McNair Could Mask Many of Ravens' Problems

The success of the Baltimore Ravens' offseason maneuvering is still to be determined. It depends on whether the team obtains Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair, and when.

Few, if any, teams in the NFL were more disappointing last season than the Ravens, who looked like a legitimate contender after signing two former Titans standouts, wide receiver Derrick Mason and cornerback Samari Rolle, as free agents, but stumbled to a 6-10 record that probably would have cost Coach Brian Billick his job if there hadn't been such an underwhelming pool of potential replacements.

Blaming the Ravens' shortcomings on the play of quarterback Kyle Boller has been done and overdone. He certainly was not the team's only problem. But good quarterbacking can cover a team's flaws and bad quarterbacking exaggerates them, and Boller has done little in his three-year NFL career to cover any of the Ravens' flaws. He was the league's 29th-ranked passer last season with a rating of 71.8 -- and that actually is higher than his career passer rating of 69.2.

He had two terrific games near the end of the season, totaling six touchdown passes and only one interception in wins over the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. But was that a sign of true progress, or just another tease? He finished with a two-interception dud in a season-ending loss at Cleveland that left the Ravens winless on the road.

Billick has stood firmly behind Boller during the young quarterback's time in Baltimore. But now Billick's job is on the line, and it's doubtful that he wants to risk his employment on this being Boller's breakthrough season. Getting McNair wouldn't solve all the Ravens' problems. His best days, after all, are behind him, and staying healthy over an entire season has been a virtually impossible task for him in recent years. But his experience would mask some of the Ravens' deficiencies, and he probably could get the club back into the playoff-contending mix.

It's highly likely that McNair will end up in Baltimore, even though he's still on the Titans' roster. The relationship between McNair and the Titans probably cannot be repaired, and the team likely will trade or release him at some point. McNair's contract with the Titans pays him a salary of $9 million next season and counts $23.46 million against the salary cap.

The Titans have not been successful in renegotiating the contract with McNair and his agent, Bus Cook, and the two sides have been at odds since the club barred him from participating in offseason workouts at the team's training facility, fearing that McNair might suffer an injury that could leave the organization liable for his full salary next season.

That produced a grievance by the NFL Players Association, which wants an arbitrator to order the Titans to release McNair or allow him into their facility to participate in workouts. A hearing is scheduled for next week. The Titans, seeking to make the hearing unnecessary, tried to trade McNair to the Ravens on draft weekend. Cook, with the Titans' permission, worked out a new contract with the Ravens, one that reportedly would pay McNair an $11 million signing bonus and a $1 million salary next season. But the trade wasn't completed because the Titans wanted a fourth-round draft pick and the Ravens were offering only a fifth-round choice.

Titans officials since then have described the trade talks with the Ravens as dead. But that could change at any moment. The next move belongs to the Ravens. They could wait for the Titans to release McNair, which Tennessee will need to do at some point to clear salary cap space to sign its draft selections. If the Titans want to sign free agent cornerback Ty Law, they'd probably have to release McNair sooner rather than later.

But can the Ravens afford to risk waiting too much longer? They need to give their would-be new starting quarterback time to learn their offense and get comfortable with his new coaches and teammates. So perhaps the Ravens should seriously consider parting with a draft pick to the Titans' liking and getting McNair in the fold as soon as possible.

Otherwise, the Ravens have had a solid offseason. They signed defensive end Trevor Pryce to a five-year, $25 million contract, including $10 million in guaranteed money, after he was released by the Denver Broncos. They added another player who'd been cut by Denver, tailback Mike Anderson, with a four-year, $8 million deal. That move nearly led to Jamal Lewis being Anderson's replacement in Denver, but the Ravens hustled to re-sign Lewis and he'll spend at least one more season in Baltimore, splitting carries with Anderson.

The Ravens got space-eating defensive tackle Haloti Ngata with the 12th overall selection in the draft. He'll be the sort of blocker-occupying player that middle linebacker Ray Lewis wants in front of him, giving Lewis no one but himself to blame if his level of play continues to deteriorate.