Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti is in his element this time of year.
Bisciotti made his mark in the business world with his knack for human relations, founding the company Aerotek and growing it into the largest staffing firm in the country. Bisciotti gets to draw on that business acumen as the Ravens build their team every offseason, and the process of putting together the roster is particularly important this year as the Ravens look for ways to rebound from last season's 5-11 finish. * *
"I've always said this is my favorite time of year – the plotting, the strategy, the tough decisions we have to make," Bisciotti said.
Bisciotti trusts the people he has hired to make football decisions, but he also challenges them to be creative. Every offseason, General Manager Ozzie Newsome, Head Coach John Harbaugh, Assistant General Manager Eric DeCosta and President Dick Cass hold an offseason summit at Bisciotti's Florida home to lay out the game plan for the next few months.
They break down the roster and the salary cap, and establish a framework of how they will handle offseason business.
"Steve is such a creative, outside-the-box thinker, and he's going to challenge us in really every direction," Harbaugh said earlier this offseason. "He's going to push the envelope. He's going to suggest things that really just make you scratch your head because he really wants to push the thinking. To me, that's what a great leader does."
Bisciotti has already shown his role and involvement in the offseason process when he gave Newsome his blessing to make a run for safety Eric Weddle in free agency. Bisciotti agreed to potentially part ways with a compensatory pick to have a chance to nab dynamic players in free agency, and the Ravens managed to get the top safety on the market.
Now his charge is for Newsome and the personnel team to make the most out of this year's draft. The Ravens have seven picks in the first 134 picks, and Bisciotti said that he "expects success from the fourth round and up."
"We've got seven picks that I really think we can plug in and fill out our roster," Bisciotti said. "You can't avoid losing. You can avoid compounding your losing."
