No franchise tag for Thomas

The Ravens have decided against franchising Thomas. He will enter free agency March 2nd. The team says they will still try and sign him. Full story from the Sun HERE

Several teams are expected to show interest in Thomas, including the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers -- all of whom have more salary cap room than the Ravens and can offer Thomas substantially more in a long-term contract.

Thomas is likely looking at a contract that includes at least a $12 million signing bonus.

Thomas Update

Adalius Thomas' agent Bus Cook has said he has had no contact with the Ravens (remember the deadline to franchise is Thursday). Many media outlets are projecting he is heading fast for free agency.

Chargers do what??

A Ravens defense not under Rex Ryan would be considerably more boring. Losing him would have been a loss for the team. That being said, he is a strong head coaching candidate, and is sure to move up soon.

ON to the Chargers - in a surprising move (for some) they hired Norv Turner. Hmmm. He is a combined 58-82-1 in 9 seasons as a head coach. In some circles, he is seen much more like Marty then the new breed of coaches we are seeing take the helm the past two or three seasons.

Chargers interview Rex Ryan

Baltimore Sun story HERE

Mark your Calender Kids! 2007 League Schedule Here!

Feb 21-27 Scouting Combine
Feb 22 Deadline to designate franchise and transition players
March 1 Deadline for submission of offers to free agents (from their club)
Also a deadline for something else complicated
March 2 Veteran free agency signing period begins
March 2 Trading period begins
April 20 Signing period for restricted free agents ends
April 28-29 NFL Draft
Late July Training camp begins
August 9-13 First preseason weekend
August 28 Roster cut to 75
Sept 1 Roster cut to 53
Sept 6-10 2007 Kickoff Weekend

The Rumor Mill

Whew! The offseason is almost as exciting as the regular season. For a weak free agent market, there is still plenty of things flying around. March 2nd is the deadline. The Ravens can franchise him this Thursday. Here are a few:

1. Gridiron Fans says the Packers are going after Adalius Thomas and Randy Moss. They said Thomas is their number one target. Story HERE
   
2. Rotoworld says Thomas may go to New England. HERE
3. RealFootball365 has a nice article on Mughelli and how he could generate some interest HERE
   

New QB?? Are you kidding me?

Mike Preston in a recent post for the Baltimore Sun thinks the Ravens should look for a young quarterback to bring in to "learn from McNair and push Boller". I couldn't disagree more. The Ravens are carrying two quarterbacks now, and it has been the source of much discussion about whether Boller can run the team. Billick, in the recent press conference said

Obviously, it's a tough experience for a guy that has been a starter to then sit in the role that he did, and I think he was magnificent at it,

- Sitting on the bench?? Preston stops short of saying whether he thinks Boller is the answer, but does fairly point out that having a young QB would help keep the Ravens from doing what they did with Boller, i.e. putting him on the field before he was ready. I would counter with two questions - Is Boller ready now? yet? but also look at some of the young quaterbacks that can hack it - like Vince Young.

The Ravens made a solid choice in getting McNair, they have also worked hard on bringing along the receiving corps, and bringing some young guys in to bolster the offensive line. It looks like this year they will need to search for an answer in the backfield, but make a quarterback the priority? I would need more convincing on that one.

Offseason Predictions

I am reading a lot of these predictions, what will the Ravens do kind of things. One positive is that the Ravens do not have a lot of players they are unsure about - Depending on how you rank them, Lewis and Thomas are the "big names". Ogden is considering retirement, but that is a personal decision.

Everyone is predicting Lewis will be out. Most are predicting Thomas gets the franchise tag. Based on what is common, it would be in the best interest of the team to give him a contract before the season (anyone Jamal running at less then 100% so he doesn't get injured?). Players just don't give it their all when they get franchised.

Lewis is due a large bonus next month, so expect a decision on his future to come over the next few weeks. Musa Smith and Mughelli are both free agents, and the team is sending mixed signals about Mike Anderson. The possibility exists that the Ravens could start an entire new backfield next season.

Derrick Mason publicly complained at the end of the season, but it looks like the team is willing to work with him, and Newsome said he "has a future with the team".

There are other Ravens with uncertain futures, as previously posted too.

The one problem holding the team back, and forcing them to "look young" is their salary cap issues. They will almost have to restructure some of the veterans to be able to keep some of the young rising stars like Thomas. This will also keep them from getting too wild in the free agent market.

Ravens increase ticket prices.

So that is how much 13 wins costs??

Club seats will increase by $25 per game ($250 for the season for the eight regular-season games and two preseason games), lower-level seats by $20 and upper-level seats by $10.

The average ticket will cost $82.14, up from last season's price of $66.14

Source Baltimore Sun HERE