FanHouse SamariRolle

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.

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.

When the Cowboys released Terrell Owens, teams around the league couldn't issue their "Yeah, we'll pass on pursuing T.O." statements fast enough. Obviously, the Bills weren't one of those teams, but the speed at which other organizations expressed their lack of interest was dizzying, and proof that maybe Owens' talent was no longer enough to overcome his behavior in the eyes of most NFL front offices.

Except that such a line of reasoning doesn't explain why virtually the same thing is happening to Torry Holt, released Friday by the Rams. The 32-year-old, seven-time Pro Bowler continues to play at a high level, but St. Louis, a team with five victories in two seasons and now in rebuilding mode, cleared salary cap space by dropping Holt (as well as left tackle Orlando Pace). It happens; the NFL is a business, after all.

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.

Ray Lewis didn't get the free agency coronation that he -- and many of us -- figured was coming his way. The Cowboys, Jets, and even the hometown Ravens, showed little interest in the future Hall of Fame linebacker, presumably because his contract demands weren't in line with reality: at 33, there wasn't much left in the tank, as the thinking goes.

Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle says that after four years in Baltimore, he's ready to move on. And he says that while the Ravens are ready to move on, too.

But Rolle also says that even though parting ways would be the best thing for everyone, the Ravens won't let him go.

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.

Terrell Suggs made it clear earlier this week that he'd like a long-term deal. That could still happen, just not in the next few days; on Wednesday, the Ravens franchised the 26-year-old three-time Pro Bowler.

While the two sides work on a new contract, Suggs will play for $10.2 million in 2009. It's a nice chunk of change, but the one-year deal clearly favors the team: if Suggs gets hurt, he's out of luck. But he's currently in better shape than teammates Ray Lewis and Bart Scott.

In news that should surprise no one, it's currently snowing in Pittsburgh. By the 6:30 PM ET kickoff, it'll still be snowing, and temperatures are expected to drop into the upper teens. On the upside: wind shouldn't be a factor, although this could be one of those "let's see who can score first and then let the defense take over" get-togethers.

It makes sense that the league's two most dominating defenses could play a huge role in deciding which team will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. And right now, seven hours from game time, it looks like the Steelers have the slight advantage. We've been talking all week about injured Ravens, and two of their key defenders -- Terrell Suggs and Samari Rolle -- teetered between doubtful and out in recent days.