TAG

When was the last time you really needed a Band-Aid? It doesn't count if you have extremely dry skin on your hands, and you've currently bandaged your knuckles so they don't crack and bleed. Sorry, that's not an injury -- that's a chronic, age-related condition that's not going to go away until the seasons change. And it won't be fooled by the recent acceleration of the onset of daylight-saving time, either. What I'm looking for is evidence of the caliber of injury sustained during childhood.

The Ravens are not expected to use the franchise tag on All-Pro linebacker Adalius Thomas, although the team will wait until today before making a final decision. The sides are talking about a long-term contract for Thomas, and the Ravens could be using the threat of the tag to get a deal done. The deadline to use the tag is today. By using the tag for 2007, the Ravens can keep Thomas from becoming a free agent by paying him $7.2 million, which is the average of the five highest-paid linebackers in the league.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome didn't sound optimistic yesterday that All-Pro linebacker Adalius Thomas would return to the team next season. Thomas, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent later this week, could have been kept out of the free-agent market with a franchise tag, but that would have cost the Ravens a one-year, $7.2 million contract (which is the average of the five highest-paid linebackers in the NFL). But by Thursday's deadline, the Ravens declined to make the move.

Give M-TAG a fair chanceAs executive secretary of the Maryland Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees Maryland's seven toll facilities, I would like to respond to Gregory Williams' letter to the editor regarding the state's new M-TAG electronic toll-collection system (M-TAG system broke what didn't need fixing," May 20).Mr. Williams is correct that the transition and testing phases of the new program have caused some additional delays at the toll plazas. The temporary delays have started to subside since April 21 as the first commuters began to use the M-TAG system in staffed toll lanes at the Baltimore-area plazas.

A bill aimed at nudging people out of their cars and onto mass transit was bolstered in Annapolis yesterday by a rare coalition of environmentalists and business groups."

Ravens starting left offensive guard James Atkins will probably sit out Saturday night's preseason game against the Falcons in Atlanta.Atkins, who was splitting time at left guard with Everett Lindsay, strained his hamstring in the first half of last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Atkins said the injury occurred when he changed direction on a running play and, after jumping over a player, another player stepped on his foot.Atkins took a cortisone shot recently and said he felt better.

Motorists interested in participating in the state's new electronic toll-collecting system -- soon to be in use at the Fort McHenry Tunnel, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and the Key Bridge -- can sign up for the program beginning today.The M-TAG program is scheduled to begin early next month with an estimated 70,000 drivers participating. In its first phase, M-TAG will be available to commuters in cars, minivans, pickup trucks and other two-axle vehicles.Motorists who establish payment accounts with the Maryland Transportation Authority will be able to roll through "M-TAG Members Only" lanes at tollbooths without stopping.

The Maryland Transportation Authority will expand its electronic toll system to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway early next year, officials said yesterday.Motorists who use the system, known as M-TAG, receive a small plastic box containing a computer chip, which is affixed to the windshield. The system, which deducts the toll electronically from the driver's prepaid account, helps reduce traffic jams because it permits motorists to pass through toll gates without stopping.M-TAG lanes can handle 1,100 vehicles an hour, compared with about 500 at traditional tollbooths handling cash or tickets.

Protest budget cuts that threaten services our veterans needAs we approach Memorial Day, the day we set aside to honor our veterans, the budget Congress is preparing will apparently cut thousands of Veterans Affairs (VA) health-care jobs and eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars from other programs for veterans when the next fiscal year begins in October.Although Congress has added money to the president's proposed budget for veterans, the amount still falls far short of what is needed to provide quality health care.

Looking to relieve traffic on Carroll County's congested roads, Commissioner Donald I. Dell has again floated the idea of extending Interstate 795, a move that would create a superhighway from downtown Baltimore to Westminster.The state has no plans to fulfill such a pipe dream -- one with a $600 million to $1 billion price tag -- but Dell's idea revived nightmare visions of development steamrolling through neighborhoods, farmland and wetlands."You would be opening that whole corridor there for development, all that agricultural land," observed outgoing Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown, who was defeated Tuesday in a race for the House of Delegates.

There are no signs that the Ravens and Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs will reach a new contract before Wednesday's NFL deadline. Suggs, to whom the Ravens applied the franchise tag for the second straight year, said 2 1/2 weeks ago that the sides "were close" on a long-term deal. But no agreement appears imminent after the sides talked late last week. The deadline to reach a new contract with franchise players is Wednesday. If no deal is struck, the sides can't sign a deal until after the season and Suggs would earn $10.2 million this year under the tag. Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome is on vacation and couldn't be reached for comment.

Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs said Friday that he is nearing a long-term deal with the Ravens, a contract that surprisingly wouldn't make him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. The league deadline to reach a new contract with players who have received the franchise tag is July 15. If no deal can be struck, Suggs would play under the franchise tag for a second straight season, earning $10.2 million this year. "We are close to an agreement. We just have a few little things to work out," Suggs told The Baltimore Sun. "I don't want to go into great detail, but it's things like the years of the agreement and incentives, but the basic framework has been done."

The New England Patriots must feel certain Tom Brady's injured knee will be fine next season. After putting the franchise tag on Matt Cassel as insurance for their two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, the Patriots shipped Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday. The Chiefs gave up the 34th pick in the April draft for both players. The Chiefs have the third overall selection after a franchise-worst 2-14 season. In yielding their second-round draft choice, they acquire a reliable 12-year veteran linebacker and a proven young quarterback.

The Carolina Panthers placed the franchise tag on defensive end Julius Peppers yesterday, setting up a potentially nasty showdown with their four-time Pro Bowl defensive end who wants to play elsewhere next season. The move came moments after the Panthers signed All-Pro left tackle Jordan Gross to a six-year deal worth more than $30 million in the first three seasons. That cleared the way for Carolina to use the team's only franchise tag on Peppers, who had 14 1/2 sacks last season but expressed his desire to leave the Panthers and their 4-3 scheme for a team that plays a 3-4 defense.

The Ravens placed the franchise tag on Terrell Suggs yesterday, keeping the Pro Bowl linebacker-defensive end for another season while trying to work out a long-term deal. "This is news to me," Suggs said yesterday of being franchised. "I didn't know. Last year they called me when they franchised me, and I expected the same thing this year. There is nothing I can really do about it." When asked whether he were angry or whether the Ravens might eventually sign him to a long-term deal, Suggs said: "We'll wait and see. I'm at the airport and on a plane from Arizona back to Baltimore.

Reports: Haynesworth to test free-agent market NFL Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth has decided to test the free-agent market, according to various media reports. The NFL Network first reported that the two-time All Pro will become a free agent after weeks of discussions between his agent, Chad Speck, and the Titans. Free agency begins at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 27. Haynesworth led the Titans with a career-high 8 1/2 sacks last season. More Titans: : Tennesee agreed to terms with kicker Rob Bironas on a multiyear contract.

While the Ravens ended any mystery surrounding the franchise tag - general manager Ozzie Newsome said yesterday they plan to use it to keep Terrell Suggs off the free-agent market - some uncertainty remains. If the Ravens and Suggs can't strike a new deal by tomorrow, how will Suggs, a Pro Bowl linebacker, take being tagged for a second straight season? Suggs, who has talked about his desire to stay with the Ravens (even suggesting a hometown discount), recently said he wants a long-term deal, not the franchise tag. "If they don't see me in their future long term, do not draw me out when I'm 26," Suggs told TRA Sports 910 in Phoenix on Friday during NBA All-Star festivities.

Seventeen days before free agency formally arrives, the negotiating table between Ray Lewis and the Ravens is littered with propositions, mixed signals and perhaps even some wishful thinking. Ravens coach John Harbaugh is the latest to enter the dialogue. While in Honolulu for the Pro Bowl last week, Harbaugh sounded cautiously optimistic that the team will keep its All-Pro middle linebacker. "Ray Lewis is going to be a guy we're going to pay a lot of money to in order to keep," Harbaugh told USA Today.

TAMPA, FLA. - In his first comments to the Baltimore media this offseason, Ray Lewis yesterday was noncommittal about his chances of staying with the Ravens. Lewis, 33, will become an unrestricted free agent in 29 days unless the Ravens use the franchise tag on him or the Pro Bowl linebacker strikes a new deal with the team. It would mark the first time in Lewis' 13-year career that the face of the Ravens' franchise reached free agency. "What I'm thinking, nobody needs to know," said Lewis, who was at the Super Bowl promoting Xbox 360 and the Madden Bowl.

This debate might be moot, since Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti has already said the team would not put the franchise tag on Ray Lewis. Then again, he also said Brian Billick's job was safe right before he fired him. As it pertains to franchising Lewis, the question isn't "will they?" It's "should they?" If the Ravens believe putting the tag on Lewis increases their chances of making a Super Bowl run next season, then they should not hesitate to do it. The Ravens have a responsibility to do what's best for the team, not what's best for any individual player, even one as great as Lewis.