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Samari Rolle's stay in Baltimore appeared over when the team released the 12-year veteran cornerback on March 18. Nineteen days later, it looks like Rolle will end his career as a Raven after signing a four-year deal with Baltimore.

Rolle has spent the past four seasons with the Ravens, following a seven-year run in Tennessee. After playing all 32 games in his first two Baltimore years, though, Rolle missed 16 games between the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Even so, this move -- combined with the earlier release of Rolle -- will save the Ravens important cap space and put some nice depth in the defensive backfield.

Samari Rolle has been beating this drum for a few weeks now, and it finally sounds like he'll get his wish: the Ravens will release him on Monday, according to the Baltimore Sun.

"I anticipate it happening. I'm happy," Rolle told The Sun. "Everyone got what they wanted out of this. I wish the Ravens nothing but the best of luck."

The move will create $4.1 million in cap space for the Ravens, a team with plenty of defensive holes to fill; Chris McAlister, Bart Scott, and Jim Leonhard -- all starters at various points during the 2008 season -- are gone, and the team is especially thin in the secondary.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

It was improbable. The Baltimore Ravens made another playoff run in 2008 based on a defense that used the art of suffocation (oh, and Ed Reed) and an offense that improved dramatically over the previous years. John Harbaugh was impressive as coach, putting a rookie quarterback out to toss the ball around and sticking with him through thick (17-29, 248 yards, 2 TDs in Week 9) and thin (11-28, 115 yards, 2 INTs in Week 15).

Now the team has to figure out what to do about a superstar in Ray Lewis, and how they should handle other important positional players (hello Mr. Stover) in order to return to (and move past) the AFC Championship game without their defensive coordinator.

Undoubtedly, the post-game chatter will be about Joe Flacco being the first rookie quarterback to win two playoff games even though, you know, he completed just 11 of 22 passes for 161 yards and the defense, as usual, had almost everything to do with the final outcome.

Whatever your perspective, the fact remains: Baltimore is headed to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 2000. And they'll do it as the most banged-up squad in the league. On Wednesday, the Dallas Morning News' Rich Gosselin wrote that the Ravens finished 11-5 during the regular season "despite losing 64 games by starters because of injury, the fourth-highest total in the league. Baltimore lost 14 more games by starters than any other playoff team."

And next week, whether the Ravens travel to Pittsburgh or San Diego, they could be without a few more starters. Right tackle Willie Anderson, running back Le'Ron McClain, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and cornerback Samari Rolle were all injured during the Titans game. McClain did manage to hobble his way through the second half, but was mostly ineffective.

The Ravens starting cornerbacks last season, Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle, are both in their 30s and on the downsides of solid careers. And behind them, well, there isn't much. Both players were injured last season and Baltimore was forced to go with Derrick Martin and Corey Ivy with predictable results.

And with 2006 third-rounder David Pittman not progressing as hoped, it makes perfect sense that the Ravens would pull the trigger on a chance to not only add depth, but find McAlister's or Rolle's eventual replacement: they traded a fourth-round pick to Oakland for 2005 first-rounder Fabian Washington.

Washington does come to the Ravens with some baggage. He learned last week that he would avoid prosecution for his February arrest on a domestic battery charge as long as he completes a program for first-time offenders.

At least he didn't murder anybody, I guess. Baltimore still used the draft to address the defense, taking University of Miami linebacker Tavares Gooden with their first third-round pick, and added Notre Dame safety/boxer Tom Zbikowski 15 selections later.

Gooden could be the next Ray Lewis assuming Lewis ever retires, and while there doesn't seem to be an obvious place for Zbikowski on Baltimore's defense with Dawan Landry and Ed Reed firmly entrenched, he immediately upgrades the coverage teams and could be valuable in nickel or dime packages.

It's not at all surprising that the Raiders would slap the franchise tag on cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. He would've been one of the most sought after free agents had Oakland let him go, and his imposing physical skills coupled with his ability to play man-coverage make this move a no-brainer.

What is peculiar, however, is that the Raiders used the "exclusive" franchise designation, which means that Asomugha can't negotiate with other teams.From the Oakland Tribune's Jerry McDonald:

The Raiders raised more than a few eyebrows with their designation of cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha as an "exclusive" franchise free agent.

The general feeling is there is no chance Asomugha would have drawn two No. 1 draft picks or brought back an offer sheet. If Asante Samuel were to land a huge deal with a roster bonus instead of a signing bonus, Asomugha's deal could exceed $10 million this year.

You'd have to think Oakland would at least consider the possibility of letting Asomugha walk in exchange for two first-round picks, but then again, maybe they knew Fabian Washington had been arrested for assaulting his girlfriend and the need for a big-play corner became even more important.

None of this matters, of course, if the plan is to re-sign Asomugha to a long-term deal sometime this off-season. And even if that doesn't happen -- and you question the wisdom of using the exclusive franchise tag -- it's still makes infinitely more sense than this.

Apparently, the entire Bay Area dropped the ball on Aaron Rodgers. Maybe it has something to do with him going to Cal (although I don't remember hearing people clamor for Kyle Boller recently), or, more likely, it more a commentary on the sorry state of quarterbacking in San Francisco and Oakland.

49ers head coach Mike Nolan and Alex Smith can't seem to get on the same page, and the Raiders currently have a revolving door at quarterback until the JaMarcus Russell era begins in earnest.

But before JaMarcus, there was Andrew Walter, the team's 2005 third-round pick. That was the same draft Smith went first overall, and the Packers' Rodgers slid all the way to 24th. Obviously, when Oakland selected Walter, Rodgers was long gone, but the Al Davis All-Stars had traded into the fist round -- pick 23, to be exact -- and imagine what things might look like if the team passed on Fabian Washington.

Okay, things might not be much different than they are now; the Raiders have so many other problems that it's not unreal to think that one player would've fixed all that.

Still, Rodgers would be in his third year, and while it's nothing to start high-fiving people at sports bars about, Oakland has improved under Lane Kiffin. Now, though, instead of having a veteran quarterback on the roster, Kiffin is grooming Russell while Walter toils on the bench. Welcome to Raiders football: shoulda, coulda, woulda.

Roy Williams is, apparently, a card-carrying Calvin Johnson fanboy.

"He's going to be a part of that 100-touchdown club one of these days..."

"He's real quiet. ... He's a good athlete, he's big as hell, he's Megatron."

Roy Williams is, apparently, a card-carrying Transformers fanboy as well. I guess that means Raiders corner Fabian Washington is Optimus Prime?

As reported by Phil Barber of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Raiders CB Fabian Washington said Johnson, "wasn't that great to me."

"They did things to get him open, like pick routes and all that. But he was nothing special, trust me."

I'm guessing Washington believes that the Lions are the only team who "do things" to get their receivers open? I wonder how lonely it feels to be the lone voice speaking out amongst the masses. It's probably as miserable as the taste of sour grapes.