I may be one of few J. Lewis fans, but I hope we keep this guy. I believe he still has at least 4 - 5 good years left in him. You look at Tiki, Shawn Alexander & E. James. They're his age or older and still puttin big numbers. I don't know who the blame falls more on the O-line or the RB, but we pass blocked pretty damn well this year and Jamal may not have that burst, but I saw the hunger back in him this season. I'm officailly starting the please keep Jamal Lewis campaign. Peace from the Middle East.

Settle down my fellow Ravens fans. It's the business. We'll probably end up keeping both JaLew and A.D. A lot of teams around the league are letting good players touch the free agent market with every intent of signing them any way.

If I had a choice I'de rather keep Jamal. I think the Ravens defense can survive with out A.D. much better than the offense can with out JaLew.

Is this Jamal Lewis appreciation day or something? Is everyone wearing the #31 jersey and talking about their fondest memories while drinking "Jamal Lewis" flavored Kool Aid?

Yes, some running backs have held up well in the NFL and are still putting up big numbers after five to seven seasons. Jamal however is not. He was completly healthy this year and yet he looked timid and stutter stepped more often then not. He never overpowered Linebackers and DBs the way he did in previous years. I never once saw him "wear down" a defense in the 4th quarter in '06. And don't try to blame Jamal's inefficency on the O-Line. Yes the line had its share of problems this year, but Mike Anderson and Musa Smith looked pretty good when they got their carries. There were countless times when there were huge holes opened up for Jamal yet he either missed them or didn't hit them with authority. To top it off he's not the best team player. Everytime Jamal didn't get his carries or the running game had to be abandoned in order to play catch up he whined to the media about it.

In my opinion Jamal should be charegd with theft after he stole that money from the Ravens last year. The moving vans can't come soon enough......

I can't believe this. Why would we want to keep Jamal? He's washed up. For the last two years, our running games been a joke. The reasons for that are that our line can no longer run block, and on the few times there is a hole, Jamal is too slow to hit it. Dump him, and lets get some fresh legs in the backfield.

The thing about resigning Adalius Thomas is that it's not like he's your run-of-the-mill OLB. The man is probably the only person, past or present, in the NFL that can play ALL ELEVEN defensive spots, and thrive at all of those spots. He's only getting better with age, while Jamal Lewis is only getting worse. Sure 2004 and 2005 could be blamed on offseason troubles like prison and injuries, but that still doesn't explain the drop he's had. How does the man go from a 2100-yard season to a string of 1000s or less? Jim Fassel is a big part of it, and I'm sure you guys heard me cheering all the way from Missouri when he was fired, but an even bigger part of it is that Jamal Lewis just isn't the player he used to be. He's more expendable than Adalius Thomas.

Adios AD. Sadly.

A running back is far easier to replace through the draft. The Ravens would be wise to let Jamal Lewis go. He has never regained the level of performance he had from 2000-03. Father time is not kind to pro athletes, but to running backs he's perhaps even more cruel.

I won't argue J. Lewis' past two year stats, but I still believe he has some good years left. If he stays or goes, he has that hunger back and he's going 1500yds + next season. And as you all know by now, A. Thomas was not franchised. I'm disappointed but after reading M. Preston's article, I see why we didn't Franchise him. Once again, Peace From The Middle East!

Regarding your article today. If cutting J. Lewis, Mulitalo, and Flynn would allow us to keep AD, then by all means, start cutting. Thomas is the best defensive player we have and shows no signs of slowing down. The previous three players have already slowed down to the point of not being effective. It is a sad day indeed to see us lose Thomas, but I wish him the best.

The problem is, whenever The Ravens get a good team that works, we let our good players go. For instance, when we won the Superbowl, that team right there should have been kept together at least one more year! What in the world is going on and where is all the common sense. Letting these two go will be a big blow to the team as a whole. AD is a wonderfully skilled player, he is consistant and seems like he enjoys playing the game. Jamal is a wonderful player also, lets not forget that when he ran and tied the record, everyone was signing the Jamal praises and now that he is having a rough time we are ready to throw him to the dogs. If we are fans, lets be fans! Stop jumping on the "I am playing good right now" bandwagon. Come on people let's back our team. Good, Bad or Indifferent!!!!!!!

IN OZZIE WE SHALL TRUST.... listen guys. we have let will demps, jamie sharper, ed hartwell, starks, and baxter all go and we have been fine... ozzie knows what hes doing... we need an OT whether or not we resign pashos and we need cap room to do that and sign draft picks (RB, OLB, CB) so trust ozzie... he will sign johnson and we also have cody. he will also prob draft one and see how that goes... he knows what hes doing so dont doubt him. the guy wont be as good as adalius but he will be good enough for our D to stay excellent. we kept rex so just trust ozzie... we will be alright without him.

You wrote today: "Signing him to a long-term deal probably would have forced the Ravens to cut a veteran like center Mike Flynn, guard Edwin Mulitalo or running back Jamal Lewis. That's too steep a price to keep one player."

I, respectfully, disagree cutting 1 of those 3 to franchise Thomas seems like a cheap price to pay. Otherwise, we're "cutting" AD to keep Flynn, Mulitalo, & Lewis.

I don’t doubt that the Ravens will move on without AT. But the Ravens defense is not as good today as it was on January 13. Losing a player of AT’s caliber is going to produce repercussions. Lets just hope AT signs with an NFC team and doesn’t team up with a Marvin Lewis or Bill Belichek.

You know, all this "In Ozzie we trust" stuff is very interesting. But maybe you need to find a new religion. Or at least a new mantra. Newsome is clearly fallible; Billick is no Belichick; and Bisciotti is no Modell. Welcome to the Ravens, 2007.

I Think That We Should Be Caliing The Chicago Bears Right Now And Asking Them If They Would Take Jamal Lewis And One Of The 4th Round Picks We Are Going To Recieve This Year For Thomas Jones.Although He Is 1 Year Older Than Jamal At 28 He Has Had 2 Really Good Seasons In A Row Even Though He Split Carries With Cedric Benson Last Year.He Has Apperantly Asked For A Trade And News People In Chicago Say The Bears Are Going To Accomidate Him.I Think If We Can Get Him It Would Be A Big Upgrade.He Is A Power Back With More Speed Than Jamal And Mike Anderson Would Come In And Pound It In When Jones Is On The Bench.Tell Me What You Think Preston

Letting Thomas go if it happenes it is a huge mistake. They should cut Ray Ray use the left over money to sign AD. Thomas is a high character guy who has done nothing to tarnish the image of the NFL the Ravens or Bmore. Can Ray Ray say that?

I'm bewildered by a couple of things. First, this ideology that its more important to keep Flynn, Muitallo and Twinkle Toes (Jamal) then to resign AT. Am I missing something? Its been well documented that Flynn and Muitallo will be either cut or asked to take a reduced role in the offense and that Twinkle Toes might not be back. So why not cut to the chase now, save some cap money in order to diminish the impending firesale next year, resign AT regardless if its a big contract or not, and most importantly keep AT from signing with one of the Ravens' rivals. Wouldn't this scenario be just a little bit better then watching our offensive line get torched again and Twinkle Toes' infamous two yard runs?

Secondly, can someone explain this philosophy that it might be better to keep Twinkle Toes then rely on Mike Anderson because " Anderson had a limited role in the offense last year"? So Mike Anderson, a better than average running back who proved himself in Denver didn't take a beating last year. Isn't that a good thing? I say cut Twinkle Toes, draft a RB in the second or third round and have him spell Anderson. Unless of course Ozzie wants to put his faith in Musa Smith who seems to get hurt everytime he sees a football field.

Nice idea Jeff. And as far as I know, Jones has never been seriously injured, while Lewis runs on two surgically-reconstructed knees.

Hey Tammi, what has Jamal done for us lately? 'Nuff said.

One of the very best to every lace them up in the Ravens era, one of the best quality guys of any era, period. We'll really miss you AD, Good luck, please stay out of the AFC North!! Enough said!