Peter King is another hater. The Ravens would be crazy to not go into camp with McNair on the roster competing for the starting job.
Cutting him now, or anytime before June 1 is flat out stupid. Anyone suggesting that does not have any idea what they are talking about from a football or finacial perspective. Common sense, common courtesy and the salary cap rules make keeping McNair on the roster the right thing to do. He is worth a whole lot more to the team than the salary cap space cutting him would create even after June 1. Even if they have to put him on the PUP list and IR, that saves them more space vs the salary cap than cutting him does. Look it up, then shut up about McNair already and see what he can do in mini camp at least before you have another hissy fit.

The options of binging another vet QB in to compete for the starting job will be at the sake of Boller or Troy Smith getting snaps not McNair, and therefore don't make much sense either.

The Ravens may want to draft a qb at some point, but that has nothing to do with McNair and next season. Hopefully he will be willing to take a paycut that can be earned back with incentives.

@Jeremiah

I appreciate your love for McNair, as I think he may have more in the tank than previously thought.

However, there is no way the Ravens can make it through the offseason without droppin McNair's contract. This and the fact that Troy Smith is now a better qb than Mcnair, means the Ravens should drop Mcnair, start Troy, sign Lito Sheppard, and draft another RB.

Draft another RB? Where did THAT come from? Sorry, we have too many already.

What kind of incentive clauses would be in a Steve McNair contract? Stay healthy for more than half of a season? Run for more than 10 yards in a game without pulling something? Having more touchdowns than fumbles in one game?

Whatever it takes to preserve the most salary cap space is what we need to do with McNair. If that means cut him now, after June 1, or keep him on the roster...whatever makes the most FINANCIAL sense, that is what we should do. If we need to trade him for a 7th round pick, that's what we should do. But by no means should McNair be holding an inflated football in any mini-camp or practice situation, no less an actual game.

Justin, I am a McNair fan, but will be the first pesrson calling for him to go on the PUP list if he does not look good in mini camp. Like I said, that will actually allow the Ravens to use his full cap amount on replacements when they put him on IR instead of half of it now and the other half next year.

I also don't want him on the roster if he is not going to be the starter, but I realise the best thing to do is give him a shot, then put him on IR if he does not look good. Cutting him anytime before June 1 of next year, is just not worth the cap savings though. It looks like he is working hard, and if he is healthy, he is by far the best option to start, not just because he is under contract, but because he knows how to play and has proven it year in and year out. Playing poorly in 6 games while hurt last year does not undo his entire legacy or diminish his value to the point that it is better to eat the cap space instead of keep him around in some capacity.

What part of that don't you understand or agree with?

I wouldn't mind drafting another RB, Musa Smith will be a free agent so we would likely lose him. We rarely seem to use Anderson, don't know what the point was in getting him and remember that McGahee has a bit of an injury history. If the Ravens drafted a guy in like the 4th round, maybe Ray's little brother Keon Lattimore or the other UMD RB, Lance Ball, I wouldn't mind that at all.

As for McNair, as much as I hate Peter King I feel that McNair should be released. If not released, then take a huge paycut and see what if he can do anything in mini camp.

Anderson is getting old and Musa will probably be gone next year unless he signs a very very reasonable contract. We probably do need a RB behind McGahee and Ross.
Does anyone think Ross might get more carries this year?

"the fact that troy smith is now better than mc nair"? did i read that right? you are realllllly reaching with that statement.
the guy played a few meaningless games at the end of season versus mediocre teams. i hardly think you can put him ahead of a co mvp vet like mc nair, banged up or not. dont be so quick to forget the 06 season. i GAURENTEE he beats out all other qbs in training camp.

o by the way, irrelevant but whats going on with bj sams? before the injuries he was the devin hester of the nfl

Not to take anything away from B.J. Sams, but he wasn't even the Jermaine Lewis of the NFL. Devin Hester is the most dangerous kick returner in the history of the NFL. But we still love you B.J.

I used to be the biggest McNair fan, when he was a Titan. He had an average-to-above-average '06 season, but our defense pretty much carried us that year, and McNair missed several games that year with injuries also. But he still turned the ball over, even then, in key situations, though maybe not as bad as he did in '07. Smith hasn't shown a tendency to do that in his career, and that is the most destructive part of any quarterback's game. McNair can barely hit his receivers more than 10-15 yards down the field anymore, while Smith throws a great deep ball, and he can definitely scramble better than McNair at this point of his career.
McNair has had a great career, and he
is a fighter, but he will only lead us to more turnovers and kill our defensive advantage with them. I'd rather have Trent Dilfer in there throwing his 140 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT than McNair's 230 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT, 2 fumbles. But that's just me, since I like to see us win, and we win with DEFENSE.

Both Dilfer and Peyton Manning had 6 interception games this season Cody. Turnovers happen in bunches sometimes. It was almost comical how the ball would always seem to pop out, and it was not just McNair. The rash of fumbles really made me question what type of ball securty drills they were running in practice.

McNair is going to have to prove it to the new coaches, but I think he will. I feel you on Troy Smith, but let him beat old man McNair out first. Boller may even have some key snaps this season. The majority of teams had to use 3 QBs last year. We have 3 and may also want to draft a QB, but will most likely just grab a free agent rookie for the practice squad.

I like Cory Ross a lot. I was arguing hard for him to be the 3rd down back in the preseason. I also liked him as a KR, just not with punts. The guy reminds me a lot of Mo Jones-Drew. He may not be quite as stout as he is but he is like a poor man's Barry Sanders and could be our next Priest Holmes. I also like both MD backs and could see drafting Ball or Keyon in the 5th-6th rd range.

Keyon may beast out though in the combine after training with Ray. He was looking like Lou Ferigno under his T shirt in Hawaii.

BJ Sams is a quality return man, but always gets hurt, and never makes it all the way to the endzone. He just is not fast enough, and seeks out the sideline. He will have a job, but not here. Hester is better than Deion, that was a questionable comparison. Are you BJs cousin?

You would hope that a veteran like McNair wouldn't need "ball security" drills to know how to hold on to the ball. Also, our line isn't going to be fixed overnight, and the only QB that we have who can move around in and out of the pocket is Smith...hopefully he can roll out and possibly learn to throw the ball away in the situations where Boller and McNair would take sacks, fumble, or force throws. Just a thought.

I think our RB situation is pretty secure at the moment, so long as McGahee doesn't suffer another crushing injury. Ross, Musa, and Anderson are all still on the roster, right? How many RB's are you wanting us to keep on the roster?

I think Musa and Mike are walking. They stashed PJ Daniels on IR last year, and Musa is a FA and Anderson is over paid and under used.

I figure Willis, Ross, and 1 or 2 more Daniels, draft pick or rookie free agent.

McNair has not been a turnover machine his entire career like Boller has. There were 2 or 3 rookies in front of him, and he was hurt. Most of the fumbles were from getting hit from behind sooner than he expected, both becuse of bad blocking and lack of speed and mobility on a bad groin. I doubt the fumbles continue if he is healthy, in 06 we had the fewest turnovers and sacks in the NFL because of him.

The type of ball security drills I am talking about should be done by every team all the time. The starting QB does not need guys slapping at the ball randomly I guess, but he should be practicing with cold and wet conditions on occasion. They always fumbled way too much in bad weather, and were always bad in the rain.
There was too much QB coddling by Billick. I never saw him coach McNair up, and he did not seem to be getting through to Boller. McCarthy had no trouble coaching Favre like a normal coach/ QB relationship, and hopefully the guys get a little more hands on coaching and actually look at photos and stuff on the sidelines instead of staring off into space while the defense tries to make up for a turnover fest.

That is the number 1 stat indicator of a winning or losing team. I doubt the new coach will tolerate the fumbles and bumbles without at least benching someone or getting in thier face.

Not to mention the penalties. People don't make a big enough deal out of us being the most penalized team in the NFL. I heard Billick respond to a question about the constant penalties on his radio/tv show...he basically said there's nothing he can do about it, it's just part of the game. That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard...it's called "holding people accountable", i.e. "having control of your team". I don't know a lot about Cam Cameron's coaching style/philosophy, but I hope he and Harbaugh really stress avoiding false start/holding penalties, because 2nd and 15's and 3rd and 20's equate to points off the board.

Something else that I haven't heard addressed is that all 3 qb's on the roster are going to have to learn a new system, and some guys pick those things up quicker than others...that should have a huge affect on the training camp battle, shouldn't it? I haven't really heard this addressed. Some of our guys might not realize that you're allowed to target a receiver more than 20 yards down the field.

And one last thing...as most people will tell you, any QB can throw completitions with a solid line in front of him, (our line was much better in '06 than it was last year, which is why McNair didn't struggle as much probably) but my problem is that when McNair and Boller are faced with pressure, they either take a sack and fumble, or force a throw and get picked. Now maybe Smith have the same problems, but he didn't really turn the ball over a lot at OSU, and he only forced a few throws that I saw in the games he played for us. But at least he had an excuse...he was a rookie! Hey, here's a thought...let's solidify our line so we don't have to find out which guy is the most turnover prone when under tremendous pressure. Any takers?

Idont think Sheppard is such a great idea at five nine. Most WR in the div are just too tall for a small corner, as well as he's played in Philly. 2short, I say. Plus, there are excellent CBs in this draft.
Draft a RB? I'd like to see more outta Daniels. Aint too high on Anderson.
QB? Who knows what will happen around Matt Ryan and clearer pictures of Flacco and Henne.
But cutting McNair would be a total financial waste I assume.