The Baltimore Ravens usually sit out the beginning of free agency, often choosing to sign players who are outright cut and those second-tier options that find themselves still on the market closer to the NFL Draft. But with a Super Bowl window clearly in front of them, general manager Eric DeCosta was pretty aggressive this offseason.
Baltimore has agreed to trades, both adding a player and sending one away. The Ravens have re-signed several of their own players while adding a pending free agent in the legal tampering period. In total, Baltimore has at least seven moves already on the docket and could continue to make some more in the coming days.
Let’s take a look at each move individually and give them all a grade to see exactly how well the Ravens have started free agency.
Franchise tagging Matthew Judon
Baltimore didn’t really have a choice here. Most of the pass rushers that were set to hit free agency were given the franchise tag and allowing Judon to hit the open market would have practically guaranteed the Ravens wouldn’t have been able to keep him.
While tagging puts a huge dent in Baltimore’s salary cap, they have some options now. The Ravens can hold off for a little while and wait for the market to set the bar on contracts for pass rushers. Or Baltimore can decide to deal him to a desperate team that’s willing to give up quite a lot for him. If push comes to shove, the Ravens can simply keep him on the franchise tag for 2020 and keep their top outside linebacker for the season.
Grade: A+
Trading for Calais Campbell
Baltimore traded away a fifth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for defensive end Calais Campbell. It frees up a lot of cap space for the Jaguars while giving the Ravens a very productive defensive lineman that can both defend the run and get after the quarterback.
Campbell is a perfect fit in the Ravens defense. He’s a monstrous 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds and is one of the best run defenders in the NFL, not to mention one of the best at generating pressure from the interior. However, most importantly he gets the quarterback down on the ground, as he registered 31.5 sacks in his three years in Jacksonville. He is physical, violent, and has an array of moves to disrupt the backfield.
Even though Campbell had a down year — relatively speaking — in 2019, his 6.5 sacks and 25 quarterback hits would have ranked second on Baltimore’s roster behind Judon. If he comes closer to matching his 2018 or 2017 totals, the Ravens would have a serious upgrade at pass rusher.
The only reason the trade for Campbell doesn’t get a higher grade is because he’ll be 34 years old at the start of the 2020 season and he’s currently slated to eat up a lot of Baltimore’s remaining cap space. However, a new deal would make Campbell’s cap hit far more manageable, potentially taking even that issue away soon.
Grade: A
Signing Michael Brockers
Brockers’ deal is the perfect reason why we need to know the contract details before making a judgment. On the face, Brockers is set to get paid $30 million over three years with $21 million guaranteed, which seems like a lot for a run-stuffing nose tackle. But in reality, the deal is arranged to only be for two years with a $5 million cap hit in 2020 and an easy out in 2022.
In return, the Ravens get a little bit of an upgrade over Michael Pierce, who they seem willing to let walk in free agency. At 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds, Brockers brings in the same stout ability to eat up space and clog up the middle of the field. But he also adds in a little more of an interior pass rush as well, which Baltimore has been desperate for over the years.
Playing next to Aaron Donald with the Los Angeles Rams certainly helps but Bockers has accounted for 8.5 sacks over the last three years. His 17 pressures from 2019 point to Brockers helping Baltimore make a better push up front. When combined with Campbell and Judon, the Ravens’ pass rush should get a lot better.
I didn’t give this move a higher grade because there should be some questions as to what Brockers can do without Los Angeles’ massive defensive line helping him out. Baltimore hasn’t exactly been known for getting a lot of pass-rushing help out of their defensive tackles but they’re paying Brockers like that’s what they’ll be getting.
Grade: B
Trading Hayden Hurst
While the trade includes a few other picks, it boils down to the Ravens shipping Hurst off for a second-round pick. That’s not a bad haul, especially when compared to what the Houston Texans got in return for All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. But it’s an interesting move that now leaves Baltimore with another hole they’ll have to fill.
Though Hurst was buried on the depth chart, he still got a large number of snaps last season. Used both as a blocker and as a receiving option, Hurst brought the best of both worlds from Mark Andrews and Nick Boyle into one. That versatility helps an offense not give away what they’re going to do on any given play. Losing Hurst also limits Baltimore’s depth at tight end, one of their most important positions.
Still, getting a second-round pick in return will allow the Ravens to either add some immediate help at a position of greater need or package picks together to move up and grab a prospect they really love in the 2020 NFL Draft.
What Baltimore does with the pick will really determine just how good of a move this was. For now, I’m giving it a positive grade simply because the Ravens have been among the best teams at scouting and drafting players over the last two decades.
Grade: B-
Re-signing Justin Ellis
It’s clear the Ravens want better play and more depth on their defensive line. While I wouldn’t expect Ellis to be much more than a rotational depth player, he does have starting experience and likely comes back on a pretty cheap one-year deal.
It’s hard to get super excited about this move but it’s these types of smaller deals that add up to a better overall roster once the season starts. However, the final contract numbers could push this grade up or down depending on how much the Ravens spent on Ellis.
Grade: C
Tendering Matt Skura
This was one of the most underrated tough decisions Baltimore had to make this offseason. Skura is coming off a devastating knee injury that saw him tear his ACL, PCL, and MCL as well as dislocate his knee cap. His availability for training camp is a legitimate question at this point and there’s no guarantee he’s going to really be 100% at all in 2020.
Slapping the low tender on Skura means the Ravens will only get the right of first refusal to match any offers he receives from other teams but get no compensation if he leaves. That could come back to bite Baltimore in the butt if another team is willing to gamble on Skura being healthy this season as a starter. It could also bite the Ravens if Skura doesn’t get healthy this season and they’re stuck paying him $2.13 million to never play a down.
At the least, Baltimore is paying Skura $2.13 million this season to view his recovery up close and a little more exclusive time to negotiate a deal if they like what they see. At best, they get their starting center back.
Even if Skura doesn’t return to full form this season but can still play, they get more depth on the interior of their offensive line. With that in mind, paying $2.13 million for a backup with starting experience seems like a bargain.
Grade: B-
Tendering Gus Edwards
Honestly, we’d be bashing Baltimore had they not tendered Edwards. As an ERFA, Edwards had absolutely no options this offseason as long as the Ravens still wanted him around. His free-agency status also means Baltimore can pay him around league minimum if they want.
Edwards was the Ravens’ second running back behind Mark Ingram and averaged 5.3 yards-per-carry on 133 attempts last season. Having cheap and effective running backs on an offense that runs the ball more than any other team is pretty smart.
Grade: A
Overall grade: B
While it would be nice to have Judon and Campbell under new deals to lower their salary cap hits, those are moves that could just as easily happen in the coming days. Judging just what the Ravens have done thus far, they’ve solidified their front seven, will help Judon out both in pressuring the quarterback and stopping the run.
Though they haven’t filled many of their actual needs, it’s going to have an effect on exactly what Baltimore needs. With such a stout defensive line and the type of safeties the Ravens have, it means Baltimore doesn’t absolutely need a three-down inside linebacker. They also don’t necessarily need a three-down outside linebacker in the draft and can focus on finding someone who can rush the quarterback primarily.
More importantly, it’s given the Ravens a lot more firepower in the 2020 NFL Draft to go find players that can make an immediate impact. Having three picks in the first two rounds will help them fill their remaining needs on cheap deals or stock up some depth at other key positions like safety and running back.
Overall, it’s the same philosophy Baltimore carries every offseason. They try to find players who lessen their immediate needs so they can use the “best-player-available” strategy. It’s clearly paid off for them thus far in franchise history and it’s the right strategy to have moving forward.
