The Baltimore Ravens sit in a good spot at their Week 8 bye. They’re 5-2 and hold a comfortable lead over the rest of the AFC North. While they’ve been far from perfect, they remain one of the best teams in the league and have seen major strides on both sides of the football.
But when you look back at the Ravens’ offseason, there are a few things they could have done differently to put themselves in an even better position. With that in mind, I broke down four moves Baltimore should have made — or in one case, not made:
Keeping either Za’Darius Smith or Terrell Suggs
The Ravens let both of their starting outside linebackers leave in free agency. With the tiniest amount of hindsight, that was a really bad move. Granted, keeping Smith would have meant paying him like he got paid in Green Bay, which Baltimore couldn’t really afford without some creative math and probably at the loss of another free agent signing.
But Smith’s six sacks through seven games would have dramatically helped a Ravens defense that has struggled to bring quarterbacks down this season.
If Baltimore couldn’t have afforded Smith, Suggs is the guy they should have focused on. Owner Steve Bisciotti admitted the team was hoping Suggs would take less money to stay. Given how little the sides were likely off and how much they needed his production, it seems foolish to let Suggs leave.
Much like Smith, Suggs’ five sacks through seven games would be a huge boost to the Ravens defense. That’s one more than Judon has through the same number of games and is equal to what Tyus Bowser, Patrick Onwuasor, Brandon Carr and L.J. Fort have combined for.
The best part of keeping either Smith or Suggs would’ve been the impact on the other pass rushers on Baltimore’s roster. Judon would receive far less attention, which would likely boost his sack total.
Signing Josh Bynes from the beginning
Throughout the offseason, I talked extensively about how little depth Baltimore had at linebacker. I said I expected them to sign a low-cost veteran to at least provide some more depth and be an on-field mentor to the young players. While it didn’t happen in the offseason, I was proved right in the middle of the season when Baltimore signed Bynes.
As could be expected, the young linebackers struggled early and often this season. It was their first time running this defense themselves and the spotlight was more firmly on them with C.J. Mosley’s departure. Had they balled out, Bynes would have simply sat on the bench and occasionally spelled them to keep them fresh. But as we saw, Baltimore needed Bynes badly.
The Ravens signed Bynes following Week 4 and got immediate production from him. In spite of being on the team for just a few days, Bynes started and came up with a big interception against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Though he’s looked a little gassed at times, Bynes has stepped up for Baltimore this season and helped solidify the center of the defense. If he’d had a full training camp to get into game shape and memorize the playbook, just imagine how good he would have been from Week 1 and how the Ravens might have changed a loss into a win.
Bynes was a low-cost, high-reward signing Baltimore should have done this offseason. Instead, they sat around and hoped they’d be fine with no real backup plan in place. They were able to resolve the problem, but it nearly bit them big-time.
Not trading Alex Lewis
The Ravens traded or cut a few players this offseason as their patience wore out. While I can certainly agree with the sentiment and the message it sent to the rest of the roster, Lewis was a valuable part of this offensive line. Yet the Ravens shipped him off to the New York Jets for a conditional seventh-round pick.
Bradley Bozeman has struggled at left guard, and there doesn’t seem to be an immediate fix on the roster. Meanwhile, Lewis is now starting for the Jets and playing really good football. He’s actually New York’s best offensive lineman right now, according to Pro Football Focus.
Had Baltimore gotten a lot in return for Lewis, there would be less room for complaint here. But Lewis, even on the bench, was worth more than a conditional seventh-round pick. There’s plenty of hindsight here given Lewis’ injury history and his lackluster offseason, but with the way he’s playing right now, he would have cemented the Ravens offensive line and made the whole offense far better.
Trading for Michael Bennett
The New England Patriots traded for Bennett back in March, sending a fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for the veteran pass rusher and a seventh-round pick. Though the Patriots didn’t use him a lot and traded him to the Dallas Cowboys this week, there’s little doubt he would have been useful in Baltimore.
Bennett finished last season with nine sacks. Through six games and limited playing time, he has 2.5 sacks this year. Even if Bennett continued at that pace in Baltimore, he’d be third on the team in sacks right now. And considering their desperate need for pass-rush help, it’s doubtful the Ravens would have been nearly as sparing with his snap counts as New England was.
This is the type of low-risk, high-reward move Baltimore has been known for. While there’s certainly an argument towards getting young players involved instead of bringing in retreads, the Ravens unceremoniously cut one of their young players in Tim Williams, so that is not a good excuse to use here. At the very least, Baltimore would have a more potent pass rush with Bennett than they have right now. It’d be mighty difficult to say that would have been a bad move for the Ravens.
