Ozzie newsome rarely speaks to the media, he generally has a end of season “state of the Ravens” press conference, he speaks after each day of the draft, and he speaks at the start of training camp. thats pretty much it. Ozzie always has interesting things to say and he is always worth listening to when he speaks.
Ozzie effectively ended any Mike Wallace to the Ravens rumors in his combine presser today. here is some highlights of what he said…
-When you sign an RFA, they Player and agent have all the leverage in negotiations, that means it is much harder to get a contract that is a value for the team.
-First round picks are more valuable than almost any player
-with the Rookie pay scale in the new CBA, it is impossible to get good value with any RFA signing.
he ended the discussion by saying
“But then again, i never know what im going to do when i wake up tomorrow”
it was worth a good laugh. here are some other notes from his presser.
-Ed Reed is officially preparing to play in 2012. that sound you just heard was a collective sigh of relief by about 2 million Ravens fans.
-When asked about Alshon Jeffery he said, if there was a WR on the board at 29 that he thought would make the team better and help them win games, he would pull the trigger.
-he Compared the Alabama defense to the Ravens 2000 defense.
-When asked about Dont’a Hightower, he quickly changed the subject back to Alabama defense as a whole. maybe im looking to much into this but Ozzie deflected questions about Jimmy smith last year and Terrence Cody the year before.
–he very subtly called Mark Barron a “ball hawking safety”, i thought he was talking about Robert Lester for a second but then he said all the players he just mentioned were in the draft(he didnt mention anybody by name).
-no questions about vontaze Burfict which surprised me.
– Ozzie said he will meet with Dominique Foxworth on thursday to discuss his future, would comment directly on it but he indicated that he might be leaning towards retirement.
Here are some other general notes about the combine
-RGIII measured in at 6′ 2 3/8″ which is perfect height for him, and increases the chances that the browns would trade up for him.
-Justin Blackmon will NOT run the 40 tomorrow because he tweaked his hamstring. that almost ends the possibility that he will be in the AFC north.
-Alshon Jeffery came in facing rumors that he weighed upwards of 250 lbs. and was in terrible shape. he weighed in officially at 216 and looked fantastic. if he runs a solid 40 time i cant imagine he would last until 29 for the Ravens.
-Jeff Fisher almost blatantly said that the Rams would trade the number 2 pick(surprise).
-The Dolphins and Chiefs each won their coin tosses to decide draft position. meaning that the draft order is officially set.