Look, I don't care one way or the other where Steve McNair plays football next year.  I'm a Philly fan and an NFC guy and I don't think the odds are good that either the Titans or the Ravens will be in next year's Super Bowl. 

The team is understandably leery about exposing itself to a tremendous financial risk.  These days, McNair's oft-injured body seems like it's being held together by little more than bubblegum and baling wire.  But he still wants to play, and as last year's stats demonstrate, he can still get it done.

So I understand how both sides got to this point.  What I don't understand is why free agency began two months ago and this silly soap opera is still being played out.

If published reports are to be believed, the Ravens have already reached a conditional contract agreement with McNair, pending his release or trade.  The sticking point is the Titans, who are holding out for a higher draft choice than the Ravens have offered.  The Titans will eventually have to release McNair, but they've threatened to hang on to him until the middle of July, giving him almost no opportunity to learn a new offense before training camp begins. 

This is pure spite.  The Titans aren't going to keep McNair on the payroll.  He just wants an opportunity to go somewhere and play.  And the Ravens have finally realized how very few plays quarterbacks are called on to make from their knees. 

McNair's a class act.  For 12 years he's played through an array of injuries that would have had most of us eyeing a cushy slot on the Fox pre-game show.  If the Titans are ready to move on, simple decency demands that they repay this loyalty by giving him the chance to succeed at his next position. 

There's another reason for doing the right thing here.  As Philadelphia Eagles fans are painfully aware, team distractions that linger have a nasty habit of metastasizing and affecting an entire team.  Air McNair is no TO (somehow with all those nasty hits over the years he's still managed to hold onto his soul), but all it takes is one Titans' vet popping off about the way the team is treating McNair and suddenly you have a full-on media feeding frenzy. 

Not to mention, karma's a $%@^&.