The Ravens thought they had brought pass rusher Za’Darius Smith back into the fold in March, only to see him back out of his deal and then sign with the Vikings. Baltimore also made a strong offer for linebacker Bobby Wagner, who chose to sign with the Rams instead.
While the team mitigated those disappointments to some degree by agreeing to terms with Calais Campbell and Josh Bynes this week, GM Eric DeCosta is not kidding himself about the team’s front seven. In discussing his OLB and DL needs, DeCosta said, “we’re not done yet” (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic).
DeCosta made that comment prior to the Campbell signing, which gives him a defensive front comprised of Michael Pierce, Derek Wolfe, and Campbell, a group that features age and injury concerns. 2020 draftees Justin Madubuike and Broderick Washington offer more youthful support, but Madubuike did not take the step forward last season that many expected, and Pro Football Focus’ metrics did not think highly of either player. As such, even after re-upping Campbell, another DL might be in the cards. Longtime Raven Brandon Williams is still a free agent, and the team recently met with Eddie Goldman, a six-year starter for the Bears.
At this point, the pass rush is a bigger concern. 2021 first-rounder Odafe Oweh showed promise in his rookie campaign, but aside from him and Tyus Bowser — who is more of a jack-of-all-trades player than a true pass rusher — the cupboard is largely bare. Smith would have represented an ideal bookend to Oweh, and now the FA market includes players like Justin Houston (who played reasonably well in his first Ravens season last year), Jadeveon Clowney, Trey Flowers, Carlos Dunlap, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Jerry Hughes. Not all of those players are perfect scheme fits for Baltimore, and they all come with age, injury, and/or injury issues.
The Ravens could still elect to sign a member of that group, and the club is always on the lookout for cap casualties from other organizations. DeCosta has also shown a willingness to be aggressive on the trade market. Before making any move for a veteran player, however, Baltimore may first see what materializes in the draft. The team is interested in Oregon edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux, who could fall to the team’s No. 14 overall selection, and it will be interesting to see if DeCosta prioritizes his potential need for an offensive tackle over his need for a pass rusher.
Ravens defense is awful
“We’re not done yet”. Lol. That might have meant something a month ago. But ok..great…sign some more leftovers and be super proud about it.
The Ravens are historically very active in later stages of free agency and also historically win a lot, so yeah.
Hey man. You can say you don’t pay attention to them. They don’t like giving up comp picks to sign guys less than what would make sense. Guys like Wagner would be that reason to sacrifice a pick.
But let’s not pretend like they haven’t historically been active and succeeded with late offseason additions.
this isn’t baseball.. while you’re rewarded mid round picks for losing certain players, you don’t have to give up any picks to sign anyone.
also with Lamar in his final contract year and a very old roster , Ravens look headed toward a full rebuild after this season.
They don’t technically “give up” picks to sign someone like MLB as you mentioned. However, if they sign someone later in the offseason, then that signing isn’t factored in to the comp pick calculation for that year.
And they should start with a new QB. Lamar hasn’t proven enough that building an entire offense around his skill set works. It relies on a heavy running game and sacrifices the passing game. It has been proven time and time again if you take the running game away and force Lamar to pass, he doesn’t win.
Time to go to a more traditional style offense that you can fit just about any QB into. That way you can actually utilize and attract good WR’s.
they’d be insane to give Lamar a massive extension
The Ravens appear to be scrambling for reinforcements, but they at least be competitive for this year. They have a lot of formerly productive players along the defensive line, but there’s no telling when that production will drop off.
Baltimore has tried to get some longer term answers-we can’t really fault them for Smith reneging on his agreement and they did make an attempt with Oweh-but I would definitely expect them to spend some draft picks on front seven players. If they don’t get what they need, more formerly productive vets like Houston and Williams may be their only options for this season.
define competitive?
bcuz I place the Ravens firmly in last place in the division pre-Draft
I left out a word. I meant to say “can be competitive”. Meaning, they are certainly not tanking.
The AFC North is just a competitive division in general. Given the transitions that Pittsburgh and Cleveland are going through, it’s certainly possible that Baltimore can compete in the division. Cincinnati looks the most promising, with great offensive weapons and a mostly successful defensive rebuild, but they’ve only shown a year’s worth of success so far so it’s hard to lock them in as untouchable just yet. Pittsburgh has a lot to figure out, especially on offense at offensive line, QB, and receiver, but they do have the history that means that they cannot be ignored. Cleveland has talent at multiple positions (namely QB, HB, CB, and DE) but who knows how this Deshaun Watson/Baker Mayfield roster status will turn out. Baltimore was in a good spot last year before Jackson’s injury, despite his decline in play, and despite relying on pure luck in a few games (like Detroit). They have some productive vets on that defensive line, but they are all older (Campbell) or have an injury history (Wolfe).
My point is that each team has individual factors that could easily go either way next year. It could go very badly or end up not being a concern for any of them. Baltimore has a chance to be competitive, just as any of the other teams do, but there is enough uncertainty to make us uncomfortable about each of them.
They have question marks along the offensive line with Stanley constantly getting injured and Moses being a question mark, and Juwan James coming back from an injury and that’s just at tackle. Then you have to figure out your starting interior line with Cleveland, Mekari, Powers, and Phillips.
Who is healthy at RB? Why were they checking in on Gordon?
Perennial issues at WR. TE is set.
The secondary is being rebuilt, the linebacking core is lacking a second off ball linebacker and edge rushers. The D-line doesn’t produce much.
The team is in flux. Some big time decisions need to be made. I think it would be a HUGE mistake to invest franchise QB money into Lamar Jackson. That move will handicap this team in more ways than one. The “revolutionary” offense (read option, been done before) has not taken this team where it needs to go.
Yeah, they have questions, you are correct. Most of the AFC North does. Unlike some teams, though, I am not ready to completely write off Baltimore when comes to competing in games. Until the draft happens and the rosters become more set, the Ravens have a chance to compete against the rest of the division. I want to be clear-when I say competitive, I don’t mean in terms of Superbowls. I am referring to the game-per-game results, specifically in their division.