Bryant Mckinnie

Left tackle Bryant McKinnie appeared to remove any lingering doubt when he went to his Twitter account last night to tell Ravens fans that team officials confirmed to him that he would back for this coming season. So it was no surprise that 4 p.m. today came and went, and McKinnie, who started all 18 games last season, remained on the roster. The Ravens informed McKinnie that they will pick up his $500,000 roster bonus, which was due today. With free agent right tackle Eric Winston having scheduled a visit to Baltimore, there were some questions about McKinnie's future with the Ravens. There's still plenty that could happen in free agency or the draft, but today's development solidifies McKinnie as the starting left tackle for now. Still, it wouldn't be surprising if the Ravens drafted a left tackle in April because McKinnie has only one more year remaining on his contract.

So far, all is good as far as left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie and the Ravens. The word from The Castle is that the often-troubled McKinnie has been attending conditioning sessions and working hard. His weight is down and reasonable, and the expectations are high that he will be ready when the team opens training camp in late July. That would be perfect for the Ravens because they wouldn't have to move other players around, like guard Kelechi Osemele or right tackle Michael Oher, to fill in for McKinnie.

Two months after winning the Super Bowl , the Ravens are in position to have a good draft and make another serious run at a championship. Even though there was a mass exodus of players in free agency, which began last month, the Ravens have made solid acquisitions by adding outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil and defensive linemen Chris Canty and Marcus Spears. With 12 picks in the NFL draft later this month, the Ravens have plenty of ammunition to sign several quality players in a draft that most experts consider very deep.

Over the last couple of weeks, the Ravens have added and retained seven offensive linemen, further complicating what figures to be one of the more competitive -- if not interesting -- position battles in training camp. They drafted Wisconsin tackle Rick Wagner in the fifth round and Ryan Jensen , a tackle from Colorado State University-Pueblo, in the sixth. Immediately after the draft, they agreed to undrafted free agent deals with tackles Jordan Devey (Memphis), Rogers Gaines (Tennessee State)

Ravens offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie, whose weight and conditioning were scrutinized during his first season in Baltimore, attended this week's organized team activities and has been a regular participant in the team's offseason program for most of the past few weeks. “He's been working really hard,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He's been out here most of the time and conditioning has been a fair amount of a priority. He's done a good job. We'll just have to see how he does.” McKinnie, who is listed at 360 pounds, doesn't appear to have packed on additional pounds since last season.

Each week, we bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player, coach or team executive to help you learn a little more about the team. Today's guest is left tackle Bryant McKinnie . Did you have any apprehension about your first regular-season start with the Ravens after spending the first nine seasons of your career with the Minnesota Vikings? No. When Ray [Lewis] hit me up, I checked out the team to see where I would fit in. I kind of looked at it from that standpoint to see if it would be a good fit for me, and I thought it would be. What about this offensive makeup convinced you to sign with the Ravens?

Football and tennis don't share much in common except perhaps that Raven tackle Bryant McKinnie is crazy about both. So much so that it got McKinnie into the famously gossipy Page Six section of the New York Post. The Post found the big man at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday -- just as he headed into a contract dispute with the team that pays his bills. He was there to watch his good friend Serena Williams in the US Open quarterfinals. "According to a spy, McKinnie, an 11-year NFL vet, 'loves to pick up a racket on his off days . . . often with Serena and Venus Williams.

It looks like Ravens coach John Harbaugh might be forced to start or at least use left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie. The current two starting tackles, Michael Oher on the left and Kelechi Osemele on the right, have struggled against speed rushers and left guard Jah Reid struggles against everybody. McKinnie probably has some rust, and he might not be in top shape having sat on the bench all season, but at least the Ravens would be attempting to get better after struggles in the past three games.

Ravens offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie is so big that he describes his weight in just two digits. The “300” is assumed. McKinnie is still squarely in the 300s, but he says he's been working to cut his weight in the offseason. The offensive tackle told Tim Brando on Yahoo! Sports Radio on Wednesday that his weight is down to 350 pounds. That's down from what he claims was a high of 386 pounds when he played for the Vikings and down 10 pounds from a reported weight of 360 after voluntary workouts.

The improvements in the Ravens offense during the past two weeks can be contributed to the play of quarterback Joe Flacco and the play-calling of offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell. But the most significant improvement has been the addition of left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie. McKinnie has started the past two games, forcing tackle Michael Oher to the right side and Kelechi Osemele to start at left guard. Since then, Flacco has rarely been touched and getting more time to throw.

The common conclusion from the Ravens' decision to re-sign Bryant McKinnie was that the organization wasn't yet comfortable with the idea of Kelechi Osemele starting at left tackle. I'm sure there is plenty of truth to that even though team officials suggest that's not the case. However, the reason why the McKinnie move was a no-brainer - at least in my mind - was that the Ravens couldn't risk potentially weakening two positions along the offensive line. Osemele may very well develop into a quality left tackle in the NFL. However, who replaces Osemele at left guard?

Even if Bryant McKinnie does not prove to be an upgrade over Michael Oher, his return to the Ravens and the left tackle position should at least strengthen the Ravens at left guard and right tackle, where Oher will likely play. Make no mistake, though, Oher will still be in the crosshairs of formidable NFL pass rushers over at right tackle. In a story I wrote in December about Oher's future with the Ravens, I mentioned the theory that in today's NFL, the left tackle position, while still the most important position on the offensive line, might not be as valuable as it was a decade or so ago when Jonathan Ogden was steering pass rushers clear of Ravens quarterbacks.

OK, so now that the Ravens have re-signed left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie to a two-year contract, the real drama begins. We're starting the official McKinnie Watch here. When will he report to training camp? How much will he weigh? When will he be in condition to play his first game? Will his annual visit to coach John Harbaugh's doghouse last 16 games like last season, or will McKinnie not dog it this season? With McKinnie, there is always theater. Just about everybody around town wanted the Ravens to upgrade at the tackle position in the offseason, but when that didn't happen in the NFL draft , the Ravens had virtually no choice but to bring back the often-disgruntled giant left tackle.

The Ravens decision to re-sign Bryant McKinnie reverses an offseason trend that has seen the roster get younger at several key positions. Before agreeing to a two-year deal with the 33-year-old left tackle, the Ravens were without eight of their nine oldest players from the team that beat the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 3 to capture Super Bowl XLVII. That team had 10 players 31 and over. Even with the return of McKinnie, the Ravens now have only three players 31 and over - McKinnie, cornerback Chris Johnson (33)

Football McKinnie, Dolphins meet; Vellano to Pats Ravens veteran free agent offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie visited the Miami Dolphins on Monday and underwent a physical, according to a source. There was no deal immediately with the former Pro Bowl lineman, with the source saying: "Nothing more than [a] visit right now. " Another NFL source familiar with Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland 's thinking on McKinnie described this as a "look-see meeting. " McKinnie got a preliminary inquiry before the NFL draft from the San Diego Chargers, and they talked to him Monday.

The Ravens still have holes. They need to find a starting left tackle, and they could use a No. 2 receiver and add depth at the linebacker and offensive line positions as well. But as the NFL draft ended Saturday night and the Ravens walked out of the auditorium at the team's training complex in Owings Mills, the defending Super Bowl champions appeared to be potentially as good as last year. Because of retirement and free agency, which led to the exodus of several important veterans, the Ravens are lighter on experience but bigger, stronger and faster than a year ago on defense.

Signing running back Ray Rice and quarterback Joe Flacco to contract extensions are no longer the biggest issues facing the Ravens heading into the 2012 training camp. The Ravens have to find a good offensive line, not the bunch of no-names they paraded around in a three day minicamp which ended Thursday. Except for left tackle Michael Oher and right guard Marshal Yanda, who were these masked men? Starting center Matt Birk was a no-show because of a recent surgery to repair varicose veins in his legs, and 2011 starting left tackle Bryant McKinnie didn't participate because the Ravens thought it would be better for him to improve his conditioning instead of practicing.

A half hour into the first full-squad practice of training camp, there is no sign of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata or offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie. Of course, we will let you know if that should change. And we'll try to get an explanation from Ravens head coach John Harbaugh when practice wraps up around 5 p.m. Also missing from practice were the few players on the physical unable to perform list, including defensive end Pernell McPhee, wide receiver David Reed, offensive tackle Jah Reid and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs.

If he had it his way, Kelechi Osemele wouldn't be moving anywhere. The Ravens would re-sign free agent left tackle Bryant McKinnie and the offensive line, minus the retired Matt Birk, would start the 2013 season like it ended last year. "It would be good to have that same lineup but things change and you have to be able to adapt," Osemele said Tuesday. After just one NFL season, Osemele has learned that lesson already. A second-round pick in 2012, Osemele started all 16 regular-season games for the Ravens at right tackle, a position that he hadn't played extensively in several years.

Each spring, as a courtesy to local media and the team's curious fan base, the Ravens hold a pre-draft press conference in which they publicly claim to like pretty much every single NFL prospect they are asked about. (A fictional example: “Rudy, the kid from Notre Dame? He's a little undersized but he plays with a ton of heart.”) But there are always interesting tidbits to take away from this Q-and-A session with general manager Ozzie Newsome, coach John Harbaugh and draft gurus Eric DeCosta and Joe Hortiz.