Dannell Ellerbe

Less than two weeks after signing a one-year contract with the Ravens, linebacker Rolando McClain was arrested in Decatur, Ala., on Sunday and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. McClain, who is from Decatur and played college football at Alabama, was arrested after an incident at Pines Park, according to a police report. Police officers arrived at Pines Park in response to a reported disturbance, resulting from what witnesses said was somebody spitting on McClain's car, according to Lt.

The conversations didn't just start in the aftermath of the Ravens' victory in Super Bowl XLVII. They actually began four months earlier when Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome , owner Steve Bisciotti and coach John Harbaugh started to meet and plan for 2013 and beyond. “What happened after we won the Super Bowl, that's something that Steve, John and I probably started talking about in October, November, as to what the team was going to look like in 2013,” Newsome said yesterday.

Here is a roundup of which first-round draft prospects the Ravens are linked to in 2013 NFL mock drafts. --- Pat Kirwan of CBS Sports predicts the Ravens will take LSU inside linebacker Kevin Minter at pick No. 32. “Some believe Manti Te'o is a better pick for the Ravens,” Kirwam wrote. “But I studied both and prefer Minter because he has better pass-drop awareness and plays under more control.” --- Don Banks of Sports Illustrated also thinks the Ravens will draft Minter -- unless they trade the pick to someone else . “If the Ravens don't choose to replace one of the inside linebackers they lost (Dannell Ellerbe and Ray Lewis)

Would you march out of a movie theater seven minutes into the feature presentation because there weren't enough explosions for your liking? Would you take a couple nibbles out of a grilled cheese sandwich, only to send it back to the kitchen because, for whatever reason, you were hoping it would taste more like lobster? Would you sell the big, brand-new house you just moved into because you found a leak in your basement? How about this one: Would you throw your hands up in disgust if your favorite team -- one that happened to win the Super Bowl just a few weeks ago -- didn't make any major moves in the first 11 days of free agency?

The new general of the Ravens defense had been quiet ever since the team won the Super Bowl in early February. Terrell Suggs was silent as top young linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Paul Kruger signed lucrative contracts elsewhere, and the older players like Anquan Boldin, Ed Reed and Bernard Pollard were shown the door. With those departures, Suggs had become the team's defensive leader by deed and default. But on Sunday night, minutes before he agreed to an interview, the Ravens Pro Bowl outside linebacker/defensive end learned that the Ravens had agreed in principle with another Pro Bowl player, former Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil.

Maybe now some of the Ravens fans will stop whining. Oh, they let Ed Reed go, they let Dannell Ellerbe go, they let Paul Kruger go, they cut Bernard Pollard ... Whine, whine, whine ... The entire time I kept saying the Ravens were making the right moves and they still could make a big, major acquisition. Forget the salary cap baloney -- when a team wants to make a deal, when they feel a player is a priority, then they can make the deal regardless of cap status. It might cost them a veteran or two, and it might hurt in the future, but it can happen.

Jeff Zrebiec, reporter: You knew at some point the Ravens would strike in the free agent market, and they did in a big way Sunday night, agreeing in principle on a five-year deal with Elvis Dumervil. With both of their starting inside linebackers, one of their starting corners and both their starting safeties gone from last year, the Ravens obviously still have some work to do. But they have helped their run defense with the addition of Chris Canty and Marcus Spears and their pass rush could be scary with Dumervil and the healthy trio of Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and Pernell McPhee.

Believe it or not, Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens have a plan. It might not have seemed like it to you when they let one of the greatest players in team history, Ed Reed, head to Houston. Or when they traded Anquan Boldin, a playoff hero and their leading receiver the past three years. Or when they said goodbye to their top tacklers from their Super Bowl season, Bernard Pollard and Dannell Ellerbe; their leader in sacks, Paul Kruger; and their co-leader in interceptions (along with Reed)