The Baltimore Ravens have decided not to protect Jamal Lewis from free agency, but have not ruled out the possibility of signing the one-time 2,000-yard rusher to a long-term contract. Lewis, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2003, when he rushed for 2,066 yards, slumped to a career-low 906 yards this season following a four-month sentence in a Florida federal prison and two months in a halfway house for a cocaine conspiracy plea bargain. He also underwent surgery on his right ankle. The Ravens would have had to assign a one-year, $6 million franchise tender to retain Lewis. Not doing so means they are likely to look over the veteran running back market while evaluating potential rookie running backs such as USC's LenDale White and Memphis' DeAngelo Williams. The Ravens have the 13th overall pick in the draft.

It appears as if the Ravens are leaning toward placing the franchise tag on Jamal Lewis, although the team declined to reveal its intent yesterday. The Ravens have until Thursday's deadline to officially announce whether to use the tag on their all-time leading rusher or let him become an unrestricted free agent. One indication that the Ravens might be planning to keep Lewis with a one-year, $6 million tender is they have not had any negotiations with backup Chester Taylor, who will become a free agent March 3. It would be a challenging situation for the Ravens to enter free agency without their top two running backs from last season. "They told me that they would let me know this week [but] it won't surprise me if they franchised him," said Mitch Frankel, Lewis' agent. If the Ravens don't franchise Lewis or re-sign Taylor, they would have to pursue an expensive free-agent running back such as Shaun Alexander, Edgerrin James, DeShaun Foster or Ahman Green.

As expected, future Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders announced Monday that he's retiring for good after spending the last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. Sanders, 38, who played 14 seasons, intercepted 53 passes, was selected to eight Pro Bowls and won one NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, told Sporting News Radio that this was the end of his love affair with the NFL as a player. Sanders emphasized that he will definitely not play again when pressed by host James Brown. Sanders, who won Super Bowl rings with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, is expected to go back into broadcasting. He's most likely to surface on the FOX pregame studio show. "He's probably the greatest corner to ever play the game," Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister said. "I learned a lot from Deion."

Superstar linebacker Ray Lewis doesn't want to play for the Baltimore Ravens anymore, the Baltimore Sun reported Saturday, citing unnamed sources close to the linebacker. Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said Lewis hasn't told the team that, but Newsome did say Lewis had requested to be traded before the 2005 season, the Sun reported. Lewis also met with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti recently in Florida, Newsome told the Sun. The Ravens have asked around to gauge interest in Lewis, but no team has offered more than a second-round pick for the linebacker, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed league sources.