Ozzie Newsome basically called out the doubters Tuesday. The Baltimore Ravens general manager addressed the media during a pre-draft news conference and defended his offseason moves.
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"We like our football team this year. I'd like for someone to tell us we're not good enough to go to the playoffs right now," Newsome said to reporters, via USA Today. "Can anyone say that? OK.
"Well, then, we just wanted to make sure that when we looked downstream, we were able to keep the Torrey Smiths, the Dennis Pittas, guys we wanted to keep. And if you don't make tough decisions this year, then it would be tougher to keep those guys in years to come."
Remember the panic and criticism when the Ravens parted ways with Anquan Boldin, Dannell Ellerbe, Paul Kruger, Ed Reed, Cary Williams, Brendon Ayanbadejo and Bernard Pollard? Big names were leaving at a regular clip before the Ravens became active. During that time they signed Elvis Dumervil, Michael Huff, Rolando McClain, Marcus Spears and Chris Canty.
Newsome told everyone to trust him early in the process. He basically said, "I told you so," on Tuesday.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.