The Ravens are expected to place a second-round tender on nose tackle Michael Pierce, reports Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (via Twitter). The 26-year-old will earn $3.095MM via the tender.
The move officially makes Pierce a restricted free agent, meaning he can field offers until April 19th. If he signs an offer sheet with another team, the Ravens will have the ability to match. If Baltimore doesn’t match, they’d receive a second-rounder.
While Pierce has shown some intriguing flashes through his first three years in the NFL, it’s unlikely a team would be willing to give up that kind of capital to secure his services. It’s most likely that the defensive tackle ultimately returns to Baltimore on the one-year tender.
The 2016 undrafted free agent appeared in all 16 games as a rookie, and that led to him earning a starting nod in 2017. Pierce only started two game in 2018, but he still finished the campaign with 32 tackles. Pro Football Focus has always been a particularly big fan of Pierce, and they ranked him fifth among 112 interior defenders last season.