Count head coach John Harbaugh among those who’d like a pair of veteran Pro Bowlers to return to the Ravens next season. Harbaugh told reporters that he’s hoping offensive lineman Marshal Yanda and safety Eric Weddle will be back in 2019.
“Unless something changes along the way, they will be back,” he said (via Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun). “We have talked about all those things, but no decisions have been made. One thing you learn about this whole building a roster around the National Football League and working around the [salary] cap is that no decision stands on its own feet. It’s not sequential, either. It’s not this, then this, then this. It all happens together at once.”
Harbaugh notes that general manager Eric DeCosta and executive Ozzie Newsome are also open to welcoming back the duo.
Weddle, 34, was named to his sixth Pro Bowl this season after compiling 68 tackles, one sack, and three passes defended. Following Baltimore’s playoff loss to the Chargers, the veteran said he’d either be returning to the Ravens or retiring. However, this past week, Weddle changed course, indicating that he’d be open to playing for another team. The defensive back has one year remaining on his contract, and he’ll carry a $8.25MM cap hit. The organization could clear up $6.5MM in space by cutting the veteran.
Yanda made his seventh-career Pro Bowl this season after starting all 16 games for the Ravens. The 34-year-old has spent his entire 12-year career in Baltimore, and the veteran still has another year on his contract. However, the veteran still hasn’t publicly committed to playing in 2019. The Ravens have committed some of their draft choices to offensive linemen in recent years, including using three picks in the 2018 draft.
“It all happens together at once.”
It sounds like Harbaugh is a sci-fi fan who expects the skies to magically part while a bolt of lightning transports the Ravens to a close encounter of the bird kind.