Word that Joe Flacco and the Ravens are already talking contract surely warmed the hearts of Raven fans who believe he can be the answer to their eternal need under center. Likely to get a less robust response is the fact that Flacco, signed or not, won't be able to practice with the team until June.

Delaware's last day of exams are not until May 30, the Baltimore Sun reports, which means the weekend minicamp was the only time he's allowed to wear purple this month.

The agreement between the NFL and the NCAA, which came with the encouragement of the American Football Coaches Association, limits a player to one minicamp with his pro team while his school is still in session.

This rule makes no sense. It hurts the NFL teams making big investments in players and it hurts the players trying to make headway on the roster. Furthermore, it's hard to see how it benefits schools, other than allowing them to continue to make the dubious claim of scholarship in college athletics.

Flacco has already withdrawn from school which means he neither studying for nor taking these exams. If a young drama student withdraws from school because they get a part in a Broadway play, are they barred from rehearsing until the end of finals? Of course not and football players shouldn't be treated any differently. When the semester ends in Newark is irrelevant to the Baltimore Ravens and the rules should reflect that.

Last night's news of Terrell Suggs and the Baltimore Ravens deciding to split their differences and agree on a new, hybrid definition of Suggs's position was a compromise worthy of Solomon. Each side gave up a little bit to come up with a reasonable franchise tender and avoid a lengthy, acrimonious holdout.

Writing about the deal this morning, FanHouse's Sportz Assassin wondered if the deal might have implications on other players with difficult to define positions. Devin Hester's probably at the top of that list since he's primarily a returner but plays wide receiver and, if he doesn't sign a new contract, will surely be a potential franchise player down the road.

That's a valid concern but allow me to raise another question. How, exactly, does this kind of deal fit within the rules governing the franchise tag? The tender for such players is supposed to be the average of the five highest paid players at the position. When you create new positions, however, there's no comps to use to come up with that new number.

Do you add the numbers of the two positions and divide by two? Do you reclassify players like DeMarcus Ware and come up with a tender based on their salaries? What are the criteria for defining a player as a DE/LB rather than one or the other? This was a smart move by both sides but it's opened the door to many questions. I'm curious how the NFL and NFLPA address these issues.

The first reports on Joe Flacco's quarterbacking skills from Ravens minicamp have been very strong which would indicate he's got a real shot at winning the starting job sooner rather than later. For that to happen, though, he needs to have a full training camp under his belt with no holdup due to contract problems.

Most rookies don't sign contracts until the summer is underway but Flacco's representatives are already discussing a five-year deal with the Ravens. His agent Joe Linta has been in town since Sunday and, according to ESPN.com's Jamie Walker, has already worked out the parameters of the deal.

"They want him in and he wants to be in,'' Linta said. "So the sooner that you start talking, the better chance you have of finishing before the deadline.''

Quarterbacks have traditionally been the most difficult players to get under contract so getting Flacco's deal done quickly would be a boon to the Ravens. Brady Quinn, picked 20th in 2007, took forever to get in camp which is a big reason why Derek Anderson has passed him on the depth chart. Flacco doesn't want to run the risk of Kyle Boller putting it together in Cam Cameron's offense and relegating him to an afterthought. Farfetched? Perhaps but who knew Anderson could be a NFL starter at this time last year?

Back in February, there was quite a disagreement to what position Terrell Suggs plays. The Baltimore Ravens used the franchise tag for a linebacker on Suggs. However, he believed he was a defensive end.

Doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is an $800,000 deal. You see, if you earn the franchise tag you will earn the average of the top five players at your position. Being a defensive end brings in more money for Suggs. He challeged the designation and many were eager to see how this all played out.

Well, we have our verdict.

Thanks to an agreement by the Ravens, Suggs' agent, the Management Council and the NFL Players Association, Suggs gets the best of both worlds. The settlement, which is being finalized by lawyers for the NFLPA and the Management Council, creates a new position in franchise designations -- a defensive end-linebacker. Once the paperwork is completed later this week, Suggs, designated as a franchise linebacker, will be re-designated as a defensive end-linebacker, and his one-year franchise tender will increase from $8.065 million to around $8.5 million.

Even though they dumped an offensive "genius" from the head coaching spot, the Ravens could come out with a much more aggressive offensive style in 2008. Word from this weekend's minicamp is that new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is seriously considering using three wide receivers in the team's base formation.

There's a couple of reasons why that's a curious choice. For one, the presumed trio of Derrick Mason, Demetrius Williams and Mark Clayton combined to score five touchdowns in 2007, all by Mason, and struggled to gain yards after the catch. Mason did catch 103 passes while the other two battled injuries and all three had to deal with some of the worst quarterbacking in the league but it's not a unit that strikes a lot of fear into the hearts of opposing defenses.

That quarterbacking problem is the other reason it's an odd direction. A spread formation would require quick, well chosen passes and I don't think anyone expects that kind of production from Kyle Boller. Troy Smith may have those skills but he's untested as is first-rounder Joe Flacco. Flacco's arm strength is his strong suit but he may not get to show it off in an offense predicated on timing not verticality.

Assuming they work out those issues, though, Willis McGahee would benefit from such an alignment. A spread out defense should offer him space to maneuver and help avoid the grinding that takes a toll on his body.

Along with misidentifying himself as an offensive genius, one of the biggest complaints about Brian Billick in Baltimore was that he ran easy camps and practices. Perhaps he was more concerned with how he came off on HBO documentaries than preparing his team for battle but, whatever the reason, the Ravens never had a reputation for intensity in the offseason.

Today's practice session, then, was a sign that there's a new sheriff in town. John Harbaugh's boys spent a good chunk of Saturday fighting with each other during the team's minicamp. Defensive tackle Amon Gordon and rookie offensive lineman Oniel Cousins exchanged punches, touching off a brawl that included all 85 players and took two minutes to work itself out. Then defensive backs Corey Ivy and Frank Walker came to blows during a blocking drill.

In neither case did the coaches appear to be too interested in breaking things up, reports the Associated Press. Rex Ryan, the defensive coordinator, was seen laughing, in fact, and Harbaugh didn't sound like he saw anything upsetting out on the field.

"We had a good practice. Our guys are competitive, they like football, it's going to happen. I think as they realize the tempo of the practice is going to stay the same, it will probably happen less and less. They're a feisty bunch."

Feisty's good but undisciplined attempts to show toughness aren't. The latter's been a problem for the Ravens, so maybe it's good they're getting it out of their system now.

The Ravens started minicamp yesterday with a handful of questions. Will Joe Flacco be the starter next season? Will Jonathan Ogden be back at left tackle? And would Ray Lewis's expiring contract create any issues between team and linebacker?

It's too soon to know about Flacco and Ogden didn't show up but we got our first hints about Lewis's mindset.

"That [contract] stuff is irrelevant from what we're trying to do now. Whatever we're trying to do as a team, that's the focus. If we keep that team concept there, then that team concept stays there. If you start talking about individual, that means nothing. Everybody knows this is a business and everything will take care of itself. I'm just excited to be back playing football again."

While contracts have never been a real problem with Lewis in the past, the whole team-first concept is a new hat for him to wear. He's never shied away from slamming his coaches or offense when he felt it warranted. Often, it was warranted, but Lewis has always made it clear that he did what he thought was best for him, not the team.

It wouldn't be surprising, then, if Lewis's contract did become an issue at some point before the end of the season. Baltimore has promised to outspend other suitors for Lewis's services but he might want them to prove it.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is heading into the final year of his contract, and Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that he and the team are far apart in negotiating a new deal.

And that makes me wonder if Lewis is heading into his final year with the Ravens. Lewis turns 33 next week, and although he's still a decent player, he's nowhere near the kind of dominant linebacker he was five or 10 years ago. And although Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti has said he expects Lewis to be a Raven for life, he isn't likely to want to pay Lewis like a star.

So if Lewis can find a team that will pay him like a star, he could leave in February or March of 2009. Mike Florio wonders at Pro Football Talk whether the Cowboys -- who currently have Lewis's little brother under contract -- might be interested. If it comes down to a bidding war between Bisciotti and Jerry Jones, I'd bet on Jones to fork over more cash.

Our worst fears have been realized: Brian Billick, easily the smartest person he knows, will share his gift for hollow analysis with the nation; he'll be a game analyst for FOX next season (the in-studio gig is so beneath him, right Steely McBeam's illegitimate father?).

I'm praying for a Joe Buck pairing because there's nothing I enjoy more with my football than unabashed pomposity. Billick got his feet wet last weekend, working the draft for the NFL Network and boring thousands into comas, but, as ProFootballTalk points out, the former Ravens coach has been preparing for this moment for most of his adult life. Some 30 years later and still sexy as ever. Rodney Harrison knows what I'm talkin' about.

Baltimore Ravens 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (18): Joe Flacco, QB, Delaware
Round 2 (55): Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers
Round 3 (71): Tavares Gooden, LB, Miami
Round 3 (86): Tom Zbikowski, S, Notre Dame
Round 3 (99): Oniel Cousins, G, UTEP
Round 4 (106): Marcus Smith, WR, New Mexico
Round 4 (133): David Hale, T, Weber State
Round 6 (206): Haruki Nakamura, S, Cincinnati
Round 7 (215): Justin Harper, WR, Virginia Tech
Round 7 (240): Allen Patrick, RB, Oklahoma

The Good: Ozzie Newsome pulled off the best deal of the entire draft when he got two threes and a four to move down to Jacksonville's spot in the first round. It gave him the ability to go and get whoever he wanted as evidenced by the deal back up for Flacco in the first round. I'm not sold on him but it was a bold move to get the guy you wanted. Gooden and Zbikowski will help a defense that's getting old and both should make Rex Ryan a happy man when he sees them in action. While neither Cousins nor Hale figure to start, they'll both add depth to a young, intriguing line.

The Bad: The Rice pick got rave reviews but I'm not a fan of it. Rice is tough as hell but he'll need to show a lot more as a receiver and pass blocker to make up for subpar physical tools. Neither receiver will offer much help to Flacco or whoever precedes him as the team's quarterback, though Smith gets high marks for special teams work.