The good news for the Ravens is that Maclin, after an overnight stay, left Buffalo without signing with the Bills. That afternoon (June 7), he got on a plane to Baltimore. John Harbaugh, who can recruit with the best of them, and Newsome, had made pitches to Maclin. (Harbs said: "Ozzie deserves a lot of credit here.") And, Harbs and Oz would get their opportunity to spend time with Maclin the following morning (Thursday, June 8).

The GM and head coach called on Ravens Wide Receivers Coach Bobby Engram, a former NFL standout (650 catches for 7,751 yards for three teams in a 14-year career), to meet Maclin at the airport and take him to dinner. "I took Jeremy to the hotel downtown and let him get settled, and then we met at Sullivan's for dinner. I also invited Thomas [Hammock, Ravens running backs coach] to come along. He's a top recruiter – did that at Wisconsin – and he was great that night," Engram said.

"To be honest, I really enjoyed the conversation with Jeremy. He's very sharp. He seemed to understand our culture already – our approach to winning. He had very specific questions about what we do on and off the field. By the time we finished, I felt great about him, and I thought he felt very good about us."

(Maclin: "Spending time with Bobby was important. I got the sense of what type of relationship we would have, and I felt good about that. He portrayed a group that was selfless, that had each other's backs. It was genuine, and I had already gotten that message from the texts.")

PARTY AT JEFFERSON'S

That was just the start of the evening for Maclin and the Ravens.

Jefferson was hosting a group of teammates to watch Game 3 of the NBA finals between the Cavs and Warriors. "Tony invited me to come by and meet some of the guys," Maclin said.

"It was a good-sized group and a good cross section of our team," Engram said. "I think this was a very important part of Jeremy's decision. He saw who we were, from a longtime Raven like 'Sizz' [Terrell Suggs], to newer teammates like Tony and Eric [Weddle]. There were at least 15 players there, and they were into the game. I think he was impressed with the whole group."

Jefferson had invited Jeremy that morning, when Maclin was still in Buffalo. "I wanted him to be around our guys – see for himself, how we communicate and react to each other. Our team chemistry is great. And, I wanted him here. I've played against him. He's a beast. I thought he got a really good feel for us that night," Jefferson said.

(Maclin: "It was cool. There was a lot of trash talking about which team would win. You could see the kind of relationships the guys have with each other off the field. It spoke volumes.")

The next morning (June 8), Maclin came to our Under Armour Performance Center, where he received the full-court press from Harbs and Ozzie. But, by chance, there was a huge bonus for us – Steve Smith Sr. was here to do a report for his new boss, the NFL Network. Bingo!

Smith, who had been similarly recruited by the Ravens three years earlier, joined Maclin for breakfast. "You know me, I told the truth." Which was great for us – Steve loved his time with the Ravens and has the utmost respect for Harbs. ("We'll be life-long friends.") He also believes the Ravens will be a serious playoff contender this season.