John Harbaugh wanted to know how I thought my first-ever free-agent workout went.
The answer? About as good as one could expect from someone who was 45 minutes from a football-related death. Baltimore needed a veteran starting option; I still needed time to recover after Panthers end Al Wallace barreled helmet-first into my spleen in 2006. So I was honest with the guy who might've been my next head coach otherwise.
"Hey, listen," I told Harbaugh. "If you need someone who can suit up for you in Week 1, then I'm not your guy."
You won't find that level of honesty in every free-agent transaction so far.