Ray Lewis - Class Act

Here's an interview w/ Ray Lewis recently.  He was asked about the upcoming season and this being the final year of his contract.

His answers are awesome.  I wish more NFL players felt like this.

http://www.nfl.com/videos;jsessionid=49B14C1375E04
2F077D945058877D08B?videoId=09000d5d8083df06

He basically says that he doesn't get caught up on the contract aspect of things while he's playing.  He has one goal in mind when he steps out onto the field and it isn't getting paid more.

Worry about your contract is a major distraction and he knows it.  Good stuff.

Suggs is a no show because his franchise tag dispute over the LB/DE classification has not been resolved yet.  Until it is, he is not legally allowed to step foot onto the practice field since technically, he is not a Raven.

He has shown good faith by showing up to team meetings so far which is a huge testament to his commitment to the Ravens.

$800k may seem like chump change when making $8 million but what we need to realize is that we are not doing Suggs any favors by franchise tagging him.  Players hate to be franchise tagged because they want long term deals.  A tag is only a 1 year contract.

Where's the good faith by the Ravens to work out a contract with him.  If we think he's good enough to pay $8mil then we should give him a multi-year contract.  If he gets a career ending injury then that $8 mil is his last paycheck unlike a multi-year contract where he gets guaranteed money through the signing bonus.

The Ravens can afford it and honestly Suggs is right.  He lines up more as DE and should get DE money.

Lets not compare Ray Lewis and Terell Suggs.  Two completely different situations.

• Ray Lewis is on the highest paying year of his contract; of course he wouldn't hold out.
• Suggs isn't under contract.  Suggs was on the last year of his contract last season and didn't hold out then.

Going to camp and risking injury isn't smart when you are persuing a contract.  It is greedy of fans to expect Suggs to attend camp.  Suggs is handling the whole situation in a much classier way than most players would.