Left tackle Ronnie Stanley was supposed to be next in line for a payday from the Ravens.
That made his absence because of a shoulder injury in Week 4 an interesting case study for an organization with several young stars to pay and only so much salary cap space to go around in the not-too-distant future. That list was shortened by one last week with Baltimore making Marlon Humphrey the NFL’s second-highest paid cornerback, but a lucrative financial commitment awaits for reigning league MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson and others.
Despite Stanley being “really close to going” against Washington in head coach John Harbaugh’s words, the Ravens moved Pro Bowl right tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to the left side in the 31-17 victory. And while we don’t know every detail of a lineman’s responsibilities when reviewing the game film, the 24-year-old Brown performed well in his first start at left tackle since his time at the University of Oklahoma, especially in the first half as he made Washington defensive end Montez Sweat a non-factor.
Many had expected Baltimore to turn to veteran D.J. Fluker at left tackle since he filled in for Stanley in the second half of the Week 1 win over Cleveland, but offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris and offensive coordinator Greg Roman instead went with Brown on the left side and Fluker at right tackle and were pleased with the results, according to Harbaugh.
“It’s not easy. On Friday, all of a sudden, we’re flipping things around and making sure everybody knows what they’re doing,” said Harbaugh, who added that he “probably felt even better” about the performance after reviewing the tape. “It’s a credit to them that they knew what to do. Really, flipping those techniques [from the right to left side] are not easy either. That’s not as easy as you might think, especially against the defensive line we were going against in this last game. Those guys did a good job.”
Browns’ performance on the left side served as a short-term fix and part of the answer to the swing tackle question that had lingered since the March release of veteran James Hurst, but seeing the 2018 third-round pick at left tackle also provided useful information for the organization. After all, general manager Eric DeCosta and the Ravens are evaluating their long-term relationship with the 26-year-old Stanley, who’s widely regarded as one of the very best left tackles in football.
That isn’t to suggest a massive contract extension won’t still come for the 2019 All-Pro left tackle, but Baltimore extending Humphrey had to raise a few eyebrows in Stanley’s camp, especially since the 24-year-old cornerback was drafted the year after the left tackle and wasn’t scheduled to hit free agency until after the 2021 season. At the scouting combine in late February, DeCosta acknowledged the Ravens had “talked quite a bit” about a long-term contract with Stanley’s representation, calling Kim Miale of Roc Nation Sports “a really skilled agent.”
But that was before draft weekend in late April when Houston agreed to a three-year, $66 million contract with Laremy Tunsil, a left tackle selected seven spots after Stanley in the first round of the 2016 draft. Former Texans head coach Bill O’Brien — who was fired earlier this week — had acquired Tunsil in a blockbuster deal with Miami that included trading two first-round picks the previous summer, leaving the 26-year-old lineman with an extraordinary amount of negotiating leverage to blow up the left tackle market that had previously topped out at an average annual value of $16.5 million.
The Ravens would likely argue the Tunsil contract should be treated as an extreme outlier, but Stanley’s camp could strongly contest he’s the better left tackle and should be compensated accordingly, making it easy to understand why a deal hasn’t yet been struck. It’s also worth noting the $105 million contract the Los Angeles Rams awarded Jalen Ramsey to reset the cornerback market in early September didn’t seem to hinder momentum for the Ravens to reach a deal with Humphrey, perhaps a clue as to how the organization values each player’s respective position.
Some have pondered in recent years whether we’ve passed the peak of how teams should value left tackles, especially with defenses becoming more inclined to move elite pass rushers to the opposite side of the formation anyway. And when you consider quarterbacks getting rid of the ball more and more quickly as well as the rise of mobile signal-callers such as Jackson, it’s fair to wonder whether paying top-of-the market money to a left tackle is the optimal use of resources. That’s why getting the opportunity to see Brown — scheduled to become a free agent after 2021 — play left tackle was valuable with Stanley having missed at least one game in each of his five seasons.
To be clear, this story appears to be far from its conclusion as using the franchise tag would be an easy choice for the Ravens if the sides haven’t worked out a long-term agreement before March. This season, the franchise tender for an offensive lineman was $14.781 million or 120 percent of the previous year salary with Stanley making $12.866 million in base salary for 2020.
Even if the Ravens are reluctant to pay Stanley more than Tunsil, a one-year commitment of just over $15 million would give them more time to monitor other market activity or even entertain the possibility of a lucrative trade like the Dolphins pulled off with Tunsil last year. Of course, such a scenario would need to be accompanied by the kind of comfort level with Brown at left tackle that would be difficult to surmise from a single start. You’d also expect an early draft choice to be used for an offensive tackle to maintain the talent pipeline in the event of an eventual Stanley exit.
Not wanting to pay a left tackle more than $22 million per season is one thing, but the position remains very important. And it’s no secret the Ravens went through numerous options with mixed results after Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden’s retirement and before finally drafting Stanley out of Notre Dame eight years later.
It’s one of several challenging calls DeCosta will have to make over these next few years to try to maintain a championship-caliber roster.
