FanHouse Ozzie Newsome

Outside of their matching roles as general managers of professional sports teams, you won't find many similarities between Ozzie Newsome and Ken Holland. But the strategy each man has taken in building a winning club makes the comparison easier to see.

In the NHL world, Holland, the Red Wings GM, has turned Detroit into a borderline dynasty through fancy financial footwork, savvy personnel moves and, arguably above all, superior scouting. Those are the same attributes Newsome has brought to the Baltimore Ravens franchise.

Since Newsome took over as general manager in 2002, the Ravens have developed into one of the NFL's premier draft powers -- Wednesday's news that Baltimore had locked down 2009 first-round pick Michael Oher for five years was simply the latest feather in the team's cap.

I admit to being surprised when Derrick Mason abruptly announced his retirement, yesterday. But in much the same way I might be surprised that Tony Romo broke up with Jessica Simpson or John Daly rammed his bus into a tunnel -- I didn't expect it to happen exactly at the moment it did, then again I wasn't totally shocked that it eventually happened.

Except that maybe Mason was just kidding in the name of making a few more bucks. The Baltimore Sun's Ken Murray thinks Mason's announcement was just a grand scheme to get a new deal, one he's been angling for all offseason.

Every Monday during college football's endless offseason, The FanHouse Walk will put last week's stories to bed and deliver the essentials to bridge that agonizing space between now and September.

If He Can Get On The Field, Play Ball -- It's come to this: the 13-year-old brother of Tennessee safety Eric Berry has pledged to play football for the Vols. Nevermind that he's not even in high school, but the kid's set on Orange and who is Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin to say no? The saving grace in all of this is that verbals are non-binding and four years is a lot of time to fill where both parties could easily part ways.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Ray Lewis will remain with the Ravens, possibly for the rest of his career.

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."

Larry Fitzgerald isn't just the league's best wide receiver, he's also a swell guy. Apparently, he might be wiling to take a pay cut to keep Anquan Boldin in Arizona after Sunday. Such a move, while noble, has all sorts of labor-agreement/salary-cap ramifications. Not only that but Drew Rosenhaus, Boldin's agent, made it clear prior to the season that his client wasn't "interested in doing a new contract with the team."

Time heals all wounds and whatnot, but if Boldin does decide that his Cardinals career is over, he'll surely have plenty of suitors. Like, say, the Ravens.

There's an old saying that goes when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. That's what the Ravens did with their trade down in the first round this afternoon. They didn't have enough to go up and get Matt Ryan, but that doesn't mean that quarterback stopped being their biggest need. And it doesn't mean that quarterback was their only need.

They have to address a replacement for Jonathan Ogden, regardless of his return for this season, they need to get deeper in the secondary and they need to start preparing for the overhaul of a team that's not getting any younger. Now, thanks to getting two third-rounders and a fourth from the Jags for the eighth pick, they're in position to do whatever they'd like for the rest of the process.

I'd guess that that will still begin with a quarterback. Brian Brohm, Chad Henne and Joe Flacco are a tightly bunched second tier of QB's and the Ravens should be able to pluck whichever one they like, either by staying put or using their gains to jump back up a bit and nab their guy. Give credit to Ozzie Newsome for recognizing the value of the eighth pick whether it's used on a player or to create the chance to add several players.

The NFL Draft is 14 days away. And for the most part, we know just as much about who will go where as we did in February after the Combine. Of course, if we just stuck to what we knew everybody on "Around the Horn" would be out of a job and blogs wouldn't exist.

Anyway, in today's Baltimore Sun, Mike Preston speculates on who the Ravens are eyeballing with their No. 8 pick: Leodis McKelvin.

The Official FanHouse Mock Draft has Baltimore selecting Matt Ryan, and I'm guessing if he's still on the board general manager Ozzie Newsome will give serious consideration to taking the team's first franchise quarterback since, well ... ever.

Ryan's unlikely to slip eight spots, though, so Baltimore will probably have the opportunity to take a defender, something they've had a lot of first-round success doing. Since moving from Cleveland in 1996, the Ravens have taken Ray Lewis ('96), Peter Boulware ('97), Duane Starks ('98), Chris McAlister ('99), Ed Reed ('02), Terrell Suggs ('03) and Haloti Ngata ('06) in Round 1. I'd say 6 for 7 is pretty good.

Assuming McKelvin's the guy, he would likely begin the season as the nickel back, if not work his way into the starting job. Two years ago, Baltimore used a third-rounder on cornerback David Pittman, but he's spent most Sundays during the season in civvies.

Also, Preston notes that McKelvin is a dangerous returner, though I don't know how much that matters since the team used a 2007 third-rounder on Yamon Figurs who handled both kick and punt-returner duties as a rookie.

During this morning's marathon session of ESPN's Sunday Countdown, Chris Mortensen reports that the Ravens could be in the Donovan McNabb business this off-season. Mortensen does point out that McNabb thinks he'll be in Philly next year, but says that the "Baltimore Ravens are seriously pondering a play for McNabb, meaning their first-round pick -- No. 8 overall -- would have to be included in any trade proposal."

I think McNabb gets a bum wrap, and still think he's one of the top-10 quarterbacks in the league. That said, he's had trouble staying injury-free the last few seasons, and at 31, he's probably only got three or four high-level years left. Is that worth the eighth-overall pick? I don't think so, especially when the Ravens only had to give up a fourth-rounder for a much-closer-to-the-end-of-his-career Steve McNair. But Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome might feel differently.

Mortensen also reports that Derek Anderson could be a potential target. This assumes, of course, that Anderson doesn't sign a long-term deal, and ends up getting tendered the highest restricted-free-agent offer. Acquiring Anderson would then cost the Ravens a first- and third-round pick, which seems kind of steep for a player the team drafted in the sixth round a few years ago.

Mortensen also says that Anderson is an attractive choice because he's currently running an offensive scheme that Cam Cameron will install in Baltimore. Ultimately, I don't think the Ravens will make a serious run at either player -- the cost is too prohibitive -- but if the crop of draft-eligible quarterbacks disappoints at the combine and in their personal workouts, this could change.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

The Baltimore Ravens have already taken their first step toward 2008. John Harbaugh is the new coach and brings with him the expectation of a more disciplined team that takes better advantage of its resources. Some have argued that this team is close to playoff position but, truthfully, change is needed to restore this team to the level of a contender. As it has for years, the major obstacle for the Ravens to overcome is at football's marquee position.

1. Quarterback – Elvis Grbac. Randall Cunningham. Jeff Blake. Chris Redman. Kyle Boller. Anthony Wright. Steve McNair. Those are the men who have started at quarterback for the Ravens since Trent Dilfer won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. Other than McNair in 2006, not a one of them has done anything to earn a second season on the job, and McNair went down in flames in year two. Boller didn't embarrass himself at the end of this season but he didn't do anything to warm the cockles of your heart either.

Billick was Boller's biggest champion and we don't know who will be running the offense in 2008, so it's anybody's guess as to who will be under center.

Maybe the Ravens job ain't as great as advertised. Sure, there are the sweet facilities, the rich, hands-off owner, one of the league's best general managers and a rabid fan base. But there's also the sense that the inmates are running the asylum which certainly equalizes some of the positives.

Whatever, after giving it some thought, Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has decided that staying in Cleveland -- as the team's offensive coordinator -- was more attractive than even showing up for his interview with the Ravens.

Precisely, Chudzinski phoned Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome with the news after the Browns gave him a shiny new deal. Also, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chudzinski's wife just gave birth to the couple's second child and that the family is looking for stability (as stable as things can be in the NFL, I suppose). Obviously, withdrawing from consideration from the Baltimore job was the right thing to do under such circumstances.

The Ravens started the coaching search with a list of 30 potential candidates, which has now been reduced to 27. New England offensive coordinator Josh McDainels pulled a "Chudz" before Chudzinski did, choosing to stay with the Patriots for another season. And Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has opted to stay with the Hawkeyes.

But all is not lost; as FanHouse's Josh Alper points out, Marty Schottenheimer could be in the mix. And if you thought the Ravens didn't feature much offense under Brian Billick, just wait until Martyball sweeps through Charm City.