Vonta Leach “Hasn’t Ruled Out” Re-Signing With Baltimore

Update:

Aaron Wilson reports that free agent FB Vonta Leach “hasn’t ruled out” the possibility of re-signing with the Baltimore Ravens.

The two sides have reportedly remained in contact since his release.

“Of course, Vonta likes the Ravens,” said Leach’s agent Ralph Vitolo. “Why wouldn’t he? Maybe he ends up back there. Who knows? Until it happens, there’s no sense in pure speculation.”

• Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports that the Dolphins are “standing pat” in regards to signing Leach.
• Salguero adds that there’s currently no offer and the team intends to weigh their options currently on roster. 
• Miami could always approach Leach if their current group is underwhelming.
• Salguero mentions that the Ravens remain the “strongest option” with the Texans in the background.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the Ravens standing offer to Leach is for $2 million with another $1 million in incentives, which would come out to the $3 million salary he was set to make this season.

Baltimore also drafted Harvard FB Kyle Juszczyk back in April, so it’s not as though he could be confident in his role beyond the 2013 season if he were to return.

We have Leach listed as the No. 9 player in our Best Available Free Agents list.

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Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the Dolphins intend to meet with the agent for free agent FB Vonta Leach sometime this week.

• Jackson adds that Leach’s representative are “hopeful” that a deal can be reached.
• Leach may end up returning to Baltimore if Miami is only willing to offer him a one-year contract worth the veteran’s minimum.

In other Dolphins news, the holdup regarding No. 3 overall pick Dion Jordan’s contract is reportedly due to the “Dolphins’ insistence on offset language.”

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Armando Salguero reports that there have been “no negotiations” between the Miami Dolphins and free agent FB Vonta Leach.

However, Salguero also mentions that talks between the two sides are expected to pick up once GM Jeff Ireland returns from vacation.

• Salguero adds that HC Joe Philbin “wants” Leach and the team is looking for an upgrade to Jovorskie Lane. 
• Leach is reportedly seeking a two-three year contract and wants to be a part of the Dolphins future.

It appears as though NFL teams are weary of offering Leach a multi-year contract. Previous reports have indicated that the Ravens have an offer on the table for him and the Giants could also be an option. Miami has the most cap space to work with, but they could always wait it out and see if Leach caves on his asking price.

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Conor Orr of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Giants are still in the mix for free agent FB Vonta Leach. 

Recent reports indicated that the Dolphins remain the favorites to sign Leach, but the Ravens reportedly have a standing offer on the table for Leach as well.

It appears as though Leach is looking for top dollar, which could be an issue for the Giants seeing as they have only a little over $3 million in cap space to work with while the Dolphins have over $17 million in cap space available to them.

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Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reported Monday night that the Ravens do have a standing offer on the table for free agent FB Vonta Leach.

• Salguero adds that Leach is hoping to best that offer on the open market and does have interest in playing for the Dolphins.
• With that being said, the “money has to be right” for Leach to sign, according to Salguero’s  source.
• Meanwhile, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that Leach could wait a couple of weeks before deciding on his next team.
• Jason La Canfora reports that the Dolphins “remain in the lead” to sign Leach.

“Though he likes Miami, [Leach] has been waiting for a couple weeks to see if better offers surface,” writes Jackson. “The Dolphins remain the front-runner unless another team surprisingly wows him financially in the next two weeks.“

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Aaron Wilson reports that the Dolphins are continuing dialogue with free agent FB Vonta Leach. on Wednesday despite the fact that both GM Jeff Ireland and HC Joe Philbin are currently out of the country.

• Wilson adds that the Giants have yet to schedule a visit with Leach. 

Leach’s agent, Ralph Vitolo mentioned that he believes Miami is the “right place to be” for his client.

“I think so. I hope so. It’s the right place to be,” said Vitolo when asked if he believes Leach will sign with the Dolphins, via the Miami Herald. “We’re trying to crunch the numbers.”

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the it would be a “major upset” if the Dolphins don’t sign free agent FB Vonta Leach.

Schefter adds that Miami wants him “too much.”

If that’s the case, it’s doubtful that teams like the Giants, Texas, and Ravens would be able to compete from a financial standpoint for Leach.

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According to the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens are still “quietly monitoring” the situation surrounding free agent FB Vonta Leach.

The Ravens reportedly offered Leach a $2 million contract that included a number of incentives before ultimately releasing him. Leach was set to make $3 million for the 2013 season, so it seems like Baltimore made him a reasonable offer as he’s been on the open market for a number of days now.

• The New York Daily News reported over the weekend that the Giants are “pondering a last-ditch effort” to sign Leach.
•  Leach told Sirius XM Radio on Monday that he’s in no rush to sign with a team.

“Right now we’re keeping all our options open, said Leach,” per Ralph Vacchiano. “There’s really not a rush for anything right now because you can’t do nothing on the football field right now. As long as we’re in somebody’s camp, I’ll be all right.”

The Texans and Titans have also show some amount of interest in Leach as well.

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Jason La Canfora reports that the free agent FB Vonta Leach is still in talks with both the Dolphins and Texas.

• La Canfora adds that proposal’s are being exchanged with both teams, but believes the Dolphins are “in the lead.”
• Houston doesn’t have the same kind of cap space to work with, which also seems to favor Miami.
• Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports that talks between the Dolphins and Leach have “heated up.”
• Beasley adds that HC Joe Philbin would like to have a deal in place by the end of the  week.

Leach worked out for the Dolphins last Wednesday and according to the report, could be the team’s only fullback if they were to get a finalized this week.

Leach has all been in contact with the Houston Texans, but all indications point to Miami as being the favorites to the sign the Pro Bowler.

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Vonta Leach‘s agent, Ralph Vitolo, said that his client has already received interest from seven teams.

Vitolo specifically mentioned that the Dolphins, Texans, Giants, Chiefs and Browns as the top suitors.

• Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal reports that the Browns spoke Leach’s agent, but they are not interested in signing him.
  

He reportedly met with the Dolphins on Wednesday, but haven’t heard how the meeting went.

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Aaron Wilson updates the situation surrounding free agent FB Vonta Leach by tweeting that “several teams” have already made inquiries regarding the 2012 Pro Bowler.

Leach is still in the process of meeting with the Dolphins’ coaching staff, so they may have to move quickly to prevent him from signing elsewhere.

Other speculative options for Leach include the Bengals, Broncos, Cowboys and Texans.

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Aaron Wilson reports that free agent FB Vonta Leach will visit with the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday.

• Dave Hutchinson of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Giants have also reached out to Leach as well. 

This is the first reported visit for Leach, who will have only a short period of time to find his next team.

The Dolphins claimed FB/TE Evan Rodriguez off of waivers from the Bears, but the addition of Leach would most likely leave Rodriguez expendable.

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The Baltimore Ravens announced the release of FB Vonta Leach on Tuesday.

• Leach’s agent, Ralph Vitolo, told FOX 26 in Houston that the Texans are the “most logical fit” for his client. 
• Vitolo also mentioned that the Bengals, Broncos, and Cowboys would also make sense.

Clearly, Vitolo is trying to drum up some interest in his client now that he’ll be looking for a new team, despite the fact that minicamps opened this week.

There’s also been some early speculation that the Giants could have interest in Leach, but they have limited cap space to work with, so Leach would have to be willing to sign a reasonable contract to make this happen.

Leach, 31, had a $3 million base salary for the upcoming season and counted $4.33 million against the team’s salary cap. Clearly, the Ravens were hoping to reduce that figure given that Leach doesn’t play a high-value position and is already in his thirties. Baltimore added Harvard fullback Kyle Juszczyk during the recent draft, so they already had a contingency plan in place.

Baltimore also re-signed veteran TE Billy Bajema today as well.

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Vonta Leach has already tweeted a goodbye to the Baltimore Ravens fanbase.

Thank @ravens organization for a great two years. I came here and did what we set out to do and that’s win the Super Bowl. My time here

— VontaLeach44 (@vleach44) June 10, 2013

 

here is up but what we accomplished, we will be forever linked. Thank the fans for accepting me and my family to Bmore. #newchapter#samegoal

— VontaLeach44 (@vleach44) June 10, 2013

Leach should be able to find a new home in the near future, despite the fact that minicamps start this week.

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According to the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens are expected to release or trade FB Vonta Leach and the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on a restructured contract.

The Ravens’ front office reportedly worked aggressively to get a deal worked out with Leach, but they’ve been unable to make progress in recent weeks.