The Baltimore Ravens signed cornerback Tavon Young to a three-year extension, worth up to $29 million on Thursday. The deal ensures Young will remain in Baltimore for a good amount of time, keeping him from hitting free agency in 2020. But what’s more noteworthy from this signing is how the Ravens were able to extend a player before they entered the final year of their contract. It’s something Baltimore hasn’t been able to do in recent years.
The Ravens have seen talented young players like fullback Kyle Juszczyk, offensive tackle Rick Wagner and center Ryan Jensen leave because the team didn’t want to open their wallets to match the free agent market frenzy. It would mark a huge turnaround for the Ravens if they could start extending their players early.
This would be just the right time for Baltimore to start doing that. The Ravens have quite a few players that will see their contracts expire after 2019. We’ve pointed out four Ravens who could receive early contract extensions this offseason along with Young. While there’s no telling if Baltimore would get any of them at a bargain, the Ravens would greatly benefit from signing them early and preventing them from hitting the market.
With Baltimore entering a rebuilding period under new general manager Eric DeCosta, now is the time to start thinking ahead like this. Hopefully, it’s a sign of what’s to come and we won’t have to watch as many talented young players walk in subsequent free agency periods.
