The Ravens completed what essentially turned out to be a swap of wide receivers today, sending former #1 draft pick Mark Clayton to the St. Louis Rams for a 6th round draft pick in 2011 and signing free agent T.J. Houshmandzadeh to a one-year deal worth approximately $850,000.

The deal seems smart on several levels, as the Ravens not only got a draft pick in exchange for Clayton, they also save about $1.5 million in 2010…the difference between Houshmandzadeh’s contract and that of Clayton.  The negative, if any, is their age difference (Clayton, 28 – Housh, 32) and the fact that Clayton was coming off of one of his best pre-seasons ever, moving into the slot position with the acquisition of Anquan Boldin in the 0ff-season.

There were rumors floating around late Sunday afternoon that the Pittsburgh Steelers were interested in Houshmandzadeh.  If true, the Ravens signing him on Monday not only boosts the Baltimore offense, it prohibits Pittsburgh from grabbing the former Bengals wide receiver.