Restricted free agents in the 2010 Final (uncapped) League Year are players who have completed three, four or five accrued seasons and whose contracts have expired. They have received qualifying offers from their old clubs and are free to negotiate with any club until April 15, at which time their rights revert to their original club. If a player accepts an offer from a new club, the old club will have the right to match the offer and retain the player. If the old club elects not to match the offer, it can possibly receive draft-choice compensation depending on the amount of its qualifying offer. If an offer sheet is not executed, and the player receives the June 1 tender from his old club, the player’s rights revert exclusively to his old club on June 1.

Restricted free agents who received qualifying offers from their old clubs and are subject to the first refusal/compensation system of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. The old club has a right of first refusal to all players listed below.  Compensation is as listed in the column on the right. If the old club has only a right of first refusal but is not entitled to any compensation, the designation “ROFR” appears in the column. In order to submit an offer sheet, a new club must have available the required choice or choices, defined as its own or better choices in the applicable rounds, in the 2010 NFL Draft. Offer sheets may be submitted to an old club by no later than 11:59:59 p.m., New York time, on Friday, April 15.

(Ravens Player, Pos., School, Compensation)
Barnes, Antwan  LB  Florida International 4th
Beck, John  QB  Brigham Young  3rd
Burgess, Prescott  LB  Michigan  6th
Chester, Chris  G  Oklahoma  3rd
Clayton, Mark  WR  Oklahoma  2nd
Cundiff, Billy  K  Drake  ROFR
Gaither, Jared  T  Maryland  1st
Koch, Sam  P  Nebraska  2nd
Landry, Dawan  DB  Georgia Tech  2nd
McClain, Le’Ron  RB  Alabama  1st
Moll, Tony  T  Nevada  5th
Smith, Troy  QB  Ohio State  5th
Washington, Fabian  DB  Nebraska  2nd
Williams, Demetrius  WR  Oregon  4th
Yanda, Marshal  G  Iowa  2nd
 
Unrestricted veteran free agents in the 2010 Final (uncapped) League Year are players who have completed six or more accrued seasons whose contracts have expired. They are free to sign with any club, with no compensation owed to their old club, through July 22 (or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later). At that point, their rights revert to their old club if it made a “tender” offer (110 percent of last year’s salary) to the player by June 1. Their old club then has until the Tuesday after the 10th week of the season (November 16) to sign the player. If the player does not sign by November 16, he must sit out the season. If no tender is offered by June 1, the player can be signed by any club at any time throughout the season.

Unrestricted free agents with six or more accrued seasons. Subject to the CBA’s “Final Eight Plan” rules, the players in this category may be signed by any club in the league until 4:00 p.m., New York time, on July 22 (or the first scheduled day of the first training camp, whichever is later), with no rights of any character held by the old club.

(Ravens Player, Pos., School)
Bannan, Justin  DT  Colorado
Edwards, Dwan  DE  Oregon State
Ivy, Corey  DB  Oklahoma
Mason, Derrick  WR  Michigan State
Smith, L.J.  TE  Rutgers
Tyree, David  WR  Syracuse
Walker, Frank  DB  Tuskegee
Washington, Kelley  WR  Tennessee
 
Players with fewer than six accrued seasons who received no qualifying offer or no minimum tender from their old club.  The players in this category may be signed immediately with no rights of any character held by the old club. There is no signing deadline applicable to these players.

(Ravens Player, Pos., School)
Jones, Edgar  TE Southeast Missouri
Ryan, Greg  C  Western Kentucky
Saucedo, Lou  T  Montana State
Terry, Adam  T  Syracuse
 
Here are some of the rules pertaining to the above players, especially in light of the “Final Eight Plan” currently in place that impacts the Ravens for the 2010 NFL season.

Q. What is the time period for free agency signings this year?
A. For restricted free agents, from March 5 to April 15.  For unrestricted free agents who have received the June 1 tender from their prior Club, from March 5 to July 22 (or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later). For franchise players, from March 5 until the Tuesday after the 10th week of the regular-season (November 16).  If he does not sign by November 16, he must sit out the season. There are no transition player designations this year.
 
Q. What is the difference between a restricted free agent and an unrestricted free agent?
A. In the 2010 League Year, players become restricted free agents when they complete three, four or five accrued seasons and their contract expires. Unrestricted free agents have completed six or more accrued seasons. An unrestricted free agent is free to sign with any club with no compensation owed to his old club.
 
Q. What constitutes an “accrued season?”
A. Six or more regular-season games on a club’s active/inactive, reserved-injured or “physically unable to perform” lists.
 
Q. What is the Final Eight Plan?
A. During the Final League Year, the eight clubs that make the Divisional Playoffs in the previous season have additional restrictions that limit their ability to sign unrestricted free agents from other clubs. In general, the four clubs participating in the championship games are limited in the number of unrestricted free agents that they may sign; the limit is determined by the number of their own unrestricted free agents signing with other clubs. They cannot sign any UFAs unless one of theirs is signed by another team.
 
For the four clubs that lost in the Divisional Playoffs (including the Ravens), in addition to having the ability to sign unrestricted free agents based on the number of their own unrestricted free agents signing with other clubs, they may also sign players based on specific financial parameters. Those four only will be permitted to sign one unrestricted free agent for $5,807,475 million or more in year one of the contract, plus the number of their UFAs who sign with another team. They also can sign any unrestricted free agents for no more than $3,861,823 million in year one of the contract with limitations on the per year increases.
           
In the case of all final eight teams, the first year salary of UFAs they sign to replace those lost cannot exceed the first year salary of the player lost with limitations on the per year increases.

Q. Is there an Entering Player Pool in the Final League Year?
A. Yes. The CBA provides that the league has the right to keep the rookie pool in the Final League Year.
 
Q. Is there a Minimum Team Salary in the Final League Year?
A. There is no Minimum Team Salary in the Final League Year.
 
Q. Are there individual player minimum salaries in the Final League Year?
A. Yes, but they rise at a rate somewhat slower than player minimum salaries rise in capped years.
 
Q. Do any player contract rules from capped years remain in place for the Final League Year?
A. Yes. Some rules like the “30% increase rule” are still in effect in the Final League Year for player contracts signed in capped years. That rule restricts salary increases from 2009 to 2010 and beyond. For example: a player with a $500,000 salary in 2009 would be limited to annual salary increases of $150,000 ($500,000 x 30%) beginning in 2010.

To follow Chris Pika on Twitter, click here (@BlogAndTackle)

The football move to add depth to the wide receiver corps is a good thing for a Ravens team in need of playmakers. He was 21st among wide receivers from 2005-09 in yards per reception (14.8) and 11th among WRs in average yards after the catch (5.3) over the same five-year period. Stallworth is not a No. 1 receiver any more, but he will be someone opposing defenses will have to account for.

Stallworth has had a lot of personal accounting to do over the last year.

He was convicted of second-degree DUI manslaughter in the death of Mario Reyes in March 2009. He admitted to drinking the night of the accident, and received a sentence of 30 days in jail, 1,000 hours of community service, two years of house arrest and 10 years probation. He also lost his Florida driving privileges for the rest of his life.

He served just 24 days in jail - a sentence that angered many of those who fight for tougher drunk-driving laws - and he avoided a civil lawsuit by reaching a financial settlement with the Reyes family. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him for the 2009 season, and he was reinstated the day after Super Bowl XLIV.

So, Stallworth was eligible to return to work, and the Ravens have given him an opportunity to re-prove himself.

I worked around Stallworth during his first four seasons in the NFL with New Orleans (2002-05). I won’t say I knew him well outside of the locker room, but I had plenty of conversations with him about football and his career after practices and games. You also get a real sense about a player by watching him interact with his teammates and coaches when the media isn’t around.

Stallworth was well-liked in the locker room, and he worked hard on the practice field. He’s had a lot of injury issues (hamstring, heel) during his career, and his prep work before practices and games was painful to watch as his hamstrings were stretched to the limit like a track athlete’s would be before a meet (Stallworth ran track and jumped in high school).

The early-entry to the NFL (he was drafted No. 13 overall out of Tennessee after his junior year) battled those injuries in his first two seasons to start just 10 games among the 24 he played, although he had eight TD catches as a rookie in 2002.

The next two seasons he caught fire, with 767 yards and five TDs in 2004 and 945 yards and seven TDs in 2005 during the club’s disastrous 3-13 Katrina season. In August 2006, he was traded to Philadelphia, and later was fourth on the team in receptions for the Patriots during their undefeated regular season in 2007. He battled injuries again in 2008 with Cleveland, and his numbers tumbled.

Stallworth’s one-year signing does not present a significant risk to the Ravens. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter points out, both Derrick Mason and Kelley Washington are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents, and Stallworth is the only veteran WR under contract in Baltimore right now. He still has the burst of speed and good hands to be effective as a possession receiver for Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ offense. He has been working out, and obviously the Ravens looked at both the football player and the person before offering him a contract.

I wouldn’t dare to tell anyone what to think of the Ravens signing Stallworth, especially in light of his conviction. But I can say this from my perspective: He is a very thoughtful person who seems to “get it” about the game and life. I read the quotes from Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome and head coach John Harbaugh, and all spoke about his horrible decision, and the consequences for both the Reyes family and for the man who chose to drink and drive.

Stallworth has to live with that result each day, and while he paid a financial sum, he can never repay the emotional debt to Reyes’ family.

“I will never get that morning back,” he said in the Ravens’ press release. “It weighs on me every day and will for the rest of my life. What I can do is move forward, try to be a better person, try to convince others not to do what I did and warn others about the dangers of drinking and driving. I have to show otherwise that what happened doesn’t reflect who I am. I have to prove that, and, hopefully, I’m on my way to doing that.”

Maybe the prevalent “it will never happen to me” mentality in locker rooms or the local bars might come to a momentary pause when hearing Stallworth’s message.

“I will make the best of it, and some people may listen to me because I will be playing,” he said. “I hope I can do some good in delivering a message that could help someone or prevent someone from doing what I did.”

If anyone thinks twice and doesn’t climb behind the wheel after a couple of drinks because of Stallworth’s fatal mistake, that will be the most important unseen catch of his career.

If you don’t know how much sports information resides on WNST.net, here is a great example of what you can find if you click on the grey bar at the top of the page where it says NFL: A head-to-head analysis of the Ravens and the Colts in 2009, and each team’s individual stats.

Ravens-Colts 2009 Comparison

2009 Baltimore Ravens Stats

2009 Indianapolis Colts Stats

I will have my “How I See It” column with a Ravens-Colts prediction up early Friday morning, but these team numbers should give you something to discuss with your friends leading up to game time.

All four games this weekend will be too close to call, in my opinion. The big surprise may come in New Orleans, where the Saints are vulnerable against the Cardinals. In fact, all four road teams (Arizona, Baltimore, Dallas and New York) have good reason for optimism against the division winners they face.

If you are not one of the many people traveling to Indy on the WNST Purple Playoff Trip or by other means, please join us at 8 pm here on WNST.net for the Playoff Purple Haze Live Chat with news and info from the Lucas Oil Stadium press box from Drew Forrester and Glenn Clark and your comments and questions during the game.

Click @BlogAndTackle to follow Chris Pika on Twitter

* Biggest question today is Joe Flacco’s hip. He is hobbling on his plant foot. NFL Network said he re-injured it last week at Oakland, and the cold weather will have an effect on his mobility.

* The run game in the cold has to work consistently to keep pressure off Flacco and keep the Ravens out of third-and-long situations. Expect the Pats to try to shadow Rice closely off the line of scrimmage to keep him from catching balls in the soft zone.

* The game will be won on the offensive line. If Flacco’s mobility is a question, then the line has to hold up in max protect, which might take out Todd Heap as a safety valve option. The line has to open the holes for Rice, Willis McGahee and Le’Ron McClain. The Ravens need to average 4 yards on first down today.

* The Ravens have to hold on to the football. In cold weather, the ball is harder to feel, especially with gloves on. When the Ravens do throw, receivers have concern themselves more with securing the ball during the catch than looking for extra yards after the catch first.

* Flacco has a tendency to sail passes because of the issues with his plant leg, due to the hip injury. He has to be comfortable delivering the ball, especially when he is flushed from the pocket.

* Baltimore must get consistent pressure on Tom Brady all day. Brady can not have time to go through his progressions downfield, or he will pick apart the Ravens secondary. Collapsing the pocket and getting legal hits on Brady will slow down the passing game.

* Terrell Suggs has to be a big disruptive force for the Ravens defense. If he can beat the Pats offensive line to get to Brady, New England will have a hard time moving the ball.

* Yes, Julian Edelman is not Wes Welker, but Brady trusts him just as much. It’s about the position (safety valve) more than the player in the Pats system, and Edelman has performed well when asked. The Ravens have to know where he is at all times.

* This could be a big day for the punters, depending on how successful the run games are. Keeping the opponent pinned deep in their own territory will increase the chances of success.

* The Ravens must score first to dictate the playbook to the Pats. Baltimore can survive a 7-point deficit, but if they are down 10 or more, parts of the playbook are deserted, and the Ravens become more one-dimensional. If Flacco can’t move well, a double-digit deficit will be hard to make up.

* Matt Katula has to have the best day of his career as a long snapper. Billy Cundiff could be very busy today, and the Ravens have to get points at every opportunity. No bad snaps today when points will be at a premium.

* Keep the mental penalties (personal fouls, false starts, etc.) to an absolute minimum. The defense has to be aggressive, especially when Brady is vulnerable, but the tackles and hits have to be legal, not cheap. Can the Ravens keep the penalty total under 40 yards (figuring a few pass interference calls)? We’ll see.

PREDICTION: The Ravens get up early, and in a physical battle of the run games, Baltimore 20, New England 17.

Nestor Aparicio will have pregame news and notes from the Oakland press box starting at 3:30 pm. Once the game starts at 4:15, all of your favorite WNST hosts and personalities, including Drew Forrester, Glenn Clark and other stars will chat with you, answer your questions and take a look at the NFL playoff picture — especially who the Ravens will play in the AFC playoffs if they beat the Raiders (either New England or Cincinnati).

Ravens-Raiders Sunday Afternoon Purple Haze

By the way, since I didn’t have a chance to do a “How I See It” column, here is my prediction for today’s game: Ravens 24, Raiders 10.

Tell your friends, fire up your laptop, and enjoy the Week 17 action in a new way with WNST in the Purple Haze. (And, if the Ravens make the playoffs, we’ll do this again next week during the Wild Card round).

CLINCHED:

Indianapolis — South division and home-field advantage.

San Diego — West division and first-round bye.

Cincinnati — North division.

New England — East division.

ELIMINATED:

Cleveland, Kansas City, Oakland, Buffalo, Tennessee.

Baltimore, the Jets, Denver, Pittsburgh and Houston can also make the playoffs if they tie this week with various other things happening. Jacksonville and Miami cannot make the playoffs with a tie.

BALTIMORE RAVENS

Baltimore clinches a playoff spot:

1) BAL win

NEW YORK JETS

NY Jets clinch a playoff spot:

1) NYJ win

DENVER BRONCOS

Denver clinches a playoff spot:

1) DEN win + NYJ loss or tie + BAL loss or tie

2) DEN win + NYJ loss or tie + PIT loss or tie

3) DEN win + NYJ loss or tie + HOU win

4) DEN win + BAL loss or tie + PIT loss or tie

5) DEN win + BAL loss or tie + HOU win

6) PIT loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + JAC loss

7) PIT loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + NYJ loss

8.) PIT loss + BAL loss + JAC loss + NYJ loss

9) PIT loss + HOU loss + JAC loss + NYJ loss

10) MIA loss or tie + NYJ loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + JAC loss or tie

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot:

1) PIT win + HOU loss or tie + NYJ loss or tie

2) PIT win + HOU loss or tie + BAL loss or tie

3) PIT win + NYJ loss or tie + BAL loss or tie + DEN loss or tie

HOUSTON TEXANS

Houston clinches a playoff spot:

1) HOU win + NYJ loss or tie + BAL loss or tie

2) HOU win + NYJ loss or tie + DEN loss or tie

3) HOU win + BAL loss or tie + DEN loss or tie

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Jacksonville clinches a playoff spot:

1) JAC win + PIT loss + BAL loss + DEN loss + HOU loss

2) JAC win + PIT loss + BAL loss + DEN loss + NYJ loss

3) JAC win + PIT loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + NYJ loss

4) JAC win + PIT loss + DEN loss + HOU loss + NYJ loss

5) JAC win + NYJ loss + DEN loss + HOU loss + BAL loss

MIAMI DOLPHINS

Miami clinches a playoff spot:

1) MIA win + NYJ loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + JAC loss or tie

Ravens-Steelers Purple Haze Live Chat

The Ravens won the first meeting in overtime in a game that many thought would be a Baltimore blowout with the absence of QB Ben Roethlisberger. Dennis Dixon managed to get the Steelers to overtime, but an interception and subsquent field goal gave the Ravens a huge victory at home.

This time, Roethlisberger and the man who criticized him for not playing in the first meeting, Hines Ward, will play in this one. But Pittsburgh will be without safety Troy Polamalu once again. Pittsburgh is 3-0 with him in the lineup, but 4-7 without.

To get the cliches out of the way early, the game will be a physical, brutal affair once again. These two clubs play hard against each other, and revel in leaving the winner bruised and bloodied from the fight. The loser drags their wounded back to the locker room and wonder if they’ll have enough bodies for the next game.

Since the emphasis for both clubs is not allow the other to score, how do the Ravens and Steelers dent the scoreboard? Let’s break it down, thusly.

RAVENS OFFENSE: This point is obvious to football observers, but scoring first is paramount. The team that gets the lead can dicate their playbook to the opponent. Fall behind, and because of the defenses, you might take more chances than usual. Baltimore is 7-1 when scoring first in 2009, 1-5 when the opposition does.

To those who don’t like the Ravens to throw as much as they have this year, you might want to avert your eyes. The Steelers secondary is vulnerable, and there will be opportunities for big plays. But Baltimore has to set it up. Run the ball with Ray Rice, Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee, and make Pittsburgh stack the line. Once that happens, then QB Joe Flacco can look for the receivers downfield, or just a mid-length pass to TE Todd Heap to move the chains.

Baltimore has run the ninth-most short pass plays (less than 15 yards) to the right with 171. The Ravens’ average gain on those passes, 6.8 yards, is second in the league. That’s where Rice and Heap live. Baltimore is also seventh in both plays (37) and average gain (13.8 yards) on passes 15 yards or more to deep left.

The big key here is to keep Flacco upright at all costs. Baltimore might get help if James Harrison misses the game with an biceps injury. A strong run game keeps the rushers at home and buys the Ravens’ QB needed time when he goes to the air. Pittsburgh has to protect its struggling secondary, and one way is to rush the passer consistently. Flacco needs to make the right decisions when the pocket collapses.

The Ravens have four games with 400-plus yards of total offense in 2009, including the three top outputs in club history.

RAVENS DEFENSE: The same problem on defense haunts the Ravens as well. Can the Ravens get after Roethlisberger enough to force turnovers and keep Santonio Holmes and Ward from getting open deep against the Ravens’ second-string corners?

Roethlisberger is hard to bring down, and harder still to corral when he gets out of the pocket. Baltimore needs to bring enough pressure from the edges to make Roethlisberger go through his receiver progression without benefit of rolling to the outside.

When the Steelers pass, they look deep middle, where they’ve tried 40 plays (second in the NFL) or deep right (35 plays; 10th in NFL). Pittsburgh has thrown just over 100 times more than they have run this season. Besides Ward and Holmes, TE Heath Miller has almost 700 yards and five TDs. Six players have 20 or more catches.

The run game is no slouch as Rashard Mendenhall needs 22 yards for 1,000 on the season. Mendenhall has six of the nine rush TDs for the Steelers. Willie Parker has settled into the backup role with almost 300 yards and no TDs.

The Steelers like to run to the right with 79 attempts each up the middle and to right guard, and 63 times to right tackle. Compare that to 31 plays each to left guard, left tackle, and 33 plays to left end.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A big question for the Ravens in the wake of losing Lardarius Webb for the season is: With Carr taking a bigger role in the secondary, will the Ravens let Carr return kickoffs and punts. Ed Reed (if he is able to go) will not return punts, so reports have Jalen Parmele returning kicks and Carr returning punts.

Not to be overstated, the turf at Heinz Field gets in bad shape in December with the amount of games played on it and the recent snowstorm. Field goals, especially from long distance, will be dicey. That will force both teams to make offensive decisions knowing that 3s will not be automatic at any point.

NFL.com Ravens-Steelers Video Preview

PREDICTION: The Steelers will try (like every other opponent) to take out Rice. Flacco will have to throw the ball effectively under pressure to find seams in the Pittsburgh secondary. Both teams’ key defensive performer (Reed and Polamalu) will not play in the game. This will be the usual knock-down, drag-out game as the defensive lines try to help their respective secondaries in coverage. Baltimore gets an early score and will spend the rest of the day holding off the Steelers’ desperate charge. I wouldn’t be suprised to see this game (like the first) go to overtime. Ravens 20, Steelers 17.

Drew Forrester and Glenn Clark will report from the Heinz Field press box, Nestor Aparicio will be in the stands with the Purple Road Trip gang, and all of your favorite WNST hosts and personalities will add their comments and answer your questions during the game.

Ravens-Steelers Purple Haze live chat

The Purple Haze is an interactive chat room with comments from our panelists, polls, tweets from local and national media covering the game, and your comments. Grab your favorite beverage, fire up your laptop and join us at 12:30 pm.

After you dry off from a wet day at M&T Bank Stadium watching the Ravens battle fellow Mt. St. Joe grad Jim Schwartz’ Detroit Lions, settle in with your friends and WNST hosts & personalities starting at 7 pm tonight for the Sunday Night Purple Haze live chat.

We will have Ravens news and notes, tweets from local and national media along with Ravens players, and YOUR comments and questions from pregame through halftime of the Sunday Night game.

Ravens-Lions Purple Haze Live Chat

We’re in December and the final quarter of the regular season. There will be plenty to talk about with the Ravens, the AFC playoff race and other topics that come in during the evening. It’s like your neighborhood bar with WNST hosts as your bartenders, and you can skip out on the tab at the end of the night.

Please join us and tell your friends about our spirited online live chat on WNST.net.

By the way, since I did not have a chance to write a “How I See It” column this week because of travel, my pick today is Baltimore 17, Detroit 10. We’ll see how it goes …

Using the CoverItLive software, will have Ravens news and notes from the press box (via Nestor Aparicio), key stats, tweets from local and national media covering the game in Lambeau Field, posted questions/polls for you to give your opinion and, most importantly, YOUR comments and questions from pregame through the final snap.

Ravens-Packers Purple Haze Live Chat

It’s a key game for both clubs in their respective playoff races. Can Joe Flacco and the Ravens keep pace with the rest of the AFC contenders for the two Wild Card spots?  Can the Baltimore defense beat the cold and Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and his band of receivers? We’ll find out tonight, so join us and your friends for a spirited live chat on WNST.net, starting at 8 pm.