So Orlando Pace signed with the Chicago Bears to protect newly acquired quarterback Jay Cutler. You have to give Pace credit for his steadfast determination to play left tackle in the league again. He wasn’t going to get that opportunity in Baltimore. The Ravens have the league’s best value at left tackle and if his progress continues, Jared Gaither should be protecting Joe Flacco’s blindside for a long time…Back  to the Bears, two first round picks, a third round pick and Kyle Orton for Cutler and a fifth round pick? Time will tell who ends up as the winner of that exchange but on the surface, I say the winner is Denver particularly if they parlay those first round pick in Ozzie-style. By the way, is Jay Cutler a big crybaby or what?

Speaking of crybabies, Nestor Aparicio continues to whine about not having a press pass for Orioles games.  Look if you protested your neighbor’s behavior by wearing T-shirts and creating a self-indulgent website that said Free the Neighborhood, would you expect said neighbor to invite you in for a steak dinner? The Sun's Ray Frager got it right today when he suggested, “Hey, Orioles, give him a press pass. At least then we don't have to hear about it anymore.”

I feel you Ray…

During a momentary lapse of reasoning, I checked in to Limited Access with Aparicio yesterday and he surprisingly said one thing during the middle of yet another pity party on WNST that actually made me laugh when referring to MASN as Mr. Angelos & Sons Network.

Staying with the radio dial for a moment, I was disappointed to hear that Bruce Cunningham was pre-empted this week on 105.7 The Fan to make way for Orioles’ spring training games this week.  I couldn’t wait to hear another of the aforementioned Mr. Cunningham’s diaper tales. Hey maybe soon he’ll graduate to in depth coverage of Kingsville T-ball or maybe a review of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn…Props to Rob Long on delivering an educational exchange with Loyola College men’s basketball coach Jimmy Patsos regarding the recruiting process. Check out www.roblongshow.com to get the podcast of the interview.

In an ideal world on draft day, I’d like to see the Ravens trade back from No. 26 and nab Kenny Britt.  He might not be the 26 best player on the board but from what I’ve been told, what I’ve read and what I’ve seen of Britt, he has tremendous upside and it’s difficult not to draw physical comparisons to Terrell Owens. Keep in mind that Ravens’ offensive assistant Craig ver Steeg coached Britt at Rutgers in 2006 and 2007. The drama will unfold on April 25, 2009.

Kelly Gregg is back on track and will return to the Ravens’ defensive line rotation which from this vantage point will be the best in the NFL.  Recently The National Football Post’s Jack Bechta had an interesting story on Gregg which is a must read for Ravens fans. I “betcha” you’ll enjoy it. (Rimshot please!) It includes a challenge to UFC’s Brock Lesnar.

Samari Rolle could return to the Ravens after all.  There isn’t a big line forming to sign the recently released cornerback and that probably won’t change any time soon if at all.  More than likely Rolle will remain on the outside looking in until after the NFL Draft…Dawan Landry signed his restricted free agent tender yesterday.  The tender offer made by the Ravens was viewed by some as a bit risky because it was the low tender and to sign away Landry it would have cost the acquiring team just a fifth round pick (Landry was a 5th round selection in 2006). Of course the Ravens could match any offer made to Landry but in the end, they’ll get value in the 1 year, $1.01 million restricted free agent contract…Ed Reed is one of 9 finalists to grace the cover of Madden 2010.  So far only he and Adrian Peterson have been named finalists.  The other 7 will be announced shortly and the “winner” will be named on Friday April 24, 2009, the eve of the NFL Draft.

And these are today’s purple ponderings…