State of AFC North: Familiar face re-joining AFC North; Tomlin hopes for 'change in behavior'

The Ravens owner thinks his defense still needs to be upgraded more this offseason. The Browns certainly started off this offseason unusually slow, but they seem to be attempting to make up for it by bringing in Robert Griffin III. Will he be enough to turn around the franchise? Le'Veon Bell takes a shot at Tampa Bay's backfield, and Mike Tomlin hopes the new ejection rule helps sportsmanship in the NFL. Maybe it can start with his staff.

Baltimore Ravens

Terrence Cody sentenced to 9 months in detention center in animal cruelty case

Former Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman, Terrence Cody was convicted in November of multiple misdemeanors in connection with the death of his dog last year, as well as two misdemeanor drug charges. Per the court, Cody's dog starved to death. The judge also sentenced Cody to probation before judgment for illegally possessing an alligator and for possessing drug paraphernalia, per the Baltimore Sun. Cody hasn't been a Raven for 13 months, and didn't play in the NFL last season. It's safe to say his NFL career is over.

Ravens have 'unofficial agreement' with running back Trent Richardson

The Ravens are about to commit to a low risk commitment that hopefully, for them, yields great results. Nothing is official yet, but the fact John Harbaugh is talking about it probably means it's just a matter of time. The Ravens are far from needing a running back. They already have Justin Forsett and drafted Javorius Allen last year, but it never hurts to have some competition at the bottom of the depth chart. Odds are Trent Richardson won't be making an impact in the NFL, but if he is motivated enough the Ravens could be getting a bargain. (Probably not though.)

Ravens owner sees 2 needs for team

Baltimore Ravens owner,  Steve Bisciotti, sees two clear needs going into the draft for the Ravens. Those needs are corner and pass rusher. Pass rusher might become even more of a need pending Terrell Suggs' situation. Suggs was charged with two misdemeanors stemming from a car accident that led to police realizing Suggs was driving with a suspended license.

The Ravens can obviously address one of those needs with the sixth overall pick, but Bisciotti doesn't expect just one impact player from this draft.

"We’ve got seven picks in those first four rounds," Bisciotti said in an interview with CSN. "As an owner, I’ve kind of come to expect contributions from fourth-rounders or better, and don’t expect anything after it. The rest of it’s bonus. Then we get those (John) Urschel's and Ricky Wagner's (both offensive line fifth-round picks). To me that’s icing on the cake."

It's a lofty goal to expect rookies to come in and contribute right away, but Baltimore's draft record speaks for itself.

Cleveland Browns

Will Robert Griffin III be enough for the Browns?

The Browns made it official on Thursday and signed former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III to a two year deal with the base value of $15 million with escalators that can make it worth $22 million. Griffin will now transition from one former Bengals offensive coordinator, Jay Gruden, to another, Hue Jackson.

Cleveland is hoping Jackson handles Griffin better than Gruden did. It is hard to tell what Griffin will be capable of in Cleveland. He didn't play a single snap for Washington last season, and the year before was benched for Kirk Cousins. Griffin also was harshly criticized for how he handled losing. Still it is a fresh start for Griffin after what he described as a rough situation in Washington, but should the Browns still consider drafting a quarterback with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft?

This feels like a move to potentially take the pressure off any quarterback that the Browns may draft, whether that be the number two pick or someone later on. Many still think Cleveland should take a flyer on a quarterback in the draft, including Mike Mayock. By having Griffin start, the Browns can use the old way of developing a quarterback and have him sit a season behind a veteran.

If Griffin does somehow turn it around in Cleveland, it would be an interesting situation having a top draft prospect sitting on their bench, but can we address how unlikely it is Griffin succeeds in Cleveland? First off, Griffin hasn't been successful in the NFL since his rookie campaign when the read option destroyed the NFL. The following season he struggled, after an injury to be fair, but during his two year war with Gruden, the NFL has caught up with the read option (just ask Colin Kaepernick). Now I'm not saying it's impossible that Griffin can turn the clock back to his rookie season, but it remains to be seen if he is still that guy.

Overall it is a very safe situation for Cleveland if they end up drafting a quarterback to develop to pair along with this signing. Putting all their eggs in Griffin's basket with this roster could end poorly for everyone involved.

Josh McCown now on the trading block?

With RGIII in Cleveland, is Josh McCown on the trading block?

With RGIII set to become a Brown today, that figures to make Josh McCown available in a trade. Jets, Broncos, Rams still with QB questions.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 24, 2016

If this happens, it would further the point that the Browns are still going to draft a quarterback this year. Plus there is no more need for a gap filler quarterback with Griffin coming to town.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Do the Bucs have the best RB duo? Steelers' Le'Veon Bell calls that 'comedyyyyyyy'

Le'Veon Bell saw a story saying Tampa Bay has the best running back tandem, and since Bell himself is part of a pretty good tandem himself, he took offense to this. Doug Martin, the second leading rusher from last season, and Charles Sims, who logged 51 receptions to go along with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage, are definitely on the rise as far as talented running backs, but they probably wouldn't qualify as the best, yet. Bell and DeAngelo Williams certainly have a case for themselves, but Bell is wrong if he thinks his seven y's in comedy is accurate to how big the gap between the two groups is.

Mike Tomlin hopes new ejection rule 'changes behavior'

Mike Tomlin shared his thoughts on the new rule to eject players after two personal fouls.

"The goal is not to eject people from the game. The goal is to change behavior," he said via NFL.com.

It's a funny how he uses the word "behavior." For the Steelers, it's not only players committing these offenses, it's the Steelers' coaches, too. The two most recent incidents involved Mike Munchak pulling Reggie Nelson's hair on the sideline and Joey Porter getting involved in a war of words with various Bengals players on the field during the Wild Card game. Adding to that, Tomlin himself was involved in an act that showed quite awful behavior when during a Thanksgiving game between the Steelers and Ravens, Jacoby Jones was on his way to returning a kick for touchdown for the Ravens, when his progress was impeded by Tomlin stepping on the field. Jones was soon after tackled, and the Ravens had to settle for a field goal. At what point does the attention get pointed at Tomlin and his staff rather than Tomlin saying he'd like to see a change in the behavior of others?