When the Ravens signed running back Justin Forsett to a one-year contract in April, it hardly made the headlines.
Now his impending free agency is one of the top offseason questions for Baltimore.
Forsett had a breakout campaign during his first year in Baltimore, and he's set to hit the open market after being one of the league's top running backs in 2014.
"This is an organization that first gave me my shot, my first real opportunity," Forsett said Sunday as he packed up his locker. "I would love to stay."
Forsett finished the season with 235 carries for 1,266 yards, which was fifth-best in the NFL. He had eight rushing touchdowns and also added 263 receiving yards. He took over the starting job after the Ravens cut Pro Bowler Ray Rice, and ended up being one of the team's most valuable players.
Before this year, Forsett had started just seven games in his first six seasons and he viewed signing with the Ravens as potentially his final opportunity to show he could be a starting back in the NFL.
"I'm blessed just to have the opportunity to come out and show what I can do," he said. "It's been a long time coming, and I just want to build on it."
As Forsett heads towards free agency, the 29-year-old running back is in position to earn the first big contract of his career. He was previously a seventh-round pick who has played for five teams in his career, and now he could cash in on his successful season.
"There's a business side to it. I've experienced the business side of it," Forsett said. "These guys are familiar with me and they gave me my first real shot, but there's also a business side of it where unfortunately I've been in the 'friend-zone' for most of my career. Hopefully we can get into a deeper commitment somewhere down the road and get some stability."
The other running backs currently on the Ravens roster are Bernard Pierce, Lorenzo Taliaferro and Fitzgerald Toussaint. Taliaferro has to recover from a season-ending foot injury and Pierce is coming off a season where he had the lowest production of his three-year career.
Forsett was the clear bell-cow in the backfield throughout the year, and losing him to free agency would leave the Ravens with a hole in the offense.
"I'll be patient," Forsett said. "Nothing is promised. I've been told a lot of things in my career. I've been cut, released or promised things. My thing is just to be patient, let God sort the rest out. That's all I can do."
