Successful teams often see a host of their key parts depart following NFL seasons. Coordinators become head coaches, position coaches become coordinators and players with expiring contracts become big-money players.
The Baltimore Ravens went 14-2 in the regular season but managed to retain their entire coaching staff this offseason. They do have players who are looking for a big payday, however. Though Baltimore is expected to have a decent amount of cap space this offseason, they’ll have a tough time re-signing all 21 pending free agents while also working to restock the roster with fresh, new talent.
One of the biggest names is the defensive tackle, Michael Pierce. So what better person to choose next on our free-agent preview than a guy Baltimore have to thank for their stout run defense over the last few seasons.
Also, check out our other Ravens free-agent previews for 2020.
Michael Pierce – 2019 review:
Michael Pierce was a vital piece of the Ravens’ defensive front, helping the team allow the fifth-fewest rushing yards in the NFL in 2019.
Baltimore doesn’t typically ask their defensive linemen to get after the quarterback. That means Pierce’s stats aren’t very impressive, with only half of a sack and two tackles-for-loss to go with 35 combined tackles in 2019.
But Pierce and Brandon Williams’s role in Wink Martindale’s unit is to occupy blockers and allow the linebackers to make the plays. This, allied to his only playing on 49% of the Ravens’ defensive snaps, goes a long way towards explaining away any apparent lack of production.
Martindale himself has nicknamed Pierce and Williams the “FSU Brothers”, due to their mucking up opposing running games. And no, FSU isn’t a school . . .
Review / Potential / Value / Chances to re-sign
Michael Pierce – Potential:
Pierce will turn 28 during the 2020 season and has played four seasons in the NFL since joining the Ravens as a UDFA in 2016. As previously mentioned, his stats do not jump off the page. In 60 career games, he has a total of 3.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, never forcing a fumble. That makes figuring out his potential in another scheme that might ask him to generate more pressure rather than Baltimore’s space-eating scheme.
But given his age, he still has some years of his prime left. Any team, be it the Ravens or another squad, will be bringing Pierce in for his abilities to nullify the ground game. As a result, there is likely to be a cap on his value, as he is not going to be matching the likes of Aaron Donald or J.J. Watt in terms of sacks.
But players like Pierce are still fairly hard to come by, especially in the pass first, pass often modern NFL. Stopping the run is still a useful skill for a defense to have in its arsenal.
Review / Potential / Value / Chances to re-sign
Michael Pierce – Free agency value:
In terms of his possible contract value, Pierce and his representatives may look to his fellow “FSU” brother Brandon Williams. Three years ago, when Williams was 27, he signed a five year, $52.5m contract with the Ravens with $24.5m guaranteed at signing.
After four seasons, the two players’ production is fairly similar, although Williams has a slight edge. Williams had 97 combined tackles to Pierce’s 90. Williams has 4.5 sacks to Pierce’s 3.5. While Pierce has recorded 13 tackles for loss, Williams has 17. But Williams still has two years of that contract left to run and it is doubtful that the Ravens will want to commit too much to an unglamorous spot on their roster. Although Williams could be a possible cut candidate in the weeks to come.
But it seems unlikely Pierce will actually get that type of contract given his production. It would take another team believing Pierce can be more of an interior pass-rushing asset than Baltimore has used him as. Even then, one look at Williams’ production at that cost should be enough to caution any franchise into buying too hard into the notion.
Barring Pierce getting attention from a team that runs a 4-3 defense and hopes he can become an interior pass rusher, the contract the Carolina Panthers gave to Dontari Poe (three years, $28 million) is the ceiling here with Corey Peters’ 2017 deal with the Arizona Cardinals (three years, $12 million) being far more likely.
Given his flashes, upside and run-stuffing ability, Pierce likely signs a three-year deal worth $15 million, with $5 million guaranteed.
Review / Potential / Value / Chances to re-sign
Chance to re-sign:
Pierce sounded like a player preparing to say goodbye to the Ravens when interviewed after the teams’ loss to the Titans.
Plenty of teams are going to be interested in adding a proven run-stuffing defensive lineman, even if it’s a little over market value. With the idea that a team might even view Pierce as a potential asset in getting after the quarterback, it seems as though he’s going to get good money given his production on the stat sheet.
The expected rise of the salary cap could come into play and allow the Ravens to be more generous than they perhaps might have been in previous years. However, Pierce is still a rotational player that will likely command starter money in free agency. The franchise tag is expected to cost around $15.5 million this offseason, taking that off the table for someone of Pierce’s production.
While he has been valuable to the team, he’s likely looking for more money than Baltimore is willing to pay. I put Pierce’s chances of returning to the Ravens at only 10%.
