The Baltimore Ravens’ first order of business is to create more salary-cap space. According to the NFL Players Association’s Public Salary Cap Report, Baltimore has just over $6 million of cap room. Team officials will likely want $4 million to $5 million more to deal with the inevitable roster churn through the course of the season, and potentially accommodate a notable contract before the trade deadline.
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The easiest way to create that room would be to restructure a few contracts, but the Ravens don’t take decisions to push money onto future caps lightly. Regardless, a contract alteration or two seems likely.
Then there’s the matter of exploring contract extensions for players entering their walk years. Mid-June to mid-August is typically a time when those types of deals gain traction. For the players, it allows them to enter training camp and the season free of concerns about their football futures. For teams, this is one of the few quiet times on the NFL calendar, and it’s easier to prioritize negotiations when the focus of decision-makers isn’t divided by free agency, the draft and pending roster decisions.
The Ravens haven’t had too many late offseason extensions in recent years, but it was the second week of August last year when they agreed to a deal with defensive lineman Broderick Washington. The Ravens hoped they were extending an ascending player who would only get more expensive the closer he got to free agency. The early returns on that three-year, $15.75 million extension haven’t been good. Washington didn’t make a notable impact last year and was even a healthy scratch for one game.
The Ravens, though, understand the risk-reward elements of those deals and won’t be dissuaded from trying to get others done. General manager Eric DeCosta has said as much, recognizing the importance of signing guys early with the team’s perennially tight salary-cap situation making it much tougher to retain players the closer they get to the open market.
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Baltimore’s list of 2025 unrestricted free agents could potentially include offensive tackles Ronnie Stanley and Patrick Mekari, running back Justice Hill and fullback Patrick Ricard. But the Raven with the most to gain in his walk year is cornerback Brandon Stephens. He’s the type of player the Ravens usually work to keep. There was plenty of talk that Baltimore reached when it selected Stephens, a converted college running back, in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Yet, he established himself as a defensive contributor and a solid special teams player in his rookie season. Last year, he was thrust into a starting cornerback role and was one of the most consistent performers on arguably the league’s best defense.
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He’s just 26 years old. He plays a premium position and offers versatility. He can play outside, in the slot and can line up at safety. He’s a solid special teams player. He’s been durable, missing just three regular-season games over three seasons. He’s a highly respected player in the locker room because of how he quietly goes about his business. The Ravens have long-term questions at cornerback, too, which is why they used first- and fourth-round picks two months ago to select Nate Wiggins and T.J. Tampa, respectively.
If the Ravens believe last season was the start of Stephens’ ascent and he’s primed to get better, this is a pretty easy decision for a team that hasn’t hesitated in the recent past to spend on cornerbacks. Having Stephens signed long term and Wiggins and Tampa in the fold would give Baltimore some flexibility next offseason if Marlon Humphrey doesn’t bounce back in 2024 or his injury issues persist.
However, if the Ravens are still unsure about how high Stephens’ ceiling is, then it makes sense just to wait. They simply don’t have the cap margin of error with Lamar Jackson’s contract growing by the year to make big-money mistakes when it comes to evaluating their players who are due second deals.
Stephens and his agent David Mulugheta have every reason to be patient, too. In nine months, Stephens may hit a market that is very kind to quality cornerbacks. If he matches or exceeds his performance from last year, he’ll be in an enviable position soon enough.
Ten random thoughts, opinions
1. It wasn’t hard to detect the irony in Jackson’s comments last week about getting his pass catchers together for throwing sessions before training camp. To do that, Jackson said, “They’re going to have to come to South Florida. They’re going to have to do it. We’re trying to get to the Super Bowl, and for us to do that, we have to grind. We have to build chemistry.”
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The irony, of course, is that it was Jackson who didn’t attend more than half of the voluntary organized team activities, which are opportunities to grind, build chemistry and get on-field work with pass catchers. Jackson was smiling broadly as he made the comment about his pass catchers needing to come to him, so he may have been having fun with his non-South Floridian teammates. He’s not a guy who throws teammates under the bus. If he was serious, though, and strongly believes in the importance of these throwing sessions, it’s fair to ask why the offseason workouts and OTAs aren’t held in the same regard.
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2. My first reaction to the Ravens’ new purple alternate helmet is that I cannot believe something the team is scheduled to wear one time in 2024 has generated such strong opinions and endless chatter. It was a reminder to never underestimate the passion fans have for uniform changes. My second reaction was that I thought the helmets were a cool look. I’m not crazy about the logo or the size of it, but I think the color schemes and some of the details on the helmet were sharp. Now, get off my lawn.
This Fall, Purple Will Rise😈
Introducing our new alternate helmet❗ pic.twitter.com/215Szl8rBK
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 18, 2024
3. The NFL announced the training camp report dates for all 32 teams earlier this week. The Ravens’ rookies will be reporting on July 13, the earliest of any team, and the veterans will be on hand on July 20. Only the Chicago Bears (July 19) and Houston Texans (July 17) have earlier full-team report dates. When the Ravens vets arrive at camp, the Aug. 9 preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles will be just under three weeks away. The regular-season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs will be 47 days away. That gives Baltimore plenty of time to ramp up. The onus will be on John Harbaugh and his staff, along with the players themselves, to make sure the team is as healthy as possible for that trip to Arrowhead because that’s a lot of practice time to navigate.
4. Knowing how reluctant the Ravens are as an organization to open the curtain for outsiders to see how they do business, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the team was approached with HBO and NFL Films’ plan to feature the four AFC North teams in their in-season “Hard Knocks” show. I’d have to think the organization got some assurances about what sort of footage will and will not be used for them to sign off on this.
That the attention of the show will be divided among four teams, rather than being focused on one, probably helped, too. It should be fascinating television. I’m not sure there’s another division with as many interesting — perhaps polarizing is a better word — quarterbacks, and you have four head coaches secure in their jobs. The AFC North is the best division in football, and it probably hasn’t gotten the credit it deserves in recent years. Perhaps this will change that.
5. One interesting rule change from last year that could impact roster construction is that while teams are still allowed to designate an “emergency” No. 3 quarterback on the game day roster, the designated quarterback doesn’t have to come from the active roster. Teams can now designate a practice squad quarterback, if they so choose, as their “emergency” No. 3 unlimited times throughout the season. The Ravens have made clear that veteran Josh Johnson is Jackson’s primary backup. It’s unclear if the new rule will be a major factor in whether they keep rookie sixth-round quarterback Devin Leary on the active 53-man roster or the practice squad, but it certainly will factor into the equation.
6. Because he spent all of last season on the non-football injury list as he rehabbed a torn ACL that he sustained at the league’s scouting combine, Andrew Vorhees didn’t accrue an NFL season. Thus, the Ravens have the 2023 seventh-round pick under contract for four full seasons, starting this year. If he becomes a solid starting guard — and he’s the perceived front-runner heading into training camp to start on the left side — it’s a coup for Baltimore to have a quality offensive lineman on a cheap Day 3 rookie contract for four years. That alone made the decision to draft Vorhees a worthy gamble.
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7. I didn’t list tight end Mark Andrews among the contract extension candidates above, but it will be interesting to see whether the team addresses his deal in the coming year. The four-year, $56 million extension Andrews signed with the Ravens in September 2021 has two seasons remaining. Andrews has a base salary of $7 million and a salary-cap hit of $16.9 million in each of the final two years of his deal. If Andrews has a Pro Bowl-caliber season in 2024, you’d have to think there would be discussion about an extension next offseason.
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8. Isaiah Likely has spent part of this week at Tight End University, the now-annual offseason gathering of tight ends that was founded by Greg Olsen, Travis Kelce and George Kittle. Watching Likely at last week’s mandatory minicamp, he looked like a young player who has figured out how good he can be. Not that he was ever lacking in belief, but you can often see with young players when they take the next step with their confidence, maturity and skill set. That was Likely last week.
9. At least publicly, Ravens decision-makers said they had no concerns about how Derrick Henry would make the transition to running heavily from shotgun formations and out of run-pass and read-option looks after lining up in under-center formations for most of his career in Tennessee. That’s why it felt notable last week when Ravens running backs coach Willie Taggart acknowledged that he did have those questions. “Watching the film in Tennessee, that was a concern. Like, I’m not going to lie, I questioned that, until he got here, and (I saw) the big man move his feet, and I’m like, ‘Woah,’” Taggart said.
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Taggart went on to say he doesn’t think Henry will have any problem running successfully in a new scheme. The Ravens will have Jackson under center at times, too. Still, with all the talk about what a perfect fit Henry is for the Ravens from a mentality and physicality standpoint, Taggart’s comments were a reminder that the 30-year-old will have some major adjustments to make this season.
10. The Ravens officially didn’t announce an assistant wide receivers coach hiring after Keith Williams departed for New Orleans. However, if the offseason workouts are any indication, that role belongs to Prentice Gill, who joined Harbaugh’s staff this offseason. Gill is on a coaching fellowship and has been working with the receivers in the practices alongside primary position coach Greg Lewis. Gill previously was a wide receivers coach at IMG Academy. He’s also had coaching stints with San Jose State, USC, Oregon and Arizona State.
(Photo: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)