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Ravens CB McAlister signs seven-year deal

NFL.com wire reports

LANDOVER, Md. (Oct. 10, 2004) -- Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister has signed a seven-year contract that will enable Baltimore to keep the Pro Bowl player through 2010 and allow him to shed his unwanted tag as the team's franchise player.

McAlister and the Ravens reached an agreement the afternoon of Oct. 9, general manager Ozzie Newsome said before Baltimore faced the Washington Redskins.

McAlister has been the team's franchise player each of the past two seasons. He made no secret of his displeasure over the designation, and sat out most of training camp this summer as a protest.

"Chris can go out and cover some of the better receivers in the league. He proved that last year and this year," Newsome said. "I think we've shown that you win with defense, and if you're going to play good defense you've got to have good corners."

McAlister's agent, Mitch Frankel, and the Ravens had been talking since August about a new contract, and the sides drew closer in recent weeks before finally closing the deal.

The Ravens would not disclose the terms of the deal, and Frankel did not immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press.

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The 27-year-old McAlister was drafted by the Ravens with the 10th overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. He earned a Pro Bowl berth for the first time last season after making three interceptions and batting away 16 passes.

His 15 interceptions rank fourth on the Ravens' career list. Coming into the Redskins game, he had one interception this season -- which he returned for a touchdown -- and ranked fourth on the team with 52 tackles.

McAlister wasn't available to comment, but Newsome said the cornerback was delighted to finally get a deal.

"Oh, yeah. Having to go through the franchise tag twice, I don't think he wanted to do that," Newsome said.

McAlister had said that being a franchise player hindered his effort to sign a long-term contract. He won't have to worry about that anymore.

"There's no doubt that he's going to be paid as one of the better cornerbacks in the league and one of the better defensive players in the league," Newsome said. "From the Ravens' position, this just is another one of our commitments to retain as many players as we can as we move forward."

McAlister served as one of the Ravens' co-captains for the Redskins game.


AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

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