My initial reaction, consistent with some of my previous comments, is one of anger -- anger that the Ravens appear to be trying to take the "low road/low ball" strategy with a player who demonstrated on the field that he deserves a legitimate, bona fide offer from the club. However, there actually could be a "fairness" to both sides in this deal, assuming the Ravens are as smart as they think they are and don't end up losing Ovie in the process.

Since there seems to be a higher degree of subjectivity when it comes to assessing how much a FB is worth (i.e. how much is he worth to YOUR TEAM?, etc.), maybe in the long run this thing will pan out ok. By that I mean Ovie will have an opportunity to see how much the other teams feel he's "worth", and the Ravens can sit back and wait. If it ends up being less, the Ravens win and at least Ovie didn't get short changed too badly. If it's more, then the Ravens have the opportunity (a la Chester Taylor a couple of years ago) to match the offer.

And finally, if another team wants to pay Ovie more than the Ravens want to pay him, Ovie wins, and the Ravens get to go back to square one all over again. That, to me, is the worst case scenario. But since there are two other more positive scenarios, I have to admit that, overall, it could be worse.

Mike,
I want to reiterate something that you said a few weeks back regarding players like Mughelli (the lesser known players.) You said, "that the Ravens need to start showing those players that have stepped up, more appreciation by giving them contracts and not allowing them to flounder around in free agency". I really wish that the powers that be in the Raven Org. would start reading some of these blogs, they really could gleen a lot from them.

That's because there's a guy named Brian Leonard in this year's draft. We're gonna draft him.

This makes me nervous. Mughelli just has seemed to turn the corner and become a better pass-catching threat out of the backfield. Like most fans, I don't always pay enough attention to run-blocking, but I thought he was regarded as above-average.

You have to Resign this guy. He was a nice little weapon out of the backfield. He had better hands then Jamal.(doesnt take much though) Also every team that wants to run North South needs a fullback. If the team ends up keeping Jamal it only helps him out, since they already had a year together. I still would like to see a Running Back get picked up in the Draft. Why not have a fullback that seems to be consistant and have good hands who can be a weapon out of the backfield and a bruiser taken out linebackers.

Sean:

I like Brian Leonard from Rutgers, but he's not a true fullback, and he's not a true halfback -- he's sort of a "tweener". That's not necessarily a bad thing, but no matter how good he is, it takes a while to learn the Ravens running system. So why reinvent the wheel if you don't have to? Wouldn't you rather have Blalock and Ovie, rather than just Leonard?

Does anyone know how much (if any) 'dead money' the Ravens have on their salary cap? Could that be the causing the cap problems they're having now?

If Sean is right and the Ravens can draft Brian Leonard from Rutgers, then they may as well do it. I'm afraid of a team over haul, maybe this is the fine-tuning we expected Ozzie to do.

I'd like to see Ovie come back, as well as Jamal. They started to click together a little bit at the end of the season, and as a result, Jamal was starting to see some daylight and run with a little of the old power. I think the chemistry between these two guys may be a bigger factor than it might be on other teams because of the kind of offensive line we have. They've improved much in pass protection, but still lack the quickness to get out in front of Jamal to spring him. I think Ovie can do that for him. He's also shown that he can catch the ball out of the backfield and run with a little power himself after he catches it. I'd like to see the two of them have another shot together. At 27-28, Jamal should still have some left in the tank.

Wow. I'm still in shock over the deal Ovie got with Atlanta. Every comment I've read on the Sun's Ravens message board says that $3 million/year, and a $5 million signing bonus was too much for a full back. I don't know. All I know is that I'll miss Oive, and I wish him all the best.