The Baltimore Ravens have kicked off Free Agency with a loud BANG following the signing of safety Marcus Williams. Williams, who spent his first five seasons in New Orleans, signed a five-year $70 million deal with Baltimore on Wednesday March 15, 2022, and his addition is a massive upgrade to the back end. Williams has been Pro Football Focus’ top-rated safety dating back to 2019 and is a day one difference-maker for this secondary. Williams is in that category of “vastly underrated” amongst a safety position that typically gets overshadowed by a select few. Williams belongs in the same category of guys like Justin Simmons and Jessie Bates, whom Ravens Flock is intimately familiar with. Yes, he is THAT good.
This addition was much needed for Baltimore. It’s anything but a secret that the Ravens pass defense was atrocious in 2021. The team’s secondary ended in dead last in the entire league, allowing 278.9 yards through the air per game. While the unit was absolutely devastated by injuries, even guys who we expected to blossom ended up regressing. Again, injuries were a massive component of this failure, but it nonetheless needed to be fixed.
The Ravens began their rebuild of the secondary earlier in the offseason by opting to retain Marcus Peters despite his cap hit ($15.5 million). Considering Peters is returning fresh off an ACL injury, it made sense for Baltimore to move on from the savvy veteran. Instead, the team realized his value, talent, and importance to the rebuild and ultimately decided keeping him was smarter than getting cap space back. The team also brought back veteran safety Tony Jefferson on a one-year deal to provide more depth to the safety spot.
In the ensuing days, the Ravens had to face facts that they were likely to lose some key players in the secondary to Free Agency in the forms of DeShon Elliott, Jimmy Smith, Anthony Averett, the last of whom was the most consistent defensive back for the team in 2021. The team also made the tough decision to move on from Tavon Young and recoup some extra cap to use for some Free Agency moves. With now four players from 2021 seemingly gone from this secondary, it was beginning to look bleak for a rebuild.
Many had held out hope that Baltimore would sign Tyrann Mathieu, better known as the Honey Badger, to fill the safety role across from Chuck Clark, and draft a cornerback high in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft, with fan-favorite Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner being the Flock’s preferred choice. Fans were hoping to see these moves come to fruition with the return of Peters and Marlon Humphrey. On paper, that looks like a very strong unit to be feared, but whether it would materialize has yet to be seen.
Through the beginning stages of Free Agency, there hadn’t been too much action from the Ravens brass… unless of course you count the blockbuster signing that is Williams. While Williams isn’t the Honey Badger, he is much younger and perhaps better at this point in their respective careers. Many, myself included, never considered Williams as a possibility to come to Charm City, so this move was well received, to say the least.
With one massive upgrade out of the way, the hope is the Ravens can add some more depth moving forward. For what it’s worth, all four of Baltimore’s free agent defensive backs – Elliott, Smith, Averett, Young – are still in Free Agency as of now and could very well be brought back in. Considering they know this system and are all valuable depth pieces, we shouldn’t rule out one or more of them returning.
There are plenty of other free agents to fancy, as well, including some bigger name veterans. Stephon Gilmore remains the biggest name in the pool, but pulling in a guy of his caliber seems unlikely. Other veterans like Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins, Patrick Peterson, Chris Harris Jr., and Joe Haden are the remaining “big name” players available, while lesser-known players like Donte Jackson, Mackensie Alexander, and Rasul Douglas are also intriguing options. Pulling any of those names would be an amazing addition here. We should anticipate the Ravens to sign at least one more outside free agent to the team.
The last part of the equation here is, of course, the upcoming draft. Baltimore has 10 picks including nine in the first four rounds. It is unlikely the Ravens look to draft a safety high, if at all, considering the team’s sudden depth at the position. Cornerback, meanwhile, needs bodies and this year’s draft just so happens to be incredibly deep at the position. The aforementioned fan-favorite, Gardner, is in play for Baltimore with the 14th overall pick, as are guys like Derek Stingley and Andrew Booth. Beyond them, there are tons of other options to explore on both days two and three of the draft. Picking up at least two cornerbacks should be a must for the team, and fans certainly shouldn’t complain if they add more.
The bottom line is this: the signing of Marcus Williams is hopefully a sign of things to come for the Baltimore Ravens’ rebuilding of the secondary. The starting lineup of Williams, Chuck Clark, Marlon Humphrey, and Marcus Peters is very exciting, but the depth behind them is currently nonexistent. This is where some more Free Agency bargain hunting hopefully comes into play, as well as investing some draft capital at the position.
Williams is a great start for this rebuild. Hopefully, this will be a sign of things to come for aggressively making a comeback for 2022.
