If there’s one thing you can count on from Coach John Harbaugh, it’s a never-ending stream of coach speak clichés. One of his favorites is attributed to legendary Michigan head coach, Bo Schembechler, “Every day, you either get better or you get worse. You never stay the same.”
That cliché is often used by Harbaugh in training camp and at various points throughout the season. However, I think it’s very apropos to apply it to the Ravens off-season thus far. Since the wild card round exit in Cincinnati, have the Baltimore Ravens gotten better or gotten worse?
Let’s do a quick review of the Ravens’ off-season activity thus far.
Losses:
Guard Ben Powers signed with the Denver Broncos for 4 years and $52 million
Tight End Josh Oliver signed with the Minnesota Vikings for 3 years and $21 million
Defensive End Calais Campbell signed with the Atlanta Falcons for 1 year and $7 million
Safety Chuck Clark was traded to the New York Jets for a 2024 7th round pick
Free agents we may want to bring back:
Cornerback Marcus Peters
Cornerback Kyle Fuller
Defensive End/Edge Justin Houston
Defensive End/Edge Jason Pierre-Paul
Gains:
Wide Receiver Nelson Agholor for 1 year and $3.25 million
Wide Receiver Odell Beckham Jr for 1 year and $15 million
Retained:
Safety Geno Stone for 1 year and $1.76 million
Cornerback Trayvon Mulllen for 1 year and $1.232 million
Linebackers Del’Shawn Phillips and Kristian Welch both signed for 1 year and a little over $1 million each.
Last but not least, the Lamar Jackson saga rolls on. At this moment, I don’t know if the organization is any privier to the endgame than the fans are. At a minimum, it seems like Lamar will be under center to begin the season because I don’t think he would forfeit any portion of his $32.4 million guaranteed under the non-exclusive franchise tag. However, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Jackson hold out. Just as I wouldn’t be shocked to see Lamar and the Ravens come to a long-term agreement prior to the mid July deadline. Basically, all outcomes are still on the table in my opinion.
Perhaps this morning’s news of Jalen Hurts and the Eagles agreeing to a 5 year, $255 million extension that includes $179.3 million guaranteed will help break the impasse between Baltimore and their enigmatic quarterback. Hurts is now the third quarterback to agree to an extension after the Deshaun Watson deal, further reinforcing that Watson’s fully guaranteed deal is the outlier for quarterback contracts. Furthermore, I believe the Jalen Hurts contract is an excellent framework for a Jackson deal. Lamar does have an MVP season under his belt, Hurts was on track to win the MVP this past season but missing games in Week 16 and 17 likely cost him the award. Jalen Hurts lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl this year, whereas Lamar Jackson has yet to get the Ravens past the divisional round of the playoffs.
Statistically speaking, the two quarterbacks are very similar.
With all of this said, let’s not go too deep down the Lamar rabbit hole. However, I would’ve been remiss had I not mentioned Jackson at all, as his contract situation has had a definite impact on the Raven’s off-season activity.
Now that the annual NFL free agency frenzy has fizzled out and the NFL draft is fast approaching, the Ravens have some clear needs to fill. If I were in the Ravens draft room next weekend, I would focus on cornerback and edge rusher early on, then look for wide receiver help and offensive line depth. Of course, things can change quickly on draft night. The Ravens front office is not afraid to move around the board and given that Baltimore has only 5 picks in the upcoming draft, I would certainly not rule out trading back on night one to acquire more picks. Or, a player that the organization values could fall to number 22 and they pounce.
The off-season isn’t over yet and the Ravens will make the most of whatever resources they have on draft night and will likely find a diamond in the rough amongst the pool of undrafted free agents.
When it comes to free agency, the Ravens generally have a few players in their respective walk years price themselves off the team and this year has been no exception. The departures of Ben Powers and Josh Oliver on multi year deals will net the Ravens compensatory picks in next year’s draft.
The loss of Oliver is minimal, as the Ravens are well stocked at tight end with Pro Bowler Mark Andrews and last year’s draft picks, Isiah Likely and Charlie Kolar. On the other hand, losing Ben Powers leaves a hole in Baltimore’s offensive line. If the Ravens don’t bring in an interior lineman in the draft, they will look to Ben Cleveland, Patrick Mekari or perhaps Daniel Faalele to fill the void.
The biggest question of the off-season not about Lamar Jackson is the Ravens’ wide receiver room. While perhaps not the headline grabbing acquisitions that many fans were hoping for, the Ravens have made some improvements. Nelson Agholor was brought in on a 1 year deal and he should help raise the floor of the group. On April 9th, the Ravens signed Odell Beckham Jr, which is a move that has been criticized as an overpay for a player that has a sordid injury history over the last few years. However, if healthy, Beckham raises the ceiling of receiving corps and brings a level of credibility to the Ravens wide receiver that has been lacking since the days of Anquan Boldin and company. The organization will be banking on the new arrivals, coupled with a return to health for incumbents Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay, along with a spark from the change at offensive coordinator to improve the output of the passing attack.
Overall, I think the Ravens have a pretty solid roster but they’re lacking in some key areas; cornerback, edge rusher and wide receiver to a certain extent.
To bring things full circle, I think the Ravens have gotten a little bit worse to this point in the off-season, as their net gains have not entirely offset their net losses. However, I do think the perception of the Ravens’ off-season has been clouded by the Lamar Jackson soap opera. Any kind of resolution to that situation would go a long way to improving the outlook. Also, things could change if they hit a home run in next weekend’s draft and perhaps, they bring back Marcus Peters and Justin Houston on team friendly type deals to supplement the roster.
Time will tell and our curiosity will certainly be satisfied.
Jamie has been a Baltimore sports fan since he can remember. He grew up in Gwynn Oak and currently resides in Hampstead with his wife and 2 kids. He graduated from UMBC with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He’s currently employed at Verizon Communications in Hunt Valley.