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The Baltimore Ravens are starting to heat up the free-agency oven as today they picked up another free-agent. Marcus Spears announced on twitter earlier that he is now a Baltimore Raven. This moves comes after the Baltimore Ravens signed Chris Canty and shows that Ozzie Newsome's goal this offseason is truly to shore up the middle of the defense as he has now signed two solid run-stuffers.
Spears, 30, has spent the last eight years in Dallas picking up 8 sacks and 185 tackles. In the first half of his career he played on the same time with recently signed DE Chris Canty. A bit of interesting statistic here from BaltimoreRavens.com:
Spears and Canty both came into the league at the same time with Dallas in 2005. Spears was a first-round pick and Canty was a fourth rounder. During their four years together, the Cowboys' run defense ranked 15th, 10th, 6th and 12th in the league, respectively.
Spears looks to be a solid signing and with a 2-year, $3.4 million deal he comes for a bargain. Call me crazy but I am actually excited to see what our defense will look like next year!
Official Press Release:
RAVENS AGREE TO TERMS WITH DE SPEARS
The Baltimore Ravens have an agreement in principle on a two-year contract with DE Marcus Spears, vice president and general manager Ozzie Newsome announce Friday evening.
“The base of a good defense is to be good along the defensive line,” Newsome stated. “We didn’t play to our standards last season, partly because of injury. With the expected better health of players like Haloti Ngata and Pernell McPhee and the additions of Marus Spears and Chris Canty, we have a chance to improve. Spears, like Canty, can play multiple positions along the line. He brings a lot of snaps and big game experience to us. We like the way Marcus plays. He will fit in with the Ravens way of playing.”
Originally a first-round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys (20th overall in 2005), Spears has played in 119 games, including 89 starts, collecting 185 tackles (85 solo), 8 sacks, 2 FFs, 1 FR and 9 PD in his eight-year career.
Spears is expected to be in Baltimore in the next three days to take a physical and sign his contract.