Maybe they do, and maybe they don't.
It would be so much easier if Lewis, Suggs and Scott were under contract. But Mattison could be looking at some new faces at the starting linebacker positions, which has been the backbone of this defense.
There is also the Vic Fangio factor. He replaced Mattison as linebackers coach. Like Mattison, he has the extensive background, but the players find him too serious and too rigid. That's going to be a tough sell, especially if the Big Three and their outgoing personalities come back for another season.
The Ravens might have to rebuild their secondary. Rolle and McAlister are under contract, but neither was very happy with the numerous meetings and long practices of rookie head coach John Harbaugh.
Rolle has earned enough money where he could just retire. As for McAlister, no one knows what he might do. Starting safety Dawan Landry is still having complications from a neck injury he suffered early in the season, and the player who replaced him, Jim Leonhard, is a free agent.
"I don't know him well except that he gets along with his position guys," Rolle said of Mattison. "I don't know what he'll be like as a coordinator. But trying to learn and teach a defense in the league is not hard, just as long as you have the players that fit."
In the past, the Ravens always had the players that fit. They always had a coordinator in waiting, one who had been with the team more than a season.
But those dynamics could change now pending free agency, and some other offseason moves. The Ravens probably have the right guy, but this might not be the right time compared with previous seasons.
"Greg is a good guy and the players respect him," Ryan said. "He is smart, works hard and he's the right kind of guy to lead that bunch of men in Baltimore."
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