The Ravens have signed safety Jim Leonhard.  Leonhard is a tad small at 5′8″, 185 pounds but he doesn’t have a problem with sticking offensive players.  He played in 13 games with the Bills last season and he finished with 54 tackles, defensed 3 passes and he had 2 interceptions.  Leonhard has now played in 38 games in his NFL career and he has compiled 72 tackles, defensed 3 passes and has 2 interceptions.  Leonhard will provide depth at safety and he will likely be a special teams ace for the Ravens. 

The Ravens have lost tight end Quinn Sypniewski for the 2008 season due to a torn ACL.  Sypniewski played in 15 games for the Ravens last season and he caught 34 passes for 246 yards (7.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 31 games in his two year career and he has caught 36 passes for 261 yards (7.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Ravens might draft a TE to back up Todd Heap in this weekend’s NFL Draft.

35-year old Steve McNair has decided to hang up the cleats.  He played in 6 games for the Ravens last season and he completed 133 of 205 passes (64.9%) for 1,113 yards with 2 TD passes and 4 interceptions (73.9 QB Rating).  McNair also carried the ball 10 times for 32 yards (3.2 ypc).  McNair finishes his NFL career having played in 164 games.  In those games, McNair completed 2,733 of 4,544 passes (60.1%) for 31,304 yards with 174 TD passes and 119 interceptions (82.8 QB Rating).  McNair also carried the ball 669 times for 3,590 yards (5.4 ypc) with 37 TD runs.  McNair will probably make it to the Hall of Fame but his play was slipping big time and he made the right choice to call it a career.

The Ravens have signed CB Frank Walker to a 2-year, $3.5 million dollar contract.  He played in 12 games last season for the Packers and he made 17 tackles and defensed a pass.  Walker has now played in 53 games in his NFL career and he has made 84 tackles, defensed 10 passes, forced a fumble and he’s picked off 5 passes including one that he returned for a TD.  Walker is a special teams ace and he could help the Ravens out as a nickel or dime back so this was a decent signing for them.

The Ravens have signed linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo to a 4-year, $4.925 contract.  He played in 16 games for the Bears last season and he made 20 tackles and forced 2 fumbles.  He has now played in 80 games in his NFL career and he has made 130 tackles, defensed 1 pass, forced 4 fumbles and intercepted a pass.  He is a good special teams player and he’ll add depth to the defense.