NFL notebook: Ravens GM Newsome to step down after next season

Ozzie Newsome, who built the Baltimore Ravens' two Super Bowl-winning teams, will step down as the team's general manager after the 2018 season and assistant general manager Eric DeCosta will be promoted to take the post. Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti announced Friday that Newsome will move to a scouting and consulting role when his current contract runs out after next season. Biscotti said the decision originally was made when Newsome signed a five-year contract in 2013. Newsome, 61, has been with the Ravens since the team relocated to Baltimore from Cleveland in 1996. Newsome became the Ravens' vice president of player personnel in 1996. He was named Baltimore's general manager in 2002, becoming the league's first minority general manager. DeCosta, 46, has been viewed as Newsome's successor for years, and he has rejected chances to interview elsewhere. --Bisciotti admitted that he considered firing John Harbaugh, who has been at the helm for 10 years, but hasn't been to the playoffs in three straight years. "Certainly, it was a thought," Bisciotti said as reported by the Baltimore Sun. "I was very proud of the way John kept fighting, held the team together when we were losing in the middle of the year. Joe (Flacco) was obviously producing at substandard (level) with his back injury and after the first couple of weeks obviously, we were very encouraged by our defense and thought that could hold us together. "We didn't perform very well in the middle of the year. I was proud of the way we fought back as a team. It was certainly a consideration, but not one that I was inclined to make this year." Harbaugh is under contract through the 2019 season. --New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara is among the favorites for the NFL Rookie of the Year award, but he already can claim the title of the people's choice. Kamara was named the 2017 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year in an online vote of the league's fans conducted on NFL.com. The league will announce its winner of NFL Rookie of the Year on Saturday night. A third-round draft pick out of the University of Tennessee, Kamara has a sensational first season by leading all rookies with 14 touchdowns en route to earning a Pro Bowl berth. --Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones recently underwent sports hernia surgery. Jones posted a video on his Instagram account on Thursday, in which he said: "They tell me I'm going to be better than before." The 34-year-old Jones saw his 2017 season come to end due to the sports hernia, when he was placed on injured reserve by the Bengals on Dec. 9. He is expected to be ready for the team's offseason program. --In February, a Tom Brady collectible jersey sold for $57,500 at auction. Three days before Super Bowl LII, that figure was shattered when a Brady rookie card sold on eBay for $250,000 on Thursday. According to ESPN, the only modern-day card that has sold for more at auction was a LeBron James "Logoman" 1 of 1 rookie card, which sold for $312,000 in 2016. What makes the Brady card so valuable is the autograph and that only 100 were produced in 2000. Of the cards that have been graded by collectors, this card has been graded in the best condition. Joe Prizio made a huge profit on the sale. He bought the card three years ago for $15,000, ESPN reported. --The Carolina Panthers are expected to interview former Detroit Lions executive Martin Mayhew for their general manager opening, according to a published report. Mayhew was added to the list of candidates for the position that is expected to go to interim GM Marty Hurney, profootballtalk.com reported Friday, citing a league source. --Veteran center Nick Mangold missed the 2017 season but is considering a return to the field -- if he's healthy. Mangold, a longtime standout for the New York Jets, told the New York Post that he's not "closing the door" on playing again. Cut by the Jets a year ago after a foot injury ended his 2016 season, Mangold said his surgically repaired ankle continued to bother him in 2017, preventing him from seriously entertaining any offers to play. --When the Kansas City Chiefs agreed to trade Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins, it was assumed Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins would become a free agent. Apparently Cousins expects that, too. "You know, the trade is still agreed to in principle, so it's not set in stone until March 14," Cousins said on the NFL Network on Friday. "But I do expect to be a free agent, but we'll see." Cousins was not aware of the trade until he heard the media reports. "I was working out at my hotel here in Indianapolis, and when the workout ended, I had a long list of text messages and people reaching out," Cousins recalled. "A bunch of friends who said, 'Did you hear the news? Did you hear the news?' So I quickly found out what had happened." --Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who sustained a torn ACL in Week 4 of the 2017 season, is on schedule to return to the field in 2018. Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told the Pioneer Press on Thursday that Cook's recovery could lead to the kind of success that former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had when returned to action in 2012 following an ACL injury. Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards in 2012 and was named the league's MVP. "He's progressed very nicely," Spielman said of Cook. "I talked to (director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer) Eric Sugarman yesterday when we got back in town, and we don't see any reason where he's not going to be where Adrian Peterson was when he came off his knee (injury)." --Eli Manning expects to be the starter for the New York Giants next season, but he will have no problems if the team uses its top pick to select a quarterback in this year's NFL Draft. "Hey, the Giants, it's always, it's about, they got to draft, you know, whether it's the future or for now, they got to figure out how to put the best players on the field," Manning said according to newjersey.com. "Hey, whatever they draft I'm fine with, it's about me doing my job and that's playing quarterback. ... All I can worry about is doing my job. I got to go out there and compete and win games and so if I do that everything else will work itself out." --Owner Arthur Blank of the Atlanta Falcons was asked on the NFL Channel if he wants to make quarterback Matt Ryan "a Falcon for life," and took only an instant to answer in the affirmative. "Yes, yes," Blank said. "I think what's most exciting for me, personally, is that Matt has indicated a number of times that he wants to play another five-to-seven years," Blank said. "And I think he thinks he's Tom Brady -- play to maybe 42, I'm not sure. That would be great, too. But Matt's been a great player for us for 10 years -- both on the field and off the field. So, I'm looking forward to having him extend his contract." --The Indianapolis Colts signed wide receiver Rodney Adams to a reserve/future contract, the team announced. Adams was a member of the Minnesota Vikings' active roster for the first half of the 2017 season but was waived on Oct. 30. He was signed to the team's practice squad two days later.