It’s had all the trademarks of a typical Baltimore Ravens start to free agency.
General manager Eric DeCosta prioritized signing his own, finalizing a deal with accomplished left tackle Ronnie Stanley two days before the legal tampering window, and then bringing back All-Pro fullback Patrick Ricard and reserve wide receiver/core special-teamer Tylan Wallace in the days that have followed.
The Ravens made a brief foray into the open market, agreeing to terms with veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and then adding special teams ace Jake Hummel. Otherwise, DeCosta and company have assumed their place on the sideline in the high-stakes bidding for the top outside free agents, who have thrived in a seller’s market.
In what has been an annual rite of March, Baltimore has lost its fair share of players, too. Compensatory pick-counting has become as routine the first week of free agency as monitoring where the Ravens stand against the salary cap.
Starting left guard Patrick Mekari (Jacksonville), starting cornerback Brandon Stephens (New York Jets), part-time starting linebacker Malik Harrison (Pittsburgh), special teams captain Chris Board (New York Giants) and reserve offensive lineman Josh Jones (Seattle) all departed within 12 hours of the market’s unofficial opening. Veteran nose tackle Michael Pierce announced his retirement Wednesday, ending a nine-year career that included seven seasons in Baltimore.
There have been a few cost-cutting moves, which is old hat for a team that’s annually pushing against the salary cap. The Ravens released safety Marcus Williams, who lost his starting job in November and then his place on the roster on Wednesday. They also released cornerback Arthur Maulet, who played just three games last year after being such a key defensive piece in 2023.
Add all those elements together, and it’s been business as usual for DeCosta and the Ravens’ decision makers. In many ways, though, the serious business hasn’t started yet.
DeCosta told anybody who would listen at last month’s NFL Scouting Combine that the Ravens don’t have much money to spend and are facing salary-cap challenges. He knows how to play the game as well as anyone, and his mouth is not going to write checks that the Ravens won’t give out.
This week, Baltimore has very much acted like a team that is preserving every morsel of salary-cap space that it can. That started with the three-year, $60 million contract to Stanley, which included three different void years, a mechanism used to spread out the cap costs. Stanley’s 2025 cap number is just $5.8 million, which is only the 10th highest hit on the team.
Re-signing left tackle Ronnie Stanley was one of the Ravens’ top priorities entering this year’s free agency. (Timothy T Ludwig / Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the Ravens re-signed Ricard, using a four-year qualifying veteran salary benefit that allowed them to ink him to a one-year, $2.87 million pact with only half of that money counting against the salary cap. That amounts to a notable reduction from what Ricard made last year, when he again was a key piece on one of the NFL’s top offenses.
On Wednesday, the Ravens were willing to place the cheapest ($3.263 million) right of first refusal tender on safety Ar’Darius Washington, whose insertion into the starting lineup in late October helped stabilize a porous pass defense. The Ravens get nothing in return for Washington if he is signed to an offer sheet, and they decide they can’t or don’t want to match it.
If they had placed the $5.346 million second-round tender on Washington, the Ravens would have been virtually guaranteed to keep the breakout performer because they would have gotten a second-round pick in exchange for his departure. No team would presumably pay that price. Instead, they decided the $2-plus million savings made the right of first refusal tender a gamble worth taking.
So, with the first wave of free agency already over, where does that leave them?
They still have several needs — cornerback, safety, inside linebacker and edge rusher stand out — and next to no cap space to fill them. That’s where the serious business comes in.
At some point in the days ahead, the Ravens will probably have to create salary-cap breathing room. They can do it with a few simple restructures, but those will feel like half-steps. Ultimately, they are probably going to have to check off some big-ticket items.
A contract extension for star quarterback Lamar Jackson would certainly do the trick. His 2025 cap number is $43.65 million, but it rises to $74.65 million in 2026 and 2027. The 2025 number is manageable. The 2026-27 one is not, meaning at some point within the next 12 months, the Ravens and Jackson will need to hammer out a new deal anyway. What better time than the present, when it would give DeCosta some much-needed salary-cap breathing room?
Of course, nothing in the Ravens-Jackson negotiations is routine. Simply offering the deal — six-year, $330 million, and maybe a few million on top of that — that quarterback Josh Allen just signed with the Buffalo Bills doesn’t guarantee anything. But the conversations should at least be had, and the effort should be made to get ahead of a potential thorny situation next offseason.
An extension for star running Derrick Henry could help, too. Lowering his $13 million cap hit in 2025 would be nice. Getting a transcendent player who fit in perfectly with the team last year and has expressed a desire to finish his career in Baltimore under contract for a couple more years is even better.
Then, there’s the touchy subject of tight end Mark Andrews’ future with the team. There’s a segment of the Ravens’ fan base that has been trying to run him out of town ever since his fourth-quarter fumble and drop figured prominently in Baltimore’s two-point playoff loss to the Bills in January. Yet, it would be extremely hard, if not impossible, to say the Ravens would improve by jettisoning Andrews from the building and getting a mid-round draft pick. He’s one of the best tight ends in the sport, a touchdown machine, a confidante of Jackson’s on and off the field, and a locker room leader who inspires teammates.
The Ravens, though, have to at least weigh the benefits of a potential move, particularly if they get an enticing trade offer for the three-time Pro Bowler. There just happens to be a team in Los Angeles, with extensive ties to the Ravens and their former tight end-loving offensive coordinator on staff, that covets a tight end after missing out Wednesday on free agent Evan Engram, who signed with the Denver Broncos.
Trading Andrews would presumably add to Baltimore’s draft capital, but most importantly, it would create $11 million of much-needed salary-cap room. It also would add some clarity going forward at the tight end position with Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar all heading into the last year of their contracts. If the Ravens don’t plan to extend the 29-year-old Andrews, they almost surely will attempt to pay the ascending Likely, who is five years younger.
To be clear, the Ravens don’t have to do anything with their standout tight end. Yet, Andrews is due a $4 million roster bonus on March 20, so a decision could come relatively soon. Meanwhile, DeCosta and company will continue to explore opportunities to add talent — guard Mekhi Becton and safety Julian Blackmon sure would look good in purple — while managing a very tight cap situation.
So far, the Ravens have done just fine. Better than that, actually. Their personnel losses have been minimal, and they were winners in free agency at the very moment when they agreed to the three-year deal with Stanley. Navigating the next couple of months of roster-building without a bona fide left tackle on the roster would have been a nightmare scenario. Reaching an agreement less than 48 hours before Stanley hit an open market filled with offensive tackle-needy teams willing to hand him a blank check was clutch.
What’s happened since free agency’s unofficial start has only reinforced the importance of the move. The Washington Commanders sent a gaggle of picks to the Houston Texans to get Laremy Tunsil and shore up Jayden Daniels’ blindside. The Tennessee Titans gave veteran left tackle Dan Moore Jr., who allowed 12 sacks last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a whopping four-year, $82 million deal. And the Kansas City Chiefs found their left tackle in Jaylon Moore and paid a guy with 12 career starts an average of $15 million per year.
Stanley’s deal carries risk given his well-documented injury history. However, it stands out as one of the more sensible deals agreed to so far, and it’s a credit not only to the organization but to Stanley, who wanted to stay in Baltimore and was willing to take less money to do it.
The frenetic nature of free agency, though, forces you to move forward quickly, and the Ravens have several difficult decisions and moves to make. It’s been a solid and typical start to free agency for them. But it feels like the heavy lifting hasn’t even begun.
(Top photo of Eric DeCosta: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
