"The Ravens need to be careful in the way they handle backup running back Willis McGahee during the offseason.

According to an NFL source, the Ravens decided at their recent evaluation meetings not to bring McGahee and his $6 million in base salary back for the 2011 season.

McGahee is under contract to the Ravens for 2011, but 2012 ($6.5 million base salary) and 2013 ($7.2) are option years, according to the seven-year contract he signed in 2007.

When asked if the Ravens were going to cut McGahee, Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome replied: "I have said there will be no players released before March 3."

When asked if McGahee would be on the Ravens roster before the beginning of next season, Newsome said: "Right now, there are a lot of things that could happen before next season."

Newsome must have been pretty good as a youngster playing dodge ball.

But we can read between the lines. The Ravens were content to pay McGahee $3.6 million as a backup last season, but it will be hard to pay him nearly double that amount in the same role in 2011.

Newsome, though, is playing it right. He needs to be tight-lipped because it's to the point now where almost every team needs two good running backs to make it through a season, and the Ravens could use McGahee again as a complement to starter Ray Rice (1,220 yards on 307 carries).

McGahee's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, did not return phone calls to his office the past two days. But it's safe to assume he knows the Ravens will probably cut his client, and McGahee will test the free-agent market."