Still Not Enough

The Ravens Need More?

It’s my fault.

I made a bad assumption that after signing Odell Beckham Jr… and extending Lamar Jackson… and drafting a highly skilled Round One wideout… and adding Rock Ya-Sin to play opposite of Marlon Humphrey… that Ravens fans would be happy.

That was a mistake.

Just a few weeks removed from the draft and simultaneous QB1 extension, the noise of “not enough” is steadily growing once again.

Listen, I totally understand the wish list. The Ravens could certainly use another corner, safety, and pass rusher- having an assured and proven player at every position sure sounds great! But the reality of the matter is that it’s neither practical nor possible.

At least not adding all of those players at this stage in the game.

For starters, the cap restrictions are absolutely real. It feels like many folks saw the Lamar Jackson extension and assumed that opened up gobs of money for the Ravens to make more moves- and it did open a chunk of change- but the team is currently sitting with a meager $11M in cap space as of today.

If you assume that Ravens carry a good chunk of that into the season for insurance/trade deadline acquisition potential, with another chunk to sign Zay Flowers (the last remaining rookie contract), there’s really not much to play with.

As a result of the lack of cap space to add more vets, the reality is that you’ve simply gotta let the kids play. I think there’s some serious PTSD associated with this aspect of roster construction after this approach to wideout in 2022 fell flat on its face, but it’s not as if the Ravens are the only team that relies on younger players to improve and step into starting roles. In fact, it’s very commonplace.

For a decent example, look at the 2022 Super Bowl winning Chiefs cornerbacks:

L’Jarius Sneed was a 3rd year player drafted in Round 4 & developed into a starting role. Trent McDuffie was a Round One rookie, while Jaylen Watson (7th round rookie), Joshua Williams (4th Round rookie) and Rashad Fenton (4th year player taken in Round 7) filled out the core corners.

The Chiefs didn’t go sign splashy dudes or take a bunch of high picks to get this room put together. They allocated financial resources elsewhere and had to take some risks and let the kids play- and the risk paid off.

So quick recap: Ravens are broke. Kids gotta play. Nobody has a perfect roster. Get over it.

Great.

But for fun, let’s say the Ravens can mess with $4M to add a veteran player.

Yes, that was intentionally singular.

Where do you focus that spending?

For me it’s either Justin Houston coming back on another one year deal or possibly kicking the Jadeveon Clowney tires. I don’t see any logic in Marcus Peters coming back after adding Rock Ya-Sin, as the move would force Marlon Humphrey inside (RYS and Peters are both strictly outside guys), but if I had to go after one corner on the cheap as a possible second move? I’d look at Bryce Callahan to play in the slot for pennies on the dollar.

OR.

The Ravens could roll with what they currently have, get into camp, see how some of the young bucks are playing, then explore the possibility of adding bodies at the cutdown before the season starts. I mean hell, they could go out and sign Ndamukong Suh for a few bucks in late August if they felt so inclined!

But at the end of the day, we’re looking at a 99% formed roster that doesn’t have realistic means to add another wave of vets.

Just relax and enjoy the ride that is the 2023 offseason.