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Jerry Coleman: 5 Takeaways From The 'State Of The Ravens' Press Conference

For 50 minutes the Ravens brass consisting of owner Steve Bisciotti, GM Ozzie Newsome, President Dick Cass , and Coach Harbaugh addressed the media in their annual "State Of The Ravens" Press conference.

Here are 5 standout "highlights"

Ray Rice fallout:
In light of the Ray Rice debacle. The Ravens will no longer bring in any player with a history of domestic abuse which would eliminate guys like Free Agent WR Brandon Marshall or Oklahoma WR Dorial Green Beckham. "The one area where we will definitely take a hard look and it will be tough for us to bring a player to Baltimore is someone that has domestic abuse in their background," Newsome said. "Other than that, we will exhaust every character aspect of a player. But we believe in allowing the information to lead us to a decision." Cass admitted they equated domestic violence to a "bar fight" and "that was wrong" .

Character Issues:
Bisciotti had to constantly defend the reputation and integrity of the Ravens and called this past season his worst in his 14 year tenure . Five players were arrested last offseason, and currently their director of security Darren Sanders is charged with a sex offense. Although as the NFL and Baltimore County Police investigate him, he's still a team employee on leave.

Free Agency:
They will try and retain Free Agents such as DT Haloti Ngata and RB Justin Forsett, but sounded less inclined to keep DE Pernell McPhee, or WR Torrey Smith unless the cost was reasonable. Bisciotti cited the Dolphins deal with Mike Wallace, saying" I don't think anybody thought that was a good deal". Free agency begins March 10th

Newsome Calls Out Elam:
Newsome has to know the Ravens secondary needs some depth. Yes, a healthy Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb will make a difference. Still, Newsome conceded Matt Elam " has to be a better football payer". Elam was the only player called out individually

Fan Experience:
There will be no ticket increase but the fan experience will be raised as Cass laid out plans for a 5 million dollar WIFI stadium upgrade. He just wants to make sure that fans also keep their eye on the game and not just their phone.

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