I enjoy listening to the annual "State of the Ravens" presser mainly because it's usually the only time of the year you will publicly hear from their owner, Steve Bisciotti.
But on Wednesday morning, Bisciotti didn't have much to say, except that he feels he's got the right personnel headed in the right direction—and that he supports any upgrade decisions his management team may make.
The guy who really cut to the chase was GM Ozzie Newsome, who was basically naming positions he intends to upgrade. It even got personal when Ozzie seemed to be challenging OLB veteran Terrell Suggs to either restructure his contract or hit the road—at least by my inference.
The biggest surprise of the "State of the Ravens" news conference was coach John Harbaugh's announcement that Juan Castillo was remaining with the team.
Castillo will have the same responsibilities but will have a new title. "Juan will be the offensive line coach next year," Harbaugh said Wednesday. "The rest of it is a little bit in flux right now."
With Castillo officially taking that role, this likely means offensive line coach Andy Moeller will be heading elsewhere. As Jamison Hensley wrote last week, he believed the odds were against Castillo's staying.
Castillo was the run-game coordinator, and the Ravens finished with the worst rushing total in their history (83 yards per game) and the worst rushing average in the NFL (3.1 yards per carry).
Harbaugh said it's a mistake to put the blame on Castillo.
“I can understand why Juan is a lightning rod right now because of how we’re set up and structured,” Harbaugh said. “Then we go into the season and we have our worst year ever running the ball, and he’s got that title. That’s on me.”
Whether it's intentional or not, this decision to keep Castillo says the problem with the offensive line is the players, not the coaching staff.
Hehe…point for me… I've been saying that all along, and got hammered for it by Ravens fans who frequent the NFL.com site…
When Jamison Hensley asked Ozzie Newsome whether Terrell Suggs would definitely be back next season, it was almost like Newsome was speaking directly to the six-time Pro Bowl linebacker.
Here was the message: Suggs should consider a contract extension or he could end up on another team like Anquan Boldin.
Newsome's noncommittal response in regard to Suggs' future was the biggest headline to come from the "State of the Ravens" news conference Wednesday. The Ravens are going to play hardball with their players again, and Suggs shouldn't think this is a hollow threat. Not only did the Ravens trade Boldin last year, they also let safety Ed Reed — the third-best player in team history — go elsewhere because they refused to overpay for him.
"If I were Suggs, I wouldn't test the Ravens to see if they're bluffing. The Ravens have every right to approach Suggs about reworking his deal. Baltimore paid Suggs $6.4 million this year and got only half of their money's worth. " — Jamison Hensley, ESPN.com
Suggs came to training camp in the best shape of his career. It showed when he had nine sacks in his first eight games. But he picked up weight in the second half of the season (which is why he had a reduced number of snaps), and that was reflected in his play. Suggs recorded 20 tackles and one sack in his final eight games.
Team officials indicated that Suggs will be a topic of discussion next week, when they meet at owner Steve Bisciotti's home to address personnel moves. But the Ravens gave the strong impression that they don't want Suggs at his current $12.4 million salary-cap number. You can lump defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (with a $16 million cap number) in this group as well.
“We have guys that are heading into the last year of their contract," Newsome said. "We have a history of being able to get good deals done with guys heading into that last year. I don’t think we’ll embark on doing any more restructuring, but we will probably look at doing some extensions.”
Ozzie also specifically targeted the center position, the safety position, and the wide receiver position—all of which he intends to upgrade. He said he wants a guy whom Joe Flacco can go to on 3rd-and-7, a possession receiver who can be counted upon to make a big play.
Anquan Boldin was that guy in 2012. Ozzie wouldn't pay what Anquan wanted for 2013. Ozzie traded him to the 49ers. Sometimes I wonder if Ozzie regrets that move. I'm pretty sure Joe Flacco does…
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