Steve Bisciotti has enjoyed a great run of success with back-to-back playoff seasons, but the Ravens' owner knows there are some intriguing questions facing the future of his franchise and the NFL. At the league annual meetings Monday in Orlando, Fla., Bisciotti spoke with The Baltimore Sun's Jamison Hensley about the big-picture outlook for his front office, the timeline for coach John Harbaugh's extension, his reluctance to talk to safety Ed Reed about retirement and the prospects of no football in 2011.

Question: Do you expect a lockout in 2011?

Answer: I'm very optimistic that we'll get a deal. Whether that's pre-March [2011] or before the preseason opener, I don't know that. I'm not on the labor committee. I'm very optimistic that we're going to be playing football in 2011. There is enough intelligent and talented people on both sides of that table that are going to get it done.

Labor peace is the biggest incentive for me, period. Everything else matters to me: the discontinuation of my business, the effect that it has on fans and stadium workers. I think our country could go into a mental collapse if we don't have football for a year (Bisciotti smiles).

Everybody knows how important the league is. Appreciating the importance of football is the reason why I remain optimistic. They'll find a way to get it done.

Q: Eric DeCosta, the Ravens' director of player personnel, removed himself from the Seattle Seahawks general manager search this past season. Have you talked to him becoming the general manager-in-waiting to Ozzie Newsome?

A: When he turned down the Seattle offer, we didn't encourage him to do that. He did that on his own, which inspired us to say, 'Get through the draft, and we'll talk about your future.' I think Eric knows how highly regarded he is in Baltimore, but when you have a guy as successful as Ozzie Newsome in the job, there's not a ton of promises that you can make.

If Ozzie had indicated to me that he was on a short-term time frame, then I could be more pro-active with Eric. But we want Oz to be here as long as Ozzie wants to be here. I've been given no indication that that's anytime soon. But we'll sit down with Eric and talk to him about his future.

I think Eric is smart enough to see what happened with Phil [Savage] and George [Kokinis], and he'll probably limit himself to consideration of just a handful of jobs. His relationship with Ozzie is just as solid as any relationship I've seen in the NFL. He's so happy in his job that I think it will take a perfect job to get his serious consideration. Eric is going to make a great GM someday.

Q: What assurances can you give DeCosta?

A: I can't really say until Dick [Cass, team president], Ozzie and I get it done. We're going to try to create incentives for him to want to stay. Most of that incentive is built-in in that he loves his job and he loves Baltimore. I think it would take an incredible offer from an incredible team in a perfect city for Eric to say he's not willing to wait.

Q: Have you talked to Ozzie Newsome about his future?

A: Enough to know that Ozzie doesn't have an end game in mind. If he did, then it would make it easier to talk about Eric's future.

Q: Ravens safety Ed Reed has talked about possibly retiring. Have you spoken with him?

A: It's something that I've wanted to do. It's like scratching that itch. I desperately want to get an inside track at it, yet I don't know whether he would appreciate being asked his status. I'm rather confident that anything I would say wouldn't influence his decision. That's the reality. As much as I want to know, I don't think my begging is going to change his final decision. I have to refrain from calling him because I know it's not going to change things.

Q: You know Ed Reed. Do you think he will retire this season or next?

A: I don't know Ed that well. But the one thing I do sense is that he'll be happy and content being a high school football coach, if that's what he chooses to do. He has a special demeanor that he could be happy to walk away. But I also think that Ed could be happy playing until he's 38 years old. When you're dealing with an injury, it's got to be weighing heavily on his mind.

Q: Your first three moves of free agency -- signing Donte' Stallworth, trading for Anquan Boldin and retaining Derrick Mason -- all involved wide receivers. Are you happy how the Ravens upgraded that position?

A: I was as happy the day we re-signed Mason as I was the night we signed Boldin because it gives us a clearer picture of the addition of Boldin without the subtraction of Mason. Like everybody else, I would be waiting for six months if we were really that much better if we switched them out. We have been unfairly singled out as a team without a legit No. 1 [receiver]. Yet all Mason does is get 80 catches and 1,000 yards every year. It's disrespectful to him. If a true No. 1 means he gets 10 more catches and 125 more yards in 16 games, then we got two of them right now. And I believe that.

Q: One of the more controversial moves this offseason was the addition of Stallworth, who pleaded guilty last year to DUI manslaughter. Did you have any hesitation in signing him?

A: No. None whatsoever. I think I've said it a couple of times in press conferences that I think mistakes are different that consistent signs of poor character. If it's repeated over and over, then I think character is in question. Most times when something like this happens and somebody is given a second chance, they take full advantage of it. The people that Ozzie and Eric talk to in making that decision, they were 100 percent comfortable with that decision by the time I was brought into the equation.

Q: The Ravens gave up third- and fourth-round picks for Boldin. Was that too much to give up?

A: Obviously, we gave up the right amount or else we wouldn't have gotten him. So the right amount is a little more than somebody else was offering and enough for Arizona to bite. We gave up exactly what we needed to give up to get Anquan, and I'm thrilled that we still have our first- and second-round picks. I think it's a great deal, and I'm sure Arizona thinks so, too.

Q: With these receivers, do you think Joe Flacco can be judged fairly as a quarterback now?

A: I think he will be. I don't know how deserved that is. I think if we had done nothing, Flacco would have grown and developed and become better at his craft because he's a worker. He's a dedicated guy. I think there is going to be more scrutiny and more expectations for Joe. But I'm glad that's happening in his third year. I think that's good for him to have the weapons so there is a challenge for him to rise to. And I believe he will rise to.

Q: Harbaugh is entering the third year of a four-year contract. Any thoughts of giving him an extension?

A: I don't have a great history with extensions and head coaches, do I? (Bisciotti smiles, alluding to the fact that coach Brian Billick lasted only one year into a four-year extension). To say I'm a bit gun shy would be an understatement. I think I would like to be paying just one coach for a minute before I start talking about extensions.

I'm two years into a four-year contract. I don't there were any expectations that when we signed a four-year contract that we'd be back renegotiating after two years. I think both John and I are comfortable waiting a year. I think we'll be adding an extension after a year. I think it's safe to say I wouldn't let him go into his last year without an extension. I think this time next year, you'll be getting a thumbs up that we're negotiating an extension.

Q: When you hired Harbaugh, it was considered a risk because he had never been an offensive or defensive coordinator. What has stood out about his two years as a head coach?

A: His passion and his desire to be a fair leader. That's what we talked about in the interview. That's the overriding thing when it came to me choosing somebody. I was looking for somebody that wanted the challenge and felt he was up to taking over and being a fair leader. You can make mistakes. You can make wrong decisions. But as long as you're fair, then you'll maintain the respect of the people that you're leading. So he has delivered to me in spades what I took a chance on.

Q: Last month, you mentioned your desire to reduce the number of Ravens' penalties. Do you think Harbaugh has the ability to fix this problem?

A: If Ozzie and I had advice for him to make him successful doing that, we certainly would have given him that advice. So, does he have the ability? Yeah, as much as anybody in his position does. I don't have a lot of advice for him. Do I want him to fine players? Do I want him to suspend them or sit them? I don't know if that's the right answer. So, I can't give him advice that may be bad advice. Until I'm confident that Ozzie and I could help him, I think John is determined to improve our penalty situation. If anybody has any great ideas for him, then we're open to it.

Q: Are you happy that Terrell Suggs was at the first day of the offseason conditioning program?

A: I'm very happy. There were all indications that he was ready to get down to it. He's an incredibly motivated guy. Terrell has never been accused of taking plays off. He loves the game. He's in a good mood every day I see him at practice. He usually doesn't have off days. Contract situations dictated that he wasn't there [the past two years], and I think it did hurt him. It was never a sign of disrespect to the organization. Unfortunately, it was just the way that our CBA is structured that allowed our guys to protest their contract situations by not showing up.

Q: Were you disappointed that you gave a big-money contract to Suggs and he had a career low in sacks?

A: No. Because the more I learn about football, the more I understand that it's not necessarily a reflection of the year that he had. From my football people, Terrell had a great year. It's like basketball. If a guard is hitting 3s, then the center is scoring 19 points. If the guard misses his 3s, then the center scores less. I can't look at sacks and say he had a great or bad year. We know that in order for him to get to the Pro Bowl, he has to be a 10-plus sack guy. I think come hell or high water, it's his goal to get that done this year.

Q: Any second guessing over not bringing back kicker Matt Stover?

A: No, I don't think it's fair to second-guess things because life doesn't give you the opportunity to second-guess decisions that you make. You just continue to refine your decision-making skills from all the experiences that you have in life. The lack of Stover didn't have us down 17 points at Minnesota. I think people focus on a missed field goal at the end, but it was basically everybody but the kicker that got us down 17 points in that game. Had they not dug that much of a hole, then it wouldn't have been an issue.

So, when you look at all the things that go wrong in an organization -- which good leaders are want to do -- you still look at with penalties and missed field goals but recognize that we still made the playoffs both years. That's what this game is about. It takes the sting out a little bit. It doesn't mean you don't address things and try to improve on them.

What we don't know is if we kept two kickers is whether we would have given up a couple of touchdowns because we didn't have Edgar Jones active that game to make a couple of tackle on special teams. The problem with that keeping two kickers situation is you'll never know what you gained by not having that kicker. You only see what you lose.

Q: Troy Smith's agent has indicated that Smith wanted to play in Cleveland. Smith also mentioned on a radio show that he would like to play there. As an owner, how do you react when you hear this?

A: You don't win a Heisman Trophy without being a great competitor. And as great competitor, it's hard to sit on the bench. I don't take it personally. I think we showed our respect to Troy by tendering him only at the fifth round, which allowed him to be taken from us if somebody wants him. If we were angry with Troy, we could have put a tender on him that would have prohibited his movement. That shows that we didn't take offense to him wanting to be on a football field.

Q: Has the NFL ever asked the Ravens about playing a game out of the country?

A: No. I've not been approached. If the league wants to do one game a year -- where you play in London once every 16 years and lose a home game once every 32 years -- I'm open to that. If the league wanted to do two games a year -- and it meant you're going to lose a home game every 16 years -- I think it's great for the NFL brand and it's great for the Ravens brand to be highlighted in Wembley Stadium with 100,000 people. I would be very open to taking our turn.

Q: As a Baltimore sports fan, does it hurt more to lose to the Indianapolis Colts eight straight times?

A: No. Honest to God. Because of Baltimore's 40-year history with the Pittsburgh Steelers, that hurts worse to me than losing to the Colts. Whether it's an AFC championship game versus a division game, I would say I want to beat Pittsburgh more than anybody else. You're just so overwhelmed by the end of your season. I don't think you can say it hurts more if it's them or the Tennessee Titans. Somebody knocks us out, it doesn't matter who shoots you. You're still dead.

Q: What does it say about your franchise to go to the playoffs in consecutive seasons?

A: The fact that we lacked consistent quarterback play since the Ravens arrived in 1996 and after two years feel that we have an emerging franchise quarterback, the two playoff years are just a total bonus. I'm more excited about what the next 12 years of Joe Flacco and Ozzie Newsome and company can produce for us going forward. If we hadn't made the playoffs the past two years and got our quarterback of the future, I'd be as excited as I am now. I am thrilled we got those returns as early as we did.

Q: What are your expectations for the 2010 Ravens?

A: I just want to be one of the 12 [playoff teams]. When it's all said and done -- from free agency to the draft to the summer camps -- we're gearing up to be one of the elite teams. The best years are the years like 2008 when no one expects us to do it. The worst years are the ones like the year coming up where people expect it of us. Our fans' expectations have risen, so there is farther to fall if we fail. There is excitement and there is anxiety.