I, for one, cannot wait to watch Keanu Reeves air it out next season. His flowing hair and angelic ability to dance around a jail cell only add to the excitement. This is going to be the best season in quite a long time.

There are several problems with the players’ union and team owners inability to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. That’s pretty obvious though. I mean, who really wants to spend next year actually watching the World Series while the weight of anguish rests on our minds as we remember the fun memories football has brought us all. It’s like losing a family pet. A giant, rich, heavily padded family pet.

With the pending lockout come even more questions. The biggest one as of right now for the Baltimore Ravens is what exactly to do with Willis McGahee. Let’s delve, shall we?

In order for the Ravens to keep Willis, he will have to take a pay cut. There is no way around that. When he was traded to Baltimore before the ’07-’08 season, he was a top tier running back in the NFL. The Ravens acquired him to turn their running game into a real force to be reckoned with. However, since those days, a little guy we all know as Ray Rice has stolen the spotlight and pushed McGahee into a backup role. Poor Willis.

So the time has come to pay the piper. The University of Miami star is owed $6 million this year. He also has options for the next two years that increase up to $7.2 mil. That’s a lot of bones! Needless to say, this hit doesn’t sit very well with Ravens’ brass. Rightfully so, they can’t bring themselves to invest that sort of money into a player who only saw 100 carries last year. If I had $6 million dollars, I can think of a ton of things I’d rather spend it on. Like a horse. Or a really big birthday cake.

But as a backup, McGahee feels as if he still has it to be a starter for an NFL team. With the power of positive thinking, he knows that there is a team out there whose backfield is so bad *cough* Arizona, Seattle, Washington *cough* that he could make an honest living pounding out yardage. And really, I can’t blame him for his ‘half glass full’ mentality. He’s a powerful back, and his bulk and agility should be very intriguing to several teams. And because of this, the Ravens will have to face competition for his services. I’ll save you from the five syllable economic terms that I use on a daily basis in normal conversations with all my Wall Street friends (mainly Michael Douglas) and just say that his price will be more than the Ravens will want to pay for a backup. Because of this, McGahee will hop onto his horse and ride off into the sunset.

At first, I was hopeful. I can easily say that I was among a good majority of fans who were crossing their fingers, wishing that Willis will find his undying love for the city of Baltimore and the team he plays for, demand a pay cut for the good of the team, and move on with his NFL career. In a perfect world, McGahee would do what he does, not just for the passion of the game, but for the love of the team he plays for and the players and coaches that surround him and see him still as an intricate part of the game plan.

But, like with most situations in professional sports, McGahee’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus made it apparent that Willis would be looking for a trade or his release. Just yesterday, the bad news found its way out of the bag, and Baltimore will be back to looking for a capable, veteran running back to provide backup to Ray Rice.

None of it came unexpected. But that’s not to say that the disappointment is any less. McGahee is still a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. He’s bulky and powerful, and has learned to become a solid option in goal line situations as well as on 3rd downs. For the Ravens, that is bad news. What once was a good player they were relying on will now become a threat that they will no longer have.

The question still remains- will the Ravens be able to trade McGahee to somebody, or will they get next to nothing in return for granting him his release? Recent history has to side with the hope that GM Ozzie Newsome will be able to find somebody willing to give up a late round draft pick or two in exchange for McGahee’s services. We all know what Baltimore is capable of at the draft, and the more draft picks the better. However, if no team is willing to work something out (a true possibility considering the NFL knows that McGahee will be released if he is not traded), Ravens’ fans will have to watch as the return on their once featured running back is next to nothing.

If McGahee walks, what players will the Ravens take a look at? Will they attempt to draft a solid backup with one of their later round draft picks? Will they test the free agent market for a veteran RB who can fill the void? With the CBA deadline looming, no question can be answered without some sort of ambiguity. There are too many “whats” and “ifs” still lingering because of the biggest question of them all. Will there be a season in 2011? One thing is for sure- Willis McGahee is hoping there will be because he believes he still has a lot to prove.

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