Evan Mathis to stay in Baltimore Tonight
Free Agent left Gaurd Evan Mathis was in team facilities today in Baltimore before going to dinner with the Ravens Brass. no deal is expected to be signed tonight, but Mathis isnt leaving town yet. According to reports, Mathis will stay the night in Baltimore and then return to 1 winning drive in the morning for another meeting. I would expect a deal(or a lack of a deal) to be announced fairly early tomorrow because Tackle Eric Winston will be arriving in Baltimore tomorrow afternoon for a visit. Another interesting angle on Mathis, he spent 2 years playing C as well so he brings a lot of versatility to the table.
Winston being in town for a visit became even more strange earlier today when news arrived that the Ravens were preparing to pick up Bryant McKinneys roster bonus on saturday($500,000). The speculation before had been that the Ravens were looking to release McKinney and move Oher back to the Left side and replace him with Winston at Right Tackle. With Winston in town and the Ravens keeping McKinney, the only options left are that the team doesnt like Michael Ohers development or is signing Winston as a back up. Neither of those make much sense so we will have to wait and see what happens.
Eddie Royal looks like he is out of the running for the Ravens as he has taken a physical and appears ready to sign with the Chargers this afternoon. there has still been no word on Ted Ginn Jr yet, which likely means that the market is pretty cold for him and he might be pretty cheap once he signs. It also means that there is a STRONG possibility that the Ravens draft a wideout in the first or second round of the draft because they need to add at least 1 more and there is pretty much nothing left in free agency.
The Ravens agreed today to a small 3 year deal with reserve ILB Chavis Williams, he was used mostly on special teams but saw a small amount of action on defense last season. his role could expand quite a bit with the loss of JJ and the likely loss of Jameel McClain to free agency. Williams might be the next player in a long line of Ravens LBs who were undrafted and became solid players.
Speaking of Jameel McClain, he is expected to be one of the first few ILBs to sign once the market breaks for the ILB group. Curtis Lofton is expected to sign with the saints later tonight or early tomorrow. once he signs, the market value will be set and ILBs will start to be signed quickly(6 DEs have signed in the 6 hours since Mario Williams deal was announced, expect a similar rate for ILBS). The glut of linebackers available could drive down McClains value and possibly land him back in Baltimore, but dont count on it. word on the street is that the Chargers, Bills, Colts and Buccaneers are all interested in him and maybe a few other teams as well.