The Baltimore Ravens are scheduled to have nine picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, including seven in the first four rounds. With so many early-round picks, you might not think the Ravens have much of a need for even more. But with Baltimore’s love of stockpiling picks by trading back and some opportunities to move up for great prospects, the Ravens might be eager to pull off some trades in the 2020 NFL Draft.
But Baltimore doesn’t have to just use their nine picks to make moves. The Ravens have a handful of players currently on the roster that could garner some attention from other teams. Under general manager Eric DeCosta, Baltimore hasn’t been afraid to send a player packing and could look to do so on draft day for the right price.
With wheelin’ and dealin’ in mind, let’s take a look at four players who could be on the trading block during the 2020 NFL Draft.
OLB Matthew Judon
The most obvious and likely candidate to be traded on draft day is Judon. The Ravens used the franchise tag on him, which set them back $15.83 million on their salary cap. If Baltimore thinks they can replace him reasonably enough in the 2020 NFL Draft or in free agency following and they get the right package of picks presented to them, I think the Ravens would be willing to part with their leading sack producer from last season.
QB Robert Griffin III
The Ravens have gotten trade calls for Griffin before and though the 2020 NFL Draft has a bunch of quarterbacks expected to go in the first round, that might not be the right answer for some teams. Or even those teams that do pick up their next franchise quarterback, not everyone wants to thrust their rookie passer into the fire and could look at Griffin as a stop-gap starter for their draft pick to learn under for a year or two.
Griffin wants a chance to start somewhere and I can’t see Baltimore trading him for anything less than that type of opportunity, which could limit their options even if the phone rings. But if a team is willing to throw in a mid- to late-round pick for Griffin, the Ravens do have Trace McSorley waiting in the wings to take over and would probably be happy to wish Griffin good luck in a different jersey.
RB Mark Ingram
We’ve detailed why running back might be a bigger need than most fans think it is. Part of that is because Ingram isn’t getting any younger and Baltimore could gain back some valuable cap space. If the Ravens find a running back they just have to take in the first two rounds, the depth chart would be a little full and they could look to trade away one of their guys.
Under that circumstance, Ingram would make the most sense. He’s coming off a Pro Bowl campaign, both running and catching the ball well for Baltimore. With a manageable cap hit for the next two years, it’s not too difficult seeing a team being interested in Ingram for a mid-round pick. Doing so would free up $2.17 million on the Ravens’ 2020 salary cap as well, according to Over The Cap.
OLB Tyus Bowser
Baltimore has shown little patience for players not living up to their draft status under new general manager Eric DeCosta. One such player that is going to be in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons this offseason is Bowser. Though Bowser really started to pick things up late last season, his 8.5 sacks over three seasons don’t fit with his second-round draft spot.
As we saw last season with the departure of outside linebacker Tim Williams and wide receiver Jordan Lasley, underperforming is the quickest way off this squad. But as a former second-round pick with five sacks and 10 quarterback hits last season, there’s enough there for some team to be interested in adding Bowser’s potential to their roster.
This makes the most sense for Baltimore if they grab a pass rusher in the first two rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft. They clearly need depth at the position and potentially an heir for Judon since he’s only locked up for the 2020 season on the franchise tag. But if they get a guy they like early, shopping Bowser for a fifth-round pick doesn’t sound like a terrible idea if they can get a contributor at another position of need with that selection.
