The Ravens have waived running back Jamal Lewis, general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome announced today. But, just one day before the start of free agency, that doesn't mean that the seven-year veteran won't don a Ravens' jersey in the future. Newsome expressed his desire to re-sign Lewis sometime this offseason. "We are involved in negotiations with Jamal, and there has been good dialogue," said Newsome. "Jamal has been a significant contributor to us in the last seven seasons."

George Preas, who won two NFL championships on the offensive line of the old Baltimore Colts, has died. He was 73. Preas, who had Parkinson's Disease, died Saturday. He had been living in a nursing home. Preas played for the Colts from 1955-65. Baltimore beat the New York Giants for the NFL title in 1958 and 1959.

A helmet worn by Johnny Unitas in the 1960s sold for $54,050, and the quarterback's first contract with the Baltimore Colts drew a bid of $29,900 at an auction of sports memorabilia Friday night. There were 10 items associated with Unitas up for auction. An anonymous bidder purchased all of them for a total of $165,370, including a 15 percent buyer's fee.

The Ravens decided against designating Adalius Thomas its franchise player, a move that will enable the seven-year veteran to become an unrestricted free agent. The Ravens haven't given up on the possibility of retaining Thomas, who ranked third on the team with 106 tackles. But they were unwilling to pay him $7.2 million -- the average salary of the top five linebackers in the league.

A month after agreeing to a contract extension with Brian Billick, the Ravens signed the coach to a four-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. Billick has been the Ravens' coach for the last eight years and guided the franchise to a Super Bowl title in 2000.

Flashing a Super Bowl ring, which is a strange sight around here, Rex Ryan spoke about how he'd love to win an NFL championship with the Chargers. "That would be something that we'd be targeting. We'd like to get several of those," Ryan said after emerging from his interview with Chargers executives on Thursday. Ryan earned his Super Bowl ring as defensive line coach of the Ravens in 2000. He just completed his second year as the Ravens' defensive coordinator. Niners offensive coordinator Norv Turner, a two-time Super Bowl winner as Dallas' offensive coordinator in the early 1990s, interviewed Thursday afternoon.

The Chargers received permission Tuesday to interview four candidates to replace fired head coach Marty Schottenheimer, including one-time San Diego offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Turner was offensive coordinator with the Chargers in 2001. He's currently the offensive coordinator of the 49ers. He interviewed for the Cowboys' head coaching job that went to Wade Phillips, the Chargers' former defensive coordinator. The Chargers also received permission to interview 49ers assistant head coach Mike Singletary and Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, both of whom interviewed for the Cowboys job. The fourth candidate is Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. The Chargers did not say when the candidates would be interviewed.

The contract extension signed two weeks ago by Brian Billick, head coach of the Ravens, is for one year and will pay him about $5.4 million, a league source said Wednesday. That means Billick, who was entering the final year of his contract, is signed through the 2008 season. His two previous extensions with the Ravens were multi-year deals.