44 Quotes by Ozzie Newsome

You have to look at it in three different phases,

We did a legitimate cap-friendly deal with a low cap number in the first year ($1.5 million), ... We got the guy we wanted and it's a five-year deal. It's the same kind of option deals that we have with Ray Lewis , Michael McCrary and Jermaine Lewis . ... We just have had to structure some deals that way for cap reasons.

The third piece was the job that the coaches did last year, taking that young squad and developing some of those young players, and then being able to augment it this year. We looked at it and said, '03 and '04 were what we were shooting for.

It's up to the coaching staff but the starter will be determined in training camp.

(Davis) is an explosive athlete but I won't ever put all-time on anybody. They put all-time on Kellen Winslow and he has yet to play a down. There's too many things that can happen.

It's like I've got an option play. That's the way I view it. We can break outside or stay inside. We have any number of scenarios.

Everybody is hiring or promoting those administrative cap guys, ... Ray didn't really fit the cloth of an agent anyway. He was more of an administrator and executive than he was an agent. You need someone who you can work closely with and who has a handle on all your cap dollars.

It was his offense this year. He ran it, called it, it was his. Once we got all of our players in place, once we got them healthy, Jim did a good job, and he'll do an even better job next year if we have the chance to retain him.

I guess you've got to look at it like it's college. After four years or so, the players have to move on in this system. But we think we can do it again. We think we can build it back up. Look at San Francisco. It can come back around very quickly in this league. That's what we're focused on.