After a weekend hospital scare for partner Karina Smirnoff, Baltimore Ravens WR/KR Jacoby Jones put together his best overall week of the season on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars”. First up was the Argentine Tango, which earned the Super Bowl XLVII hero his first ever perfect score of 30/30.

Later in the show ABC aired interview pieces with many people from Jones’ life, including Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, WR Torrey Smith and former Ravens LB Ray Lewis. He then performed the Lindy Hop, bringing in a score of 29/30 from the judges.

On Tuesday night’s show Jones found out he had advanced to next week’s finals as soap star Ingo Rademacher was eliminated. Also advancing to the finals are Disney Channel star Zendaya Coleman, county singer Kellie Pickler and Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman.

Since the Baltimore Ravens claimed a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII, I’ve found myself asking one particular question in regards to QB Joe Flacco. I’ve probably asked some 15 or 20 NFL analysts who have appeared on “The Reality Check” on WNST that same question.

“Do the Ravens need to put the right playmakers around Flacco to prop him up or should they assume he’s good enough to make lesser players around him better?”

I have probably tended to lean a little bit more to the former. I made my feelings about the team’s decision to trade Anquan Boldin over a desire to save a couple million bucks quite clear. The Ravens however have made it clear at least thus far that they’re operating with a lean to the latter.

The Ravens lost six starters from their Super Bowl winning defense, replacing them with potential starters in Chris Canty, Marcus Spears, Elvis Dumervil, Rolando McClain, Michael Huff and top Draft picks Matt Elam and Arthur Brown. At this time, three starters from their Super Bowl winning offense are currently not on the roster and the Ravens have replaced them with…well…I mean…I guess they DID draft a reserve fullback?

Coming out of the NFL Draft, the Ravens still find themselves particularly thin at receiver. Torrey Smith and his freshly-trimmed locks lead the way with Jacoby Jones, Tandon Doss, David Reed, LaQuan Williams, Deonte Thompson, Tommy Streeter and Aaron Mellette falling in some sort of similar order behind. The Ravens will certainly have high expectations for TE Dennis Pitta (who we might not see back in Baltimore for awhile as he hopes to get a long-term deal) as well as fellow TE Ed Dickson.

This group makes you believe the Ravens are thinking more along the lines of “Joe Flacco is good enough to make these guys better.” It’s not so terribly unthinkable that this group could help the Ravens win a third straight AFC North title. Certainly the New York Giants felt comfortable enough with Eli Manning under center that they were willing to simply elevate Domenik Hixon and some unknown receiver from UMass named Victor Cruz going into the 2011 season. For their troubles, the Giants were rewarded with their second Vince Lombardi Trophy in the Tom Coughlin era.

Returning with this group would inherently mark a belief that Joe Flacco has reached the level where his ability in Jim Caldwell’s offense is enough to make those he throws the football to better. A decision to obtain a veteran WR cut before the start of the season (similar to what the Ravens did with T.J. Houshmandzadeh in 2010) or to deal for a veteran WR (similar to what the Ravens did in 2011 with Lee Evans) or even to add one more current free agent receiver (Brandon Stokley remains on the market?) might mark more of a belief that the team still needs to help prop up their quarterback via more talented offensive weapons.

A similar situation continues to play out at left tackle. 5th round pick Ricky Wagner is unlikely to be of any sort of help this season, meaning the Ravens’ options are Kelechi Osemele, a possible return of Bryant McKinnie and similar late offseason considerations.

The Ravens may well believe Flacco’s quicker release in the Caldwell offense makes the need for a left tackle upgrade less necessary. The team won a Super Bowl with a left tackle who played significantly in only one regular season game. The Super Bowl winning left tackles in the prior three seasons were Jermon Bushrod, Chad Clifton and David Diehl. All were nice players, none Hall of Famers. The quarterbacks they protected for were Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning.

The Ravens made it quite clear that they feel Flacco is in that group, giving him a contract worth $120 million ($52 million guaranteed) this offseason. That decision made the organization’s faith in their sixth year starter evident, but the decisions they’ve made since then have made it even more so apparent.

The roster we see at OTA’s and minicamp in the next month won’t be a direct reflection of the roster that invades Denver September 5th to face the Broncos, but there won’t be many drastic roster changes to be made.

The Ravens won’t be better offensively in 2013 because of the big splash they made in free agency. They won’t be better offensively in 2013 because they drafted a hot shot receiver or mountainous offensive tackle out of the SEC at the back end of the first round.

Instead, they’ll hope to be better offensively in 2013 simply because of how they REALLY spent their money in free agency…their quarterback. They clearly think the guy is ready to make the rest of the group even better.

I guess my question has essentially been answered. The only question moving forward will be whether or not the decision was the right one.

-G

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee was in Baltimore on Friday to settle a bet he made with the city’s mayor on the outcome of the Super Bowl game between the 49ers and Ravens in February.

Lee agreed on a friendly wager with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ahead of the big game in New Orleans on Feb. 3, in which the 49ers fell 34-31.

As the losing mayor, Lee visited the winning city and started his day cooking Maryland blue crabs at Faidley’s Seafood at Lexington Market.

Rawlings-Blake then hosted Lee in a day of service.

The mayors attended a kick-off revitalization event at a vacant lot with Baltimore-based organization Power in Dirt and AmeriCorps, which is a federal community service agency.

Other events scheduled for the day were a repair of a police station, and a tutoring session with the city initiative, “Third Grade Reads,” which trains volunteers to be reading tutors for first-, second-, and third-graders who are reading below grade level.

(Report courtesy of Bay Area News)

It has been 7 weeks. What just happened Baltimore? Where have all our Ravens gone? I’ll tell you what happened, the Baltimore Ravens organization is in mass salary shedding mode. Bisciotti and Newsome are playing the shrewd business man game. They have a product that sells, they have a product at the top of its’ market, they have the upper hand. It’s time to ride the wave and make some cash. While they are on top, why not increase ticket prices, why not renovate the 15 year old stadium with 35 million dollars of upgrades, why not unload salary and dump over-priced contracts? Where are they going to find $120 million dollars to over-pay the Super Bowl QB with a new contract? The time is right for “re-building”, they have an excuse, they  breakdown the championship team and blame it on  ”the salary cap”.

Nice purge Ravens, it’s not the first time you have done this, is it? Well they didn’t really purge in 2001, they just didn’t renew the contract for the leader of the offense, Super Bowl winner, Trent Dilfer. I guess they did learn some lessons from that screw up. This time they kept the QB and are letting 40% of the starters go. Ok, two are retiring. Hey, it might work. Just hard to swallow in such a short turnaround time. And Horribaugh, I know you are just on for the ride, so who is going to drive the bus now? It appears the Ravens Nation and front office need an SOS in the form of a ”Message in the Bottle” – The Police.

My outlook hasn’t changed, I’m old school, you don’t get rid of the people that got you there. The Ravens organization lost me when they let Trent Dilfer go after winning the Super Bowl in 2001. At that time, the possibility existed for the Ravens to create an NFL dynasty with that defense. Ray-Ray in his prime and they had an offensive leader. The Ravens front office blew-it then. And unless the front office can pull the Easter Bunny out of a hat, they have lost me again, with the “roster purge” of 2013.

This whole Salary Cap excuse - not buying it. They are in panic unload mode, they made to many promises they can’t keep, they extended contracts and monies beyond their means, they got lucky with the Super Bowl win. They had two high salary veterans retire and they still were above the salary cap? Oh that’s right they have a new 20 million dollar man. We just won the Super Bowl – time to raise ticket prices. Come on Ravens – who you trying to kid? Ok, you got your quarterback and made him one of the richest NFL players ever. Good move. Now what do you have? Defense is devastated. Offense may survive. Although losing Boldin, was just plain…………..”fixed”. Nice brotherly bet payoff, huh? By the way, I’m calling it now – the San Francisco 49ers with a real head coach – Jim Harbaugh, just won Super Bowl XLVIII.

Offensively, the 20 million dollar/year mans go to wide receiver - is gone. The heart of the offensive line, the veteran center, the man who called the blocking schemes and delivered the ball to the 20 million dollar Flacco, retired. Defensively – the heart and one of the greatest of all-time, Ray Lewis – retired. The inside linebacker who picked up the slack when Ray was out – Dannel Ellerbe – gone to Miami. The defensive end, Paul Krueger, finally coming into his game – gone to the Browns. The smash mouth sticker of the defense, Bernard Pollard – gone to the Titans. The surprisingly reliable defensive back who picked up with the loss of Lardarius Webb – Cary Williams, gone to the Eagles. And finally the artery that fed the heart, the second in command on defense and one of the greatest safeties of all time – Ed Reed – gone to Houston. All were starters – all are gone.

The Ravens could pull this rebuilding, salary restructuring off. Hey, they pulled off the improbable ”Ray-Ray, Last Dance, Super Bowl Run”. Let’s see who they replace these guys with. Elvis Dumervil? Could be a start, even though I think this cat is carrying some excess baggage. Now a new DB in Mike Huff from Oakland. Mike who? We all knew Ray-Ray was done. We figured Birk was on the same boat. And Mr. Two Tickets to the Hospital, Ed Reed………..is one plough-over from a juiced up fullback to be put the DL, for the rest of his career. The loss of Ellerbe and Pollard hurt. The line backing crew is in dire straits. At least “Ngata Chance” is still here! Or will they dump all hope?

Are the Ravens just letting it ride this year? Are they grabbing the cash while they can? Are they really rebuilding? We’re not going to know until November. Let’s also see what they say about the “salary cap” next year, after they have adjusted to the 20 million dollar/year one man contract. Hey, I am a Flacco fan. Always have been, always will be, he’s a leader. I am not a fan of the obnoxious sports salaries and contracts. It has ruined the game. Bottom line – The Ravens won another Super Bowl and that is cool. Watching the exodus of the players that got them there - is not. And “O” yeah, no Ray Lewis next year. Cha, cha, changes……….time to face the strange.

D.I.Y.

Fedman

Two of my absolute favorite people on the face of the planet are WNST.net’s own Luke Jones and Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Cole.

I really mean that. They’re not just two of my favorites in the business, they’re two of my favorites in the world. I love to talk shop with those guys, I love to chat about the world in general with them and I love getting the chance to spend time with them socially.

(This type of statement always leads to a “BUT….”, right? Not exactly this time.)

Both Jason and Luke joined me on “The Reality Check” during the first week of NFL free agency and separately brought up the same word, a specific word that has been repeated to me by a number of callers and e-mailers over the course of the last couple of weeks.

The word is “regression.” If you were playing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the moderator would tell you the word was of latin origin and could be defined as “a trend or shift toward a lower or less perfect state.” Perhaps the word could be used in a sentence along the lines of “After losing the players the Baltimore Ravens have lost thus far, we can expect regression from the team in 2013.”

That was essentially how both guys (and others) used the word over the last few weeks.

(You’re now CERTAIN there’s going to be a “BUT…” coming, aren’t you?)

I had to start every discussion about the term that I’ve had both on-air and off since the offseason began by accepting that Luke, Jason and everyone else who has suggested the Ravens are going to “regress” in 2013 are…well…probably right. I’m sorry. It had to be said.

They’re right because the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2012 and it will be very difficult for them to win the Super Bowl again in 2013. Any scenario that doesn’t involve the Ravens hoisting a third Vince Lombardi Trophy would technically mean they had “regressed” from where they were last season.

(Okay, now it’s time.)

BUT…I was never REALLY willing to accept the notion of “regression” for the Ravens at any point. Sunday’s signing of former Denver Broncos pass rusher Elvis Dumervil re-inforces that belief, but it absolutely did not establish it. I just hope the addition of Dumervil will force others to similarly push aside the notion of “regression” in 2013.

(Continued on Page 2…)

Courtesy of Bovada, (www.Bovada.lv,  Twitter: @BovadaLV).

“A week ago the Super Bowl champs were sitting comfortably at 14-1 to repeat which was in the top 5, now find themselves  at 20-1 and may even drift some more if they keep dumping players without acquiring any significant replacements for them. The Miami Dolphins, who can possibly compete in the AFC East, have been my biggest move dropping from 60-1 to 35-1 and in turn the Jets have jumped up to 60-1. The Seahawks getting Harvin has moved them slightly from 12-1 to 10-1, but am still holding the 49ers as co-Super Bowl favorites alongside the Broncos at 7-1.”

Kevin Bradley, Sports Book Manager, bovada.lv

Odds to win the 2014 Super Bowl XLVIII        

Denver Broncos                        7/1

San Francisco 49ers                  7/1

New England Patriots                15/2

Seattle Seahawks                      10/1

Atlanta Falcons                         12/1

Green Bay Packers                    12/1

Houston Texans                        16/1

New Orleans Saints                   16/1

Baltimore Ravens                      20/1

New York Giants                       20/1

Pittsburgh Steelers                    20/1

Chicago Bears                          25/1

Dallas Cowboys                        25/1

Washington Redskins                25/1

Philadelphia Eagles                   30/1

Cincinnati Bengals                     35/1

Detroit Lions                             35/1

Indianapolis Colts                      35/1

Miami Dolphins                         35/1

San Diego Chargers                  40/1

Kansas City Chiefs                    45/1

Carolina Panthers                      50/1

Minnesota Vikings                     50/1

New York Jets                           60/1

St. Louis Rams                         60/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers             60/1

Cleveland Browns                      75/1

Arizona Cardinals                      100/1

Buffalo Bills                              100/1

Oakland Raiders                        100/1

Tennessee Titans                       100/1

Jacksonville Jaguars                 150/1

I still haven’t been able to stop replaying the events of February 3^rd on my DVR.  I’m still flipping through the newspapers and magazines that flew off shelves in the subsequent days.  When my team, the Baltimore Ravens, wins the Super Bowl I’m going to live with it for a while and savor it…certainly for more than a month.

Hell, I milked Super Bowl XXXV for twelve years.  I still have tremendous memories of the 2000 championship.  That’s the beauty of winning a championship in sports.  It’s something no one can take away.  You hear the players say that a lot.  It’s the same for us fans.  So with the two titles in mind (one fresh and one fairly distant) let’s compare some facets of the two.

Game Site:  XXXV Tampa, XLVII New Orleans.  I can’t really compare the two cities per se because I have been to neither.  I hear good things about both.  As for the venues, I’ve never been one much for domes or artificial turf.  Give me grass stains and a slight breeze any day.  Working lights are preferable too.  Advantage:  XXXV (1-0)

Regular Season:  XXXV 12-4 Wild Card winner in the AFC Central, XLVII 10-6 AFC North Division Champs.  In 2000, the Ravens darted to a 5-1 record before losing three straight and never lost again.  They went 5 games without a TD in October as well.  But they had one of the most dominating defenses of all time.  This season, Baltimore shot out to a 9-2 record against a tough schedule before again losing three straight games.  After beating the Giants in week 16 and clinching the division, they lost a meaningless game in Cincinnati.  It was somewhat of an anti-climactic end to a season that started on all cylinders.  Advantage: XXXV (2-0)

Uniforms:  XXXV all white, XVLII white jersey blank pants.  I have always liked the classic all-white look for an NFL team.  And some grass stains never hurt.  The last few years though, the white top, black pants combo has grown on me.  If there is one team in the NFL that should wear a lot of black it’s the Ravens.  Plus the old white socks with purple and black stripes killed the look in 2000.  Advantage: XLVII (1-2)

Playoff run:  XXXV Denver, at Tennessee, at Oakland.  XVLII Indianapolis, at Denver, at New England.  In 2000, the playoffs came to Baltimore for the first time since 1977.  It was a huge deal and solid performance in beating Denver.  Winning in Tennessee was a blood bath between the NFLs two best teams.  Oakland was almost an afterthought.   This year’s games included Ray’s Last Dance, the Mile High Miracle and the exorcism of the demons (i.e. a certain WR and kicker) in New England.  Advantage:  XLVII (2-2)

Radio announcers:  XXXV  Scott Garceau and Tom Matte.  XLVII  Gerry Sandusky, Stan White and Qadry Ismael.  Garceau was smooth and clean in my book.  He rarely made mistakes and had a great grasp of the game’s intricacies.  Matte was the stereotypical homer but he added the right amount of insight if a bit bumbling at times.  Sandusky has certainly made his mark with “Touchdowwwwwwn Ravens” and “The hay is in the barn!”  but I think the trio can miss things that, to me, seem obvious.  Plus, I don’t see where the two man analyst combo works that well on the radio.  Advantage:  XXXV (3-2)

TV Crew.  XXXV CBS Gumble and Simms, XLVII CBS Nantz and Simms.  I think both play-by-play guys did admirable jobs.  Simms is solid but pulls out the “Golly Card” or the “Shucks Card” a bit too much.  I have major beef with the Gumble/Simms pairing though.  When Jamal Lewis scored a TD late in XXXV, the play was reviewed at the request of the Giants.  If you remember, he fumbled the ball forward as he crossed the plain.  It was debatable whether he got in or not.  Not debatable was the fact that Qadry Ismael scooped up the ball in the end zone.  It was going to be a TD either way.  No one ever mentioned that.  To this day, I haven’t heard anyone address that.  But that oversight could be offset by Simms’ constant gushing over Colin Kaepernick this year.  Advantage:  Push

Halftime Show:  XXXV Britney Spears and guests, XLVII Beyonce and guests.  I must admit, I don’t really watch the halftime show but Britney in her heyday was no slouch.  But they had to junk her up with Aerosmith and NSync for some reason.  At least they let Beyonce have the stage mostly to herself.  Advantage: XVLII (3-3-1)

Pregame intros:  XXXV The Squirrel, XVLVII team unity.  Ray Lewis busted out “the squirrel dance” for the whole world in 2000.  This year, the Ravens came out together as one (as did the Niners) in what I would call a little cliché and a downright buzz kill.  The intros to me were always kind of cool.  Advantage: XXXV (4-3-1)

The game itself:  XXXV Baltimore 34, NYGiants 7.  XVLII Baltimore 34, San Fran 31.  From a nerves standpoint, XXXV was a relative breeze.  Up 10-0 at half, a 17-0 lead was cut into late in the 3^rd only when the Giants scored on the kickoff after which, Jermaine Lewis returned the favor and restored order.  The rest of the game was a celebration.  This season’s game was certainly enjoyed more by the rest of the country.  Watching teams hang onto big early leads isn’t my strong suit though.  We could debate the better long TD pass (Stokely or Jones) or kickoff return (Lewis or Jones).  The better offensive performance came this year.  The better defensive show was in 2000.  The end results were equally fantastic however.  Advantage: Push

Emotional Attachment:  I don’t think there is much doubt that the city is more emotionally attached to the Ravens now than in 2000.  The first championship team still had guys that were signed by the Cleveland Browns and were only five years removed from that ugly divorce.  It’s faded from memories now.  The 2012 bunch had two certain hall of fame players that had been in Baltimore their whole careers.  The Super Bowl XLVII Champs had been so close before, twice losing the AFC Title game.  Though there is always something special about your first time, there is a lot to be said for that long, invested relationship.  Advantage: XLVII. (4-4-2)

So in my scientific break down, it’s a push!  As it should be.  Or maybe the better Super Bowl Champ hat here and here should break the tie?  That’s a tough one for me to call too.   I guess we can wait a few months and use Better Looking Ring !  That’s a lot more fun than already worrying about who will or won’t be here in September.

It is amazing that just roughly six weeks after our beloved Baltimore Ravens hoisted their second Lombardi Trophy in 13 years and their fifth consecutive playoff appearance that Ravens fans have totally lost their mind.

This week has been comparable to the reaction I saw after Baltimore got crushed at home by the Denver Broncos towards the end of the season and fans were saying the Ravens wouldn’t win another game and that Ozzie Newsome cannot possibly give Flacco a contract that would make him the highest paid quarterback in history. Ravens fans have been so outraged these past few days with the trade of Anquan Boldin, the release of Bernard Pollard and their inability to retain Dannell Ellerbe.

First, there is no way Baltimore was, or could even afford to pay Ellerbe $35 million over five years, and honestly, he is not worth that kind of money.

Boldin was immediately rumored to be a salary cap casualty as soon as the Super Bowl was over, so we all knew, at least if you paid attention, that Boldin was likely not going to be back in Baltimore next season. Keep in mind, the Ravens did attempt to keep Anquan asking him to take a pay cut to stay, which has happened before in the world of the NFL, and some have taken that option, and others, like Boldin did, reject it because they do not want to play for less, which he had every right to do. I love Boldin, he played like a Raven, and is one of my favorite players, but the NFL is a business, and the financials did not support keeping Boldin at his $7.5 million cap number, and the Ravens did not feel he was worth that kind of money. It happens, remember Ben Grubs last year? Jarret Johnson? What happened? Our Ravens WON THE SUPER BOWL!

In regards to Bernard Pollard, this is not a power play by John Harbaugh, so if you think this is the case you need to get a clue and check out Drew’s blog this morning regarding it. Pollard was not only a disruption on the field sometimes with his constantly penalized hits (I will admit, that did not bother me, he played the game hard and did the Raven thing and intimidated the opponent), but Pollard’s locker room antics were the biggest disruption. Again check out Drew’s blog for the full details and read about his incident with Josh Bynes after the loss to the Washington Redskins. Next season, Pollard will be playing with his fourth team in the NFL in just eight seasons, there is a reason the Chiefs, Texans, and now the Ravens let him go. His teammates do not want him there.

Lastly, and most importantly, Ravens fans need to wake up and realize they have without a shout of a doubt, the best GM in the NFL. Ozzie Newsome has been our GM ever since we came to Baltimore and he has delivered two Super Bowls titles, four Division titles, and nine playoff appearances over 17 years. For you math estute readers, that is more playoff appearances than non playoff appearances, there are not many teams out there that can make that claim over the last 17 years. In fact, if you want to get even more technical, Baltimore has gone to the playoffs nine times in the last 13 seasons!! Newsome has also put together a full out defensive team that won the Super Bowl and a primarily offensive team that won the Super Bowl, thus proving he is not one dimensional in that regard as well. We praise Newsome for ten months of the year, but right around this time of year, all of the sudden Ravens fans either forget or ignore what Ozzie has done for this franchise.

I am not saying that I haven’t been surprised for some of the moves that have occured over the past week, but I sit back and always say to myself that “Ozzie must have a plan, like he always does.”

So please step back from the ledge Baltimore and join me in saying “In Ozzie we Trust!”

For the second time since the Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII, I spent the weekend away from Charm City.

I was in New York celebrating a friend’s birthday for a few days, rocking out with the Allman Brothers Band, staring at Manhattan while drinking beers on a Brooklyn rooftop and discovering what a “Yotel” was. (They seem nice.)

For the second time in as many trips away from Baltimore in recent weeks, I also spent a good chunk of my time away reminding as many folks as I could that I was “from the home of the World Champions” in as nonchalant a way as possible.

I will admit that at one point while sitting on the Brooklyn roof, I was telling a story about LB Brendon Ayanbadejo’s courageous fight for marriage equality. I started a sentence by dropping the term “I know a guy who plays for the Ravens” to which I received the response “you act like that’s not a big deal. They’re the Super Bowl champions.”

I can assure you the purpose of the story was not to illicit said response, but every time I hear those words I can’t help but smile.

No matter what your connection is to the team, there’s no question it matters a great deal to all of us to know that our hometown is held on a greater pedestal due to the incredible success of the organization with whom we share a home.

Over the course of the weekend a bevy of news flew around about the future of Ravens WR Anquan Boldin, First came a Saturday morning FoxSports.com story that said the two sides were prepared to part ways Friday after Boldin balked at the idea of cutting his $6 million base salary in 2013. It was followed by a USA Today report that stated the Boldin camp had flat out rejected an offer from the team and was readying for the postseason hero to be released and see unrestricted free agency Tuesday.

That particular report didn’t sit too well with those who remembered Anquan saying recently in a NBC Sports interview that if the team were to cut him he’d choose to retire instead of playing elsewhere. I never believed it, so it won’t bother me if he doesn’t follow up on his words. I understand why not everyone will feel how I feel.

Later Saturday news came from ESPN that Boldin was not prepared to be released but instead was planning on playing under his contract in 2013. The Baltimore Sun reported Sunday the team asked the receiver to slash his pay by $2 million.

(I was actually a bit afraid of writing about Boldin for this week’s column out of fear that when I woke up Monday morning the news would already be different.)

What the Sun report didn’t explain was how the team asked Boldin to cut his pay. If they asked him to cut his figure for 2013 but convert the money to bonus dollars in future years of a contract extension, it would seem fair. Boldin is in the last year of a four year, $28 million contract but has certainly shown a level of play that would make you think he has more than just one solid season ahead of him even at the age of 32.

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