Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
Jonathan Ogden retired last summer, leaving the Ravens with a young but deep group of offensive linemen to protect rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. Not surprisingly, Ogden's replacement, Jared Gaither (a former supplementary draft pick) was inconsistent, but occasionally flashed glimpses of big-play potential.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J -- The big guy in the black sweatshirt didn't get down the field quite as quickly as all of the other guys in the orange skullcaps. But the fact that he had the cap on at all and was running down the field with the scout team on kickoff coverage drills was one of the highlights of the Jets' Friday morning practice.
"Yeah, you notice when the head coach is running kick coverage," guard Damien Woody said. "That's not something you see all the time."
You only get to have one of these early minicamps if you have a new head coach, and for the Jets the past couple of days have been about getting to know Rex Ryan, who has impressed everyone from the kick coverage team to the media with the differences between himself and his predecessor, the buttoned-up Eric Mangini.
"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.
The Ravens and Lewis agreed to a multi-year deal that won't be formally set for a couple of weeks, but General Manager Ozzie Newsome said he's happy to see the 10-time Pro Bowler sticking with the purple and black.
[Newsome] wouldn't disclose the length of the deal but said "Ray Lewis can retire as a Raven."
By tomorrow afternoon, the Ravens will either have their replacement for Jason Brown or the Vikings will have brought back the elder statesman of their offensive line. Matt Birk says that his first jump into free agency won't take long, as he'll make a decision by Thursday on whether to sign with the Ravens or return to Minnesota.
The Ravens need Birk more than the Vikings do. Minnesota has been planning for Birk's potential loss, as they are grooming John Sullivan to replace Birk, although there is little doubt that Birk, a six-time Pro Bowler, will be a better center in 2009 than Sullivan.
By most accounts, the Jets were very successful over the opening weekend of free agency. Linebacker Bart Scott and cornerback Lito Sheppard should pay immediate dividends, particularly in new head coach Rex Ryan's blitz-happy scheme.
The team also added former Ravens safety Jim Leonhard and re-signed guard Brandon Moore. All in all, not a bad few day's work. But even though this team is better -- at least on paper -- there's the lingering issue of who will replace Brett Favre. (Putting aside, for the moment, your thoughts on Favre's effectiveness, the point remains: there's a void at the quarterback position. The only question is if you think that's been the case for a couple months or a couple years.)
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.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
What a difference five weeks made for the New York Jets. From 8-3 to 9-7. from Eric Mangini as head coach to Rex Ryan, and from Brett Favre as the starting quarterback to, well, your guess is as good as ours. Those last five games sent the franchise into yet another new direction, one that will only start coming into focus when free agency opens on Feb. 27.
As the Steelers prepare to do the impossible against the Ravens -- beat them three times in the same season -- Baltimore is dealing with its own issues. Chief among them: getting healthy in time for Sunday's AFC Championship game.
Although Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs has guaranteed he won't be sidelined for Sunday's AFC title game because of an injury that team officials termed a strained right shoulder, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh didn't sound nearly as optimistic about Suggs' status. ...
"I'm not going to sit here and say it's positive, or we're happy about it," Harbaugh said. "We'll just see how it goes. It's going to be close. He's going to work real hard to try to get back. That's all we know."
Suggs would be a huge loss for the Ravens, although defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has an unbelievable ability to just stick anybody out there without the defense losing any effectiveness.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J -- The big guy in the black sweatshirt didn't get down the field quite as quickly as all of the other guys in the orange skullcaps. But the fact that he had the cap on at all and was running down the field with the scout team on kickoff coverage drills was one of the highlights of the Jets' Friday morning practice.
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. 
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Ray Lewis will remain with the Ravens, possibly for the rest of his career.
By tomorrow afternoon, the Ravens will either have their replacement for Jason Brown or the Vikings will have brought back the elder statesman of their offensive line. Matt Birk says that his first jump into free agency won't take long, as he'll make a decision by Thursday on whether to sign with the Ravens or return to Minnesota.
By most accounts, the Jets were very successful over the opening weekend of free agency. Linebacker Bart Scott and cornerback Lito Sheppard should pay immediate dividends, particularly in new head coach Rex Ryan's blitz-happy scheme. 
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer. 
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
As the Steelers prepare to do the impossible against the Ravens -- beat them three times in the same season -- Baltimore is dealing with its own issues. Chief among them: getting healthy in time for Sunday's AFC Championship game. 
