Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti knows he has a luxury, and he’s not afraid to gloat about it.
Not only does he have one of the top General Managers in the game in Ozzie Newsome, but he has an heir apparent in Eric DeCosta that doesn’t seem interested in ever leaving.
DeCosta turned down a chance to interview for the Titans job, the latest in a string of telling teams “No, thanks.”
Via Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun, Bisciotti said he had “the best of both worlds: I have two GMs, and everybody in the league knows that.”
“Every year, somebody comes and says, ‘Are you itching yet?’ ” Bisciotti said of DeCosta. “And he doesn’t. I usually have to bump his pay, but realistically, he has too much at stake here in his relationship with Ozzie, and Ozzie’s relationship with him is just strong.
“I commend him for his patience, because I know there are other guys that are GMs that they chose [to leave their original teams]. Because Eric wasn’t interested in the last five, six years, and he probably could’ve had 10 different jobs.
“But I will say that seven of those 10 [General Managers] have been relieved of their duties already. I think that’s where Eric would say [he has] his patience. Because we promote continuity, Eric can afford to be patient. He wouldn’t be patient if we were turning people over all the time. If he wasn’t patient, I would’ve gotten rid of Ozzie seven years ago and hired Eric, and Eric would’ve been out four years ago, and I would’ve had somebody else sitting up here. It’s a testament to him.”
Of course, Newsome doesn’t appear on the verge of leaving, saying this year only boosted his enthusiasm for the job to get the Ravens back to the playoffs. And DeCosta keeps turning down chances to leave, which gives the Ravens a deep front office, which gives them a better chance to recover.