Sypniewski, Johnson cut from roster

WESTMINSTER -- The Baltimore Ravens' two-year streak of having their first-round draft pick signed prior to training camp came to a halt as team officials continued to haggle with rookie offensive tackle Michael Oher's agent Monday.

Team officials don't seem overly concerned about Oher's absence, which has been triggered primarily by not having deals completed above and below his slot at No. 23 overall. 

Oher's deal is expected to be completed at some point this week, but no deal was imminent as of Monday evening. Oher is expected to earn a starting job at right tackle.

"Michael Oher, I know he wants to be here," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "Not too many first-round picks have signed yet, so a lot of that hinges on how that all slots out. The agent [Jimmy Sexton] wants to make sure he does the right thing by Michael.

"And we want to make sure that we do the right thing by Michael, too. We want to get the best contract we can for him as soon as we can. It should happen pretty soon.”

Oher remained in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn., as of Monday night heading into this morning's opening practice at McDaniel College.

Only four out of 32 first-round draft picks have signed their contracts, and that list doesn't include Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin at No. 22 overall and Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Peria Jerry at No. 24 overall.

Quarterbacks Matt Stafford (Detroit Lions) and Mark Sanchez (New York Jets), center Alex Mack (Cleveland Browns) and defensive lineman Evander Hood (Pittsburgh Steelers) are the only first-round picks that have agreed to terms. 

Plus, last year's pick at Oher's slot, (Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall), received a five-year, $12.55 million deal that included $7.125 million in guaranteed money. That deal is considered to be a bit low by several agents.

The last holdout for the Ravens was first-round defensive tackle Haloti Ngata in 2006.

SYPNIEWSKI CUT: The Ravens cut blocking tight end Quinn Sypniewski with a waived-injured designation due to a problematic knee.

Sypniewski underwent another surgical procedure this offseason to reattach his anterior cruciate ligament to his knee bone after complications arose from the procedure he had last season.

At this point, the 6-foot-6, 270-pounder simply isn't healthy enough to play football over one year after shredding his knee ligaments and tearing the ACL off of the bone during an awkward minicamp collision with outside linebacker Antwan Barnes.

"The surgery didn’t work," Harbaugh said. "That’s the way you can describe it. He had some more work done on it, and that’s healing right now. We’re just giving him a chance to heal right now.

"He can’t be on the 80-man roster at this stage. We need to have all our guys at practice right now. We’ve got a plan for Quinn. He’s still very much in our plans down the road, and he’ll be working hard to get that knee ready.”

QUICK HITS: The Ravens cut offensive guard Brian Johnson, who was on the practice squad last season. ... Harbaugh didn't announce any physically unable to perform list designations, but offensive guard Marshal Yanda (knee) is expected to be on the list. ... Several selected veterans reported to camp early, including running back Willis McGahee, tight end L.J. Smith, offensive tackle Adam Terry, offensive guard Ben Grubbs, wide receivers Demetrius Williams, Mark Clayton and Yamon Figurs, cornerbacks Samari Rolle, Fabian Washington and Frank Walker, linebackers Tavares Gooden and Barnes, nose guard Kelly Gregg, defensive end Dwan Edwards, defensive tackle Kelly Talavou and Yanda. ... McGahee, who had arthroscopic knee surgery during the offseason, appears to be in outstanding condition, especially when compared to last year. ... The first two players to check into the team hotel were rookie running back Cedric Peerman and Barnes.