If you were surprised by the opening week of free agency for the Ravens, then you probably haven’t been paying much attention over the years.
We could debate a departing name or two, but this kind of free-agent exodus is how it usually goes for Baltimore as general manager Eric DeCosta prioritized keeping Ronnie Stanley and did exactly that by re-signing the longtime left tackle to a three-year, $60 million contract including $44 million guaranteed. There’s certainly risk committing lucrative money to a 31-year-old who missed 38 games from 2020-23, but it didn’t take long to see how favorable the deal was when less-heralded options like Dan Moore and Jaylon Moore did very well as free agents last week.
Trying to replace Stanley carried much greater risk, and the 2016 first-round pick from Notre Dame ultimately preferred to stay, evident by his forgoing the chance to reach the market as the best left tackle available. Stanley easily could have fetched more money going that route.
“I knew I was going to give Baltimore the best bargain that I would offer to any other team,” Stanley said Monday. “But that being said, I still wanted to be happy with what I’m making and make sure I’m getting the value that I feel like I deserve from just the job description and the things that go into what my job has to do. I think it was a good balance that could help the team and something I’m still happy with.”
So, what now with the early waves of free agency in the books?
The Ravens not only re-signed Stanley, but they kept five-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard, reserve wide receiver Tylan Wallace, and backup guard Ben Cleveland on the cheap. They added five-time Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins, backup quarterback Cooper Rush, and reserve linebacker and special-teams standout Jake Hummel as reasonable value signings. Despite much trade speculation, three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews now seems likely to stay put after receiving his $4 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the new league year.
DeCosta must add depth to multiple position groups with the offensive line, defensive line, and edge rusher among the priorities, but one area stands above the rest, especially considering how much Baltimore values versatility on the back end of its defense.
What about the secondary?
The free-agent exit of starting cornerback Brandon Stephens and the release of benched safety Marcus Williams were foregone conclusions months ago. The base defense (four defensive backs) is set with two All-Pro selections — cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Kyle Hamilton — anchoring a group also including 2024 first-round cornerback Nate Wiggins and safety Ar’Darius Washington, who was the biggest surprise of last season. But defensive coordinator Zach Orr deployed base personnel just 10.3% of the time in last year’s regular season while using the nickel (five defensive backs) on 69.4% of defensive snaps and dime (six defensive backs) 18.2% of the time, per Next Gen Stats.
In other words, the Ravens need at least one more starting-caliber defensive back and another legitimate sub-package option to add to that mix.
How DeCosta proceed depends largely on the way Baltimore prefers to use Humphrey in 2025. While improved health contributed to his best season in years, the 28-year-old Humphrey also eclipsed 500 snaps playing in the slot for the first time since 2020, leading one to wonder if that’s the best way to maximize his performance at this point in his career.
Regardless of where Humphrey plays, adding at least one outside cornerback is a must with the current top options behind Humphrey and Wiggins being the oft-injured Jalyn Armour-Davis and 2024 fourth-round pick T.J. Tampa, who dealt with injuries throughout his rookie year and played just 18 defensive snaps. Remaining free-agent options are older (Rasul Douglas) or coming off injury (Asante Samuel Jr.), so DeCosta may look early in the draft for a second straight year with cornerbacks such as Mississippi’s Trey Amos or Florida State’s Azareye’h Thomas potentially available at 27th overall.
Much like with Humphrey, the Ravens must ponder how to deploy Hamilton after the midseason benchings of Williams and No. 3 safety Eddie Jackson prompted Orr to insert Washington in the starting lineup and use Hamilton in more of a deep safety role to try to turn around the NFL’s 32nd-ranked pass defense. That adjustment was a major factor in Baltimore ranking first in the league in total yards allowed, net passing yards allowed, yards per play allowed, and points allowed over its last seven games, but it marked a significant shift for Hamilton, who had spent much more time defending the slot and playing closer to the line of scrimmage than manning a conventional safety role over his first 2 1/2 seasons.
“We definitely saw a different type of performance from Kyle this year, but if you look at overall how our defense blossomed with him back there, I think it was worthwhile,” DeCosta said in January. “Did he make as many splash plays? Probably not, but I’d take the improvement in the defense rather than Kyle making splash plays and us not being very good on defense. If we can add another safety, obviously, it would be really good for us. It gives us that multiplicity on defense and the ability to do a lot of different things.”
While the Ravens have fared better finding safeties in the draft than signing them in free agency in recent years, a veteran option such as Justin Simmons or Julian Blackmon carries some appeal with the only backup safeties on the current roster being a pair of second-year players: 2024 seventh-round pick Sanoussi Kane and undrafted free agent Beau Brade. Baltimore could also look at early draft candidates such as Georgia’s Malaki Starks or South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori, especially considering Washington’s injury history and free-agent status after 2025. There’s also the question of how much money Hamilton is going to command on a very lucrative long-term deal in the not-too-distant future.
To be clear, finding these pieces to complete the secondary puzzle is much easier when enjoying the positional flexibility of Hamilton and Humphrey, which becomes even more valuable over the course of a 17-game season bringing inevitable injury challenges. Creating as many viable alignment options as possible is the ultimate goal.
And it remains high on the list of offseason objectives after the first week of free agency.
