When the Ravens brass gathers at Steve Bisciotti’s Jupiter, Florida estate at the conclusion of each season to discuss plans for the succeeding year, the implemented changes aren’t always immediate. Sometimes, they take months to fall into place. But make no mistake about it, there is a plan, albeit one that isn’t very transparent to all who didn’t get an invite to Bisciotti’s powwow.
As the plan unfolds, questions arise. Signings made, signings passed on, are like pieces to a puzzle that none of us outside The Castle are privy to. Consequently, we criticize the very people who have forgotten more about football, more about roster construction, than most of us will ever know.
GM Eric DeCosta has gone on record often, saying that the most important lesson he’s learned as Ozzie Newsome’s long-time understudy, is patience – a lesson that is unfortunately lost upon fans who savor instant gratification, particularly when the Ravens AFC North rivals use a signing pen that might soon run out of ink.
But that said, and with the understanding that we are on the outside looking in, here are a few thoughts on the team’s activity since the new league year started on March 13, presented in a PASS/FAIL/INCOMPLETE way and in no particular order.
“Man, I’m really nervous about the Ravens plan for this season. O line is not set and I’m seeing FA’s being signed like crazy and still quiet on the Flock side … In EDC we trust???? ~ Gary Collins, Ravens fan via Facebook
Justin Madubuike
A must sign for the Ravens. The deal felt a little rich initially until we saw the numbers extended to Christian Wilkins and later Chris Jones. Madubuike is an ascending player with an outstanding work ethic and loves playing in Baltimore. Any offseason plan had to begin with keeping this highly coveted defensive chess piece. PASS
Patrick Queen
Queen leaving was a foregone conclusion. The cap infrastructure can’t support two off-the-ball linebackers making top-end money. And while Queen was great in his Robin role to Roquan Smith’s Batman, the Ravens drafted Trenton Simpson to replace Queen and if his performance against the Steelers during Week 18 is any indication, the former Clemson Tiger should be ready. The organizational mantra of 80% production for 20% of the pay is certainly in play here. That was part of the plan during the 2023 NFL Draft. PASS
Morgan Moses
Moses was solid albeit nothing special for the Ravens during his two-year tenure. He’s a lunch pail guy willing to play hurt and that has value as does his $5.5M 2024 investment. It’s hard to find a starting caliber right tackle for that number. The Ravens picked up a 6th-round pick and swapped fourth-round positions with the Jets, so on paper the trade is a solid one. On the field, who knows? Daniel Faalele isn’t the guy. The guy, isn’t yet on the roster. INCOMPLETE
RT Morgan Moses, on a zoom call with reporters, says he underwent surgery 6 weeks ago to repair a torn pec. He actually tore it in Week 4 and played through it. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) March 20, 2024
Derrick Henry
The prospects of Lamar Jackson and Henry in the same backfield are riveting for Ravens fans, scary for opponents. I look for the Ravens to hold onto leads the way they did in 2019 when their rushing attack set NFL records. The Lamar/Henry combo should also open things up in the passing game. PASS
Things move fast in NFL free agency: Morgan Moses says he texted Derrick Henry to welcome him to the Ravens. A short time later, Moses was traded to the #Jets.
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) March 20, 2024
Ronald Darby
Darby was one of DeCosta’s ace moves in 2023. Maybe he landed on this one out of necessity because another of his free agent plays in 2023, Rock Ya-Sin was an absolute bust. Darby manned the boundary very efficiently and was outstanding in run support and while defending bubble screens. His tackling was textbook perfect. To let Darby go for a 2-year, $8.5M deal was a crime, particularly at a position where the Ravens are currently thin. FAIL
Arthur Maulet
Maulet agreed to a 2-year deal with the Ravens, a team that learned how to best utilize the former Steelers’ skill set. But given a choice between Darby and Maulet, I’d take Darby every day of the week and twice on Sunday. If Maulet’s deal is close to Darby’s (as of this writing the terms haven’t been released) this is a FAIL. With Darby and Brandon Stephens in the fold, Marlon Humphrey could have easily moved to the slot – a position where he’s been a better playmaker. INCOMPLETE
Tyler Huntley
Huntley signed with the Browns – a one-year deal. He joins a crowded quarterback room where he’s really not necessary. It would not shock me to see Huntley return for the vet minimum after he’s cut by the Browns in early September. We’ve all seen what Huntley brings to the table and it isn’t much. His presence along the sideline has never been the difference between the Ravens winning or losing. His presence on the field does make a difference and more times than not, it’s a loss. PASS
Kevin Zeitler
Zeitler was extremely effective in 2023. To see him sign a 1-year, $6M deal in Detroit is without question a head-scratcher. Ok, ok, he’s 34 years old but Marshal Yanda was productive through retirement at the age of 35. Zeitler hasn’t slowed down. There’s been no noticeable drop off in his play. But without him in Baltimore at this modest price, there may be a drop off…in the Ravens O-line play. FAIL
Kevin Zeitler's time in Baltimore:
1,868 pass-blocking snaps
54 QB pressures allowed
6 sacks allowedA brilliant run 🫡👏 pic.twitter.com/lhq7pj1EIz
— PFF BAL Ravens (@PFF_Ravens) March 19, 2024
Gus Edwards
Gus had productive games in 2023 yet despite that, Todd Monken never saw him as a bell cow. Maybe they were trying to preserve Edwards’ knees. Maybe he never fully gained Monken’s confidence. The eyeball test said otherwise but, in the end, the team wanted an upgrade, and no one can deny that they’ve achieved that with Derrick Henry. I’ll call this a win-win for both Gus and the team. PASS
Geno Stone
Had the Ravens not invested so much money in the oft-injured Marcus Williams, Geno would still be playing in Baltimore. The Ravens do a solid job finding players like Stone on Day 3 of the NFL Draft. He is one of them along with DeShon Elliott and Chuck Clark – 7th, 6th and 6th round picks, respectively. The Ravens are likely to land a 6th-round comp pick for Stone’s departure. PASS
Devin Duvernay
Duv needed a change of scenery. He got one. His production or lack thereof is easily replaced. He has escaped Baltimore, a purgatory for NFL receivers. PASS
John Simpson
The weakest link in the Ravens offensive front, the team needs an upgrade at the position. Credit the team for pulling Simpson off the NFL scrap heap, getting 19 starts from the former Raider in 2023, and then parlaying that into a token for compensatory pick formula. That’s good business on the Ravens part. PASS
The Ravens’ projected 2024 starting offensive line if the season started today pic.twitter.com/UKBOhk6ErY
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) March 20, 2024
Del’Shawn Phillips
Phillips landed a healthy raise in Houston, a 1-year, $2.6M deal. He’s a depth piece at ILB and a special teams contributor. His loss is offset by the Ravens acquisition of Chris Board who filled the same role admirably for the Ravens from 2018-2021. PASS
Tyler Ott
Ott did everything the Ravens asked in 2023 but he was merely a placeholder for the injured Nick Moore. Ott was a quality signing, but Moore is under contract and equally as capable at LS. PASS
Odell Beckham, Jr.
His role on the team in 2023 is well-documented and for sentimental reasons, I’d like to see the Ravens bring him back on a team-friendly deal, assuming another team doesn’t pony up the kind of dough that OBJ is accustomed to. But times change. Maybe OBJ waits it out and is a mid-season hired gun for a contender. PASS
Based on the current 90 man rosters for every team, here are the total combined career receiving yards for every team's WR rooms as they currently stand and are built. At least Lamar has Mark Andrews, the next QB from the bottom has… Will Dissly? pic.twitter.com/2qeFS7pMcz
— Arjun Menon (@arjunmenon100) March 20, 2024
Jadeveon Clowney
Clowney’s agent is on record saying that 2023 was the first season Jadeveon finished, happily. He found a home in Baltimore and the pleasant surroundings led to his most productive season. The only thing standing between an encore season in B’more is money. How much? Maybe EDC suggested that Clowney find his market worth and then let him know after his visits. The Ravens need a proven edge defender. Clowney fits the description. His efforts improve Madubuike’s effectiveness. He or someone like him, needs to be added to the Ravens defense. If not, it’s a big FAIL. For now, we’ll call it INCOMPLETE (and slipping towards a fail).
At the end of the day, rest assured, there is a plan. There’s always a plan. Messrs. Bisciotti, DeCosta, et al didn’t become who they are without one. How the plan unfolds is a mystery until it has been fully implemented. We only need to look at 2023 for proof. The plan then appeared rudderless for quite some time and by the time the season started or even later, when Kyle Van Noy was signed during Week 4, the plan was complete and the Ravens fielded arguably the best roster in the NFL.
Maybe we can all learn a lesson from Ozzie.
The Front Office Podcast: Is Eric DeCosta Setting up a Splash Signing?
8 Responses
Darby only move by EDC i disagree with. Any one with a brain saw us drafting o line the last couple years and knew our old guys were on borrowed time. I think most years we wouldve re-signed Zeitler and passed on Henry but the draft being loaded at O line and terrible at RB made that decision for him. As always i urge people to judge the roster Sep 1. We had our best signings last Aug and the best roster in AFC. I expect a top 5 roster in football by September
I understand that right now we have an unfinished product. We were a very successful team and had/have many moving parts. The decisions are tough and sometimes we won’t know the results of these outcomes for years. In EDC we trust. He and the rest of the FO have a good track record. We have to trust the process.
As much as I trust the process I question some of the decisions. As many of us do because we are fans and want the best for our team. If we had more cap money then things would be different. This being said here’s my 2 cents worth.
First I know this will raise a few eyebrows. I wouldn’t have signed Madubuike to this contract. I know he’s very talented and has improved every year. I think other circumstances played into his performance i.e. the coaching(Mac, Weaver, etc), the players around him(Roq, Clowney, KVN, etc) and his motivation to get his bag.
Second I think with all the players we had up for contracts I would have spread it around to several players to lessen the impact to the overall team. I think we could and should have re-signed Darby and Zeitler. They both proved themselves to be valuable, dependable players. Now we have 2 more hole that have to be filled. In Zeitler’s case it also created more dead money.
Third I thought we should have kept Moses at RT. My whole take since we rotated him with Faalele last season was to do the same this season. It would have helped Faalele get more playing time and kept Moses healthier/fresher throughout the season. Depth and health are very important especially in the trenches.
Back to Madubuike. We re-signed Pierce and Urban. Good veteran rotational pieces. We have Jones still on his rookie contract and still trending up. We re-signed Washington and also have Nichols. We’ve always been able to draft and add to the DL and coach up players. IMO we have depth and would have good on the DL with or w/o Madubuike.
I think our OL is our biggest concern now at this point in time with the loss of Moses, Zeitler, and SImpson along with Stanley’s injury history. With keeping Moses and Zeitler we would have had more continuity and veteran leadership. Yes I get we are trying to get younger but I always went by the old saying, “if it ain’t broke, then don’t try to fix it.”
These are just my feelings at this point in time. I am sure they will change once EDC starts working his magic. We all do these things, second guess the decisions until we see the full picture. Here’s hoping things work out and we enjoy a longer run this upcoming season.
Tony, Great piece. Two thoughts come to mind.
The team aggressively negotiated with Zeitler because of the void year drop dead date but couldn’t reach a deal in time and became stuck with $4M dead money for 2024. It’s my guess they offered him a 1 year deal similar to what Detroit gave him and Zeitler passed thinking he would get a multi year deal as a FA. We couldn’t match that one year deal after the $4M hit the books.
I hold out some hope for Clowney because I think he would like to skip as much of camp as possible and may want wait to the summer to pick a team unless he gets a killer deal somewhere else that he has to sign now.
Mark, I appreciated your rather visionary speculation. But I do think that it is more complex than what you’ve noted above. More than likely, KZ would have preferred to stay in Baltimore. He could have come back to the Ravens with the same deal from Detroit IF the Ravens wanted him back. But I don’t think they did want him back. The $4M+ in dead money from the voidable option, as you’re probably aware, isn’t real money. So if the Ravens wanted KZ back at what I believe is a reasonable 1-year, $6M deal, they could have gotten it done and if they wanted to, they could have still achieved a very similar framework in a new contract to handle the $4M+. IOW, they could have kicked the $4M+ can down the road by creating another $4M+ voidable option in order to lessen the impact of the sunken $4M+ from the voidable option in the previous contract.
My guess is that there could be something else going on and that something might be KZ’s health. I say that only because other teams didn’t step up and give him a better deal. Maybe there’s a buyer beware from the medicals. Just speculation on my part, speculation that hopefully you appreciate as much as I did yours. I do wish KZ success in Detroit.
I’m with you on Clowney. #FingersCrossed
How are the comp picks shaking out for 2025?
As of now the Ravens have lost 6 qualifying players who factor into the comp pick equation:
Queen – 4th Rd Comp
Simpson, Stone, Darby, Duvernay – 6th Rd Comp
Edwards – 7th Rd Comp
The Ravens signed Derrick Henry and that cancels out the loss of Simpson leaving a 4th, 6th, 6th & 6th in place. The 7th for Edwards is not awarded since the maximum number of comp picks awarded to any team is four.
Thank you for the insight.
Insightful as usual, but the constant theme with this team’s success hinges on Lamar’s performance! They will go as far as he can take them! That being said, the OL could be a serious problem this year……..