The Ravens have agreed to sign former Giants guard Kevin Zeitler (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Once official, it’ll be a three-year, $22.5MM pact with $16MM in guaranteed money.
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The Giants dropped Zeitler last week to save about $9.6MM in cap space. The Giants shopped Zeitler before releasing him, but interested teams like the Ravens stayed patient because they expected him to get cut.
Zeitler was the Giants’ best offensive lineman, so the move was more about finances than football. The Ravens, meanwhile, get to fill the longstanding void left by Marshal Yanda‘s 2020 retirement. Tyre Phillips, Patrick Mekari, and Ben Powers all tried their hand at right guard, but no one in that trio was able to replace Yanda’s protection.
The Ravens said they’d prioritize blocking for Lamar Jackson this offseason and Zeitler goes a long way towards addressing that need. Over the last three years, Pro Football Focus has Zeitler ranked as the 17th best guard in the NFL. He’s also been reliable with at least 15 starts in each of the past six seasons.
great signing for the Ravens
I wouldn’t say great. He is okay. Giants released for cap reasons but had no interest in re working deal.
Well dave gettleman has shown zero
Ability to successful manage a team so I’d say the giants opinion is irrelevant
22.5 mill over 3 years. Took a discount because 16 mill was guaranteed.. better than higher dollar per year contract knowing you won’t see it anyway… this way he basically knows where he probably will be for atleast 2 if not 3 year’s democrats ending on its structure
nice move by the Ravens. it’s not one of the fancy headlines stealing moves, but will pay huge dividends when September rolls around. I know most Raven fans were hoping for WR-Kenny golladay, but this is a great pickup IMO. Maybe kenny is okay with taking alittle less money to play for a team with legit SuperBowl aspersions
I doubt Golladay takes a discount on this deal. He’s 27, so this is really the contract where he’s going to make that big payday. I could be wrong, but I feel like guys normally don’t start ring chasing until the other side of their age 30 season.
Zeitler is a solid grab for the Ravens, though.
maybe the Ravens could backload the deal. maybe just a few million base salary this year, but give him a 5yr deal for 95mil or 100mil contract but 50 mil guaranteed. and make the second year the high paid year and take a little bit lower of the salary this season