ravens want to put ownes fiasco

smazza · April 30, 2004

behind them

smazza · April 30, 2004

The Baltimore Ravens' offseason revolved around The Move That Wasn't. The club's trade for wide receiver Terrell Owens on March 4 was undone by the settlement 12 days later that placed Owens with the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Ravens were left scrambling to find a wide receiver to upgrade a passing game that ranked last in the league last season.

Ã‚Â

Ozzie Newsome's status as one of the league's top general managers was confirmed when he got the Ravens out of that mess by landing wideout Kevin Johnson in a draft-weekend trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Johnson and Travis Taylor give the team a respectable set of receivers for young quarterback Kyle Boller, and the Johnson trade could be remembered as the move that saved the Ravens' 2004 season. Baltimore will try to build on a 2003 season in which it went 10-6 and won the AFC North title.

"We tend to focus too much in the offseason on, 'Who did you lose and who did you pick up?'" Coach Brian Billick said this week. "There's a third element here: 'Are the players that you have still progressing?'"

The Ravens think they have a group of players that indeed is improving. They were happy to re-sign place kicker Matt Stover, offensive tackle Orlando Brown and backup quarterback Anthony Wright as free agents. Newsome didn't have a first-round draft choice, thanks to last year's trade for Boller, but got wide receiver Devard Darling in the third round to complement Taylor and Johnson.

Club officials say they are confident that they will have tailback Jamal Lewis in the lineup despite his indictment on drug-related charges in Atlanta. Lewis and his attorneys maintain that the charges are without merit. The defense is in capable hands as long as middle linebacker Ray Lewis remains healthy, and the Ravens believe they are close to being a championship contender again after having to tear apart their roster for salary cap reasons soon after their Super Bowl victory in the 2000 season.

"The group we won the championship with, we had a veteran group and we had a number of outside players who came in," Billick said. "If we're fortunate enough to cap this rebuilding with a championship, it will be different because of what we went through, almost from scratch."

Said Newsome: "We imported our leadership [for the Super Bowl-winning team]. This group learned from that group. When we get a chance to win again, these will be truly Baltimore guys. That will be truly special."

For Ravens, Owens Had His Price

Newsome says that Owens actually was willing to report to the Ravens in March -- for a steep price.

"He said, 'If you give me a $22 million signing bonus, I'll come in,'" Newsome said Thursday. "He said, 'You have to buy me.' " Newsome said he warned Billick and new Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti immediately after the club's would-be trade with the San Francisco 49ers about Owens's anti-Ravens stance, but thought that Owens eventually would relent.

"I knew it was going to be tough sledding," Newsome said. "I told that to Steve and Brian. I told them, 'We need to get beyond these feelings.' I thought it would last about a week."