Past Raven Notes

Past Raven Notes Past Raven "Notes"

4/30/97 Bad News on the Ravens Front - Wally Williams has torn his achilles tendon while working out at the Ravens Complex in Owings Mills. Williams had been training hard during the entire off-season to get ready for his new role as starting center. This could be potentially devastating for the Ravens who drafted for defense this year, with only a couple of players taken on the offensive side of the ball. Fortunately the injury occured early in the season, and Wally may return in October. This also gives the Ravens time to go out on the Free Agent Market and pick up another center in the mean time. Wally is expected to be out for 6 months, but the rehab could be longer or shorter depending on how things heal.

4/25/97 Official: Tony "Goose" Siragusa has signed with the Ravens for a reported $6.1 Million contract and a $1.7 Million signing bonus. The Goose's girth will help sure up the middle on runs as he usually requires double teams to keep him contained. This will allow our core of speedy new linebackers to have clean shots at running backs out of the backfield. The Ravens now have a legitimate front 4, and after this year the linebacking core will have gained enough experience to propell this team into the future. It's been a great week to be a Raven Fan.

4/20/97 Ravens Draft Highlights- Well Raven Fans... Draft Day has come and gone, and we couldn't have asked for a better draft if we had hand picked them. The Ravens Draft was picked by many of the experts as either the best draft, or one of the top 3 by all of the major sports analysts. This Organization has done nothing but great things as far as the selection of player personnel since they arrived in Baltimore. Long gone are the days of Belichick and Lombardi making one bad decision after another. For the past two years Ozzie Newsome, Ted Marchibroda and the staff have made great choices as far as football ability and overall character. More and more, this Ravens Team is starting to be molded in the eyes of Baltimore Football, and the ghosts of that other city are beginning to fade.

The Ravens decided to hold onto the number 4 slot and Draft Peter Boulware. While he played Defensive End at Florida State, he will be used as a Linebacker on 1st and second downs, and as a rush lineman on passing downs. He will be positioned anywhere on the Defensive Line to cause havoc in opposing quarterback's backfields. Boulware is picked to be a star in the near future. He's got tremendous athletic ability and an outstanding characther. Just like Jonathan Ogden, he will make a fine addition to the Baltimore community. In the second round we were extremely fortunate to get Jamie Sharper of Virginia who was picked by most experts to be gone by the middle of the first round. Our other second round pick was also considered a "steal" by most. Kim Herring, as well as the other selections, is expected to step right in and help the Ravens Defense which was last in the NFL last season. According to "Draft Guru" Mel Kiper, one of the biggest steals of the draft was the Ravens signing of Tyrus McCloud- Linbacker from Louisville that the Ravens drafted with their extra 4th round pick which they received from Dallas. To see which other players the Ravens signed, head to the Ravens 1997 Draft Page. Congratulations to the Ravens Staff on a heck of a Draft. I wish it were August today...

4/15/97- Draft Day Less than a Week Away - We're quickly approaching the big day. The Ravens have got the 4th pick in this years draft, and are still undecided as to whether they're going to trade down, or take Peter Boulware (DE) at the 4 spot. If the Ravens sign Boulware, they'll have a big impact player who's projected to do great things in this league. The only problem is cap room. A "4" pick will cost a lot of money up front- and the Ravens don't have much. This would mean that signing Blackmon or Siragusa would be put in jeapordy, and the depth on this team would be at a minimum for the second year in a row. On the other hand, we'd be looking pretty strong for the future, especially with an estimated $10 million of freed-up money next year due to a new TV contract and finally being rid of "Cut" players like Andre Rison and Leroy Hoard.

The Raven could also elect to trade down and hope that they could still get one of the Linebackers that they are interested in- Dwayne Rudd of Alabama, James Farrior of Virginia, and Jamie Sharper also of Virginia. Rudd(an estimated 7 pick) and Farrior(est. 9 pick) are closely matched, and Sharper is a little farther down the list (expected to be picked about 13th.) If the Ravens trade down they'll be better off this year, but if they take Boulware, they'll be better off in the long Run. Decisions, Decisions...

4/7/97- Ravens sign Michael McCrary - The Ravens have agreed in principle with Seattle Seahawk's former Defensive End Michael McCrary. Last year he compiled 13 1/2 sacks and emerged as one of the front runners of Defensive Ends in the free agent market. His first couple of years at Seattle were spent mostly as a reserve. He got a break last year when their DE went down with an injury. He compiled all of his sack totals in the last 8 games of the '96 season. At first McCrary seemed to be out of the Ravens price range as he was asking $3 million/year, but he dropped his asking price and the Ravens will be getting a good deal at about $2 million per year for 3 years. McCrary should be a great addition to the Ravens front four. He's apparantly an excitable player and a great locker room presence. Also: Brock Marion resigns with Dallas after standing on the podium to sign with the Ravens less than a month ago. Marion failed his physical and the Ravens wanted to put some restrictive clauses in his contract that would have payed him for the games that he played. This was probably a good move on the Ravens part, but unfortunately Marion didn't see it that way. Only time will tell if he plays up to par this year.

Also: The Ravens are in "heavy" negotiations with Tony Siragusa (DT of the Indianapolis Colts.) With Siragusa, we'd definitely have a formidable front four, and be well on our way to Revamping our pitiful Defense of '96.

3/27/97- Ravens Get Compensated for Free Agent losses - The Ravens will be receiving at least 3 extra draft picks in the later rounds of this years draft as compensation for losing a large number of free-agents from the 1995 team. The Ravens have also signed Rondell Jones (special teams/safety from the Broncos) and re-signed Safety Stevon Moore who agreed to take a pay cut. Reports also have the Ravens close to signing a restructured contract with Brock Marion after he failed his physical last week. The Ravens are also negotiating with Defensive End Michael Bankston (Arizona Cardinals), and Robert Blackmon (Safety from Seattle) if things don't work out with Brock Marion.