST up reply actions

And Blair White

by angcx619 on Jan 18, 2011 10:42 PM EST up reply actions

Maybe Ozzie wants to cut some salary cap ................

… And carve off Housh or Boldin after their NON-stellar playoff finale.

I would cut TJ now.

"Adversity is an opportunity for heroism." Marv Levy.

by SERGEANT MAJOR THOR on Jan 18, 2011 7:31 PM EST reply actions

James Hardy is going to get opportunities like this for the next 5 years because of his measurables and where he was drafted. Just like JP Losman. Doesnt mean hes going to do anything with any of them.

i’m sure i’m going to regret this conversation… but what the hell - J2

by poz on Jan 18, 2011 8:53 PM EST reply actions

Another terrible high round draft choice by Modrak or whoever we had acting as GM at the time...

Thankfully we have Nix more in control now who is a “football guy” rather than a GM as a figure head like Levy, or a marketing guy like Brandon. Modrak unfortunately has been the head of our college scouting and draft pundit for all these years of turmoil. Too many times we have seen terrible draft choices by us not do anything for us and do little more or nothing with other teams… it shows how bad of picks they were to start with…

by dabillsr1 on Jan 18, 2011 8:58 PM EST reply actions

its not just the high draft picks either

since 2005, taking into account where they were drafted, my list of positive and negative draft picks comes out roughly 2:1 against us.

Negative (24):
Maybin, S. Nelson, Nic Harris, Cary Harris, E. Lankster, Hardy, C. Ellis, D. Fine, A. Bowen, K. Cox, M. Lynch, T. Edwards, D. Wright, Wendling, CJ Ah You, McCargo, Youboty, K. Simpson, Pennington, Merz, Duke Preston, Eric King, J. Geisinger, Lionel Gates.

Positive (14):
Eric Wood, J. Byrd, A. Levitre, McKelvin, Reggie Corner, Demetrius Bell, Stevie Johnson, Poz, Schouman, Whitner, Meatball, Brad Butler, K. Ellison, Roscoe Parrish.

Hell, you count that 6 of those came from round 5 or later (seven round 4 or later) and that really is telling. Especially when I put Roscoe in there because I think he was improperly used and I count being the leagues best punter returner for a handful of years as something positive. I also put Whitner in there just because he has been useful but even he didnt live up to a top ten player.

i’m sure i’m going to regret this conversation… but what the hell - J2

by poz on Jan 18, 2011 9:15 PM EST up reply actions

not that I disagree with you, but I would add for perspective.

A closer look at most other teams would give a simuilar result for the 4th-7th rounds. It is mainly our top round busts that have been too many, and often.

Please base your arguments in provable facts instead of pulling stuff out of your rear. -CanadianBillsFan- This is why talk is cheap because the supply always exceeds the demand.

by jbbillfan on Jan 19, 2011 9:04 AM EST up reply actions

Rec'd - Totally agree

A 2-1 negative to positive draft results certainly contribute to poor records, especially when you don’t have a franchise QB to fall back on or a top defense to hide your other inadequecies.

I would bet that our top 3 round draft picks since 2005 are like a 3-1 (or higher) negative to postive ratio…

I’ve lost a lot of faith in our drafting process and the only thing we can say is that Modrak is somehow linked to a lot of it. At least Nix has only “missed” on Kyle Calloway so far… Levi Brown is still a ? mark because they cut him once and then resigned him later…

by dabillsr1 on Jan 18, 2011 9:32 PM EST reply actions

yea I have faith in Nix

so far, i’d rather have our later round picks flaming out than our early picks. Calloway and Levi were both 7th rounders and probably flyers by Nix. This coming draft will most likely define Mr. Buddy Nix. When you have a pick this high, thats usually the case anyway.

i’m sure i’m going to regret this conversation… but what the hell - J2

by poz on Jan 18, 2011 9:34 PM EST up reply actions

What I liked about the Nix draft last year (even with picking Spiller when we didn't need him)

Is that the trend that I saw from him (except for maybe the Easley pick) is that he seemed to pick players that were “proven”. Proven meaning that they were successful for more than a few years on their team and stood out as players in the leagues and teams that they played on. Even though Troupe, Carrington, Batten, Moats were not all high profile D-1 schools or leagues, these guys were successful there and earned a lot of awards…

What I didn’t like about some of those picks was drafting guys that needed to change positions in the NFL… i.e. Moats and Batten both moved to LB from DE. Wang is learning all the OL positions, but might not make it as a OT.

Like with any draft, it takes 2-3 years for some of these guys to develop and perform fully at NFL levels… My hope is that it is closer to 2 years than 3.

by dabillsr1 on Jan 18, 2011 9:58 PM EST reply actions

I dont think you can blame Nix for that.

most 3-4 OLB played DE in college, and a lot of OG in the NFL were OT in college. Those positions are positions of change to a large degree.

Please base your arguments in provable facts instead of pulling stuff out of your rear. -CanadianBillsFan- This is why talk is cheap because the supply always exceeds the demand.

by jbbillfan on Jan 19, 2011 9:09 AM EST up reply actions

Thought his name was Andrew Ramsey all last year.

by JapanJohn on Jan 18, 2011 11:32 PM EST reply actions

I think one of Hardy's problems was he is not the fastest at picking up a new scheem.

This will work against him more now as teams are looking for an imediate impact.

Please base your arguments in provable facts instead of pulling stuff out of your rear. -CanadianBillsFan- This is why talk is cheap because the supply always exceeds the demand.

by jbbillfan on Jan 19, 2011 9:11 AM EST reply actions