THE GRAPEVINE: Possible RB Candidates for the Ravens

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GRAPEVINE - THE GRAPEVINE: Possible RB Candidates for the Ravens

Posted On: 3/1/07

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Tony Lombardi

THE GRAPEVINE: Possible RB Candidates for the Ravens

Now that the Ravens have released Jamal Lewis, practically any running back that hits the open market will be linked to the Ravens. Chris Brown, Dominic Rhodes, Ahman Green, Correll Buckhalter are a few that have been mentioned. Word is the Ravens aren’t interested in any of these backs, preferring instead to work a more cap friendly deal with Jamal Lewis who is already familiar with the Ravens system. What remains to be seen is how the Ravens actually define “cap friendly” when it comes to Lewis.

Another back that is mentioned as a possible replacement for Lewis (mostly by Ravens’ fans) is San Diego Charger Michael Turner. The Ravens like Turner and it’s possible that some within the organization even see him worthy of mid-tender compensation (1st round draft pick). One problem however, might be the team’s cap position. Should the Ravens give up a No. 1 for Turner, they will almost certainly want to lock him up long term before any deal is reached. Despite the release of Lewis resulting in an additional $8.3 million in cap space, the Ravens still are tight to the cap when you consider the pending free agents and the cap space needed for the rookie pool. See Ravens cap picture.

Willis McGahee could be a solution for the Ravens. The buzz is that the Bills might be willing to accept a first day pick in exchange for McGahee who only has one year left on his contract. The former Miami Hurricane is 25 years old and will be paid $2.155M in 2007.

As reported by Aaron Wilson, it is believed that the Ravens have tendered low restricted free agent offers to Devard Darling, Clarence Moore and B.J. Sams. The team would have the right to match any offer from another team. If they choose not to match any such offers, the Ravens would receive a draft pick from the acquiring team commensurate with the round in which the signed player entered the league. In the case of B.J. Sams, the acquiring team would not lose a pick since Sams was an undrafted free agent.

Some here in the Land of Pleasant Living have their eyes set on Bengals guard Eric Steinbach. Don’t get your hopes up! Steinbach is said to be looking for a contract that approaches that of Vikings’ guard Steve Hutchinson. It is far from Ozzie Newsome’s style to pay an interior lineman so handsomely. For years Ozzie’s approach has been to pay the men who touch the ball or touch the quarterback. That said, word out of Cincinnati is that Steinbach struggled at times against big defensive tackles.

"From 2000 to 2001, we restructured a lot of contracts and we decided that winning back-to-back Super Bowls was what this organization wanted to do. So we put all our eggs into 2001. We thought the best decision was to go out and get a quarterback that could manufacture some offense for us. We went out and got a right tackle, and we basically mortgaged the future after that. We don't plan to do that this time." — General manager Ozzie Newsome on the Ravens' approach to the future.

When will The Pacman run out of energizers? Seems to me the goblins are about to corner him. The bad news keeps adding up for the corner formerly known as Adam Jones. After his raining of $81,000 on to a strip bar stage followed by a body slam of a dancer News Channel 5 in Nashville is now reporting that police wiretaps and documents tie Jones to one of the largest drugs rings in recent history. Jones is on tape talking to Darryl Moore, the target of the investigation. Some evidence suggests that Moore may have been drug wheeling and dealing from Jones' house. According to the report the recordings also reveal Moore expressing concern over Jones' overindulgence in marijuana. Where there’s smoke…

By the way, what is it about these West Virginia grads? There's Jones and then there's Chris Henry.

Steelers’ defensive end Aaron Smith won’t be standing at the end of the line when it comes to his place in Pittsburgh’s salary pecking order. In fact, he just got his speed pass to the front of the line. Word out of the city of steel is that Smith is now the highest paid player in team history. Sources indicate that Smith will earn $25 million over the next five seasons, if the XX year old Pro Bowler plays out the contract. Without question Joey Porter and Troy Polamalu are watching.

So Randy Moss wants to be a Packer. How about that? He wants to play with Brett Favre. He wants to call Green Bay his home so the Lambeau faithful can see his Moon over Wisconsin more regularly. Now isn’t that sweet? What happens when he decides to take a play off? What happens when the $9.75 million is due in ’07 and the $11.25 million is due in ’08? What happens when Brett Favre retires?

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