Baltimore Sports Post

Former Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson was contacted by Baltimore Ravens GM Ozzie Newson and Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to line up a visit to Owings Mills on Tuesday.  Willie Anderson is a five time pro bowler and could help solidify the Ravens offensive line issues.  Five other teams have also contacted Willie Anderson including the Chargers, Bears, Giants, Bucs and Rams. 

According to profootballtalk.com, the Ravens signing of Joey harrington reported by ESPN’s Chris Mortenson might have been reported prematurely.  Joey Harrington has not yet signed with the Ravens officially and has aparently lined up visits with other teams for Tuesday.  We’ll find out more tomorrow (or beyond?) who will be the Ravens backup QB for week one. 

It was only a few weeks ago that Joe Flacco was eliminated from the QB competition, but today John Harbaugh has officially named rookie QB Joe Flacco as the starter for the Ravens week one matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.  In reality he didn’t have much choice with Kyle Boller going on IR and Troy Smith still fighting an illness.  The Ravens added Casey Bramlet to their practice squad and Joey Harrington to their active roster, but neither is familiar enough with the offense to start against the Bengals. 

Reports from earlier this afternoon had the Ravens interested in signing Chris Simms who had just been cut by the Tampa Bay Bucs.  Simms had come to Baltimore for a physical and workout, but what we didn’t know was that a few other QB’s had also come to Baltimore for workouts.  Joey Harrington who was recently cut by the Atlanta Falcons was one of the other QBs working out for the Ravens this afternoon and he has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Ravens according to espn.  Harrington was chosen over Simms and Todd Bouman because of his playing experience.

Chris Simms who was recently cut by the Tampa Bay Bucs, is in Baltimore meeting with Ravens front office officials according to various reports.  With Troy Smith’s illness and Kyle Boller’s injured shoulder, Simms would give the Ravens another healthy QB on the active roster to backup Joe Flacco the first few weeks of the season.  It is expected that Boller would be placed on IR to make room for Simms.

• Defensive lineman J’Vonne Parker was cut and defensive lineman Lamar Divens who had recently been cut by the San Diego Chargers was signed to replace him.  Parker had impressed coaches this preseason so he might return.
• Kicker Steve Hauschka was signed to get the roster to a full 53.  He would probably fill in as a kickoff specialist week one if he is still on the roster and active.
• Four players were added to the practice squad: QB Casey Bramlet, WR Justin Harper, WR Ernie Wheelwright and OL Joe Reitz. 
• Although it hasn’t been announced by the Ravens yet, Marcus Mason who led the NFL in rushing yards gained for the Washington Redskins during the preseason has also been added to the practice squad according to the washington post.  With only two regular running backs on the 53 man roster in McGahee and Rice (with McGahee coming off surgery only four weeks ago), Mason’s agent explained that it was beneficial for Mason to sign with the Ravens over the Redskins.  The Redskins have Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright at running back who would have been ahead of him on the depth chart.
• Troy Smith is still battling sickness and rumors are growing louder that Kyle Boller may land on the IR in the coming days to make room for the Ravens to sign another QB.  As it stands now, they only have one healthy QB on the active roster. 
• Two players are suspended for week one (Fabian Washington and Derrick Martin) which will force two roster moves once they become active for week two.  Martin might go on IR if his shoulder injury persists.

Veteran offensive tackle Willie Anderson has reportedly been cut according to profootballtalk.com.  Anderson has been to five probowls in his career and although Anderson has had lingering injury issues in recent years he has still played at a high level when in the lineup.  The story says that Anderson did not want to take a pay cut so the Bengals cut him.  Many NFL teams including the Ravens will be jockying to sign him to solve their offensive line problems.

The Ravens have announced their cuts today with only a few surprises.  With Fabian Washington and Derrick Martin suspended for week one, they are actually down to 52 players.  David Pittman and Cory Ross were placed on IR and the following players were cut:

Adam Bergen (TE, 6-4, 267, 3^rd-year, Lehigh)
Casey Bramlet (QB, 6-4, 220, 2^nd-year, Wyoming)
Darrell Campbell (DL, 6-4, 295, 1^st-year, Notre Dame)
Patrick Carter (WR, 6-3, 195, Rookie, Louisville)
Adrien Clarke (G, 6-5, 330, 4^th-year, Ohio State)
Amon Gordon (DT, 6-2, 305, 4^th-year, Stanford)
Justin Harper (WR, 6-3, 215, Rookie, Virginia Tech)
Alex Haynes (RB, 5-10, 225, 2^nd-year, Central Florida)
Keith Heinrich (TE, 6-6, 255, 5^th-year, Sam Houston State)
Adam Kraus (G, 6-6, 295, Rookie, Michigan)
Robert McCune (LB, 6-0, 245, 2^nd-year, Louisville)
Allen Patrick (RB, 6-1, 200, Rookie, Oklahoma)
Ronnie Prude (CB, 5-11, 180, 3^rd-year, LSU)
Joe Reitz (T, 6-7, 270, Rookie, Western Michigan)
Chad Slaughter (6-8, 340, 5^th-year Alcorn State)
Gary Stills (LB, 6-2, 250, 10^th-year, West Virginia)
Ernie Wheelwright (WR, 6-5, 220, Rookie, Minnesota)
Lorenzo Williams (DL, 6-0, 310, Rookie, Missouri)
Matt Willis (WR, 5-11, 190, 2^nd-year, UCLA)

The Ravens play their final preseason game tonight against the Falcons and with the impending cuts this weekend many decisions will be finalized.  There are 22 more cuts required by August 30th to get below the 53 man roster limit and as expected the Ravens are going to have to make some tough decisions.  Making things tougher are the injuries they’ve been facing all camp/preseason.  Below is a list of the many things up in the air for the Ravens, most if not all of these will be answered by Saturday:

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