Off to a nightmare 1-4 start and on pace to allow the most points in a season in NFL history, the Ravens have begun shaking up their woeful defense.
On Tuesday, Baltimore traded 2021 first-round pick and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for safety Alohi Gilman and a 2026 fifth-round pick, according to ESPN and NFL Network. General manager Eric DeCosta will also send a 2027 seventh-round pick to Los Angeles in the deal.
After registering a career-high 10 sacks last season, the 26-year-old Oweh had been among the Ravens’ bigger disappointments so far with no sacks and five quarterback hits through five games. The Penn State product added roughly 20 pounds of muscle over the offseason in hopes of being a bigger factor as both a run defender and pass rusher in a contract year, but he had played in a career-low 45% of Baltimore’s defensive snaps, a sign that the organization wasn’t pleased with what it was seeing from someone making $13.25 million.
The trade will create salary cap space for DeCosta since Gilman is making just $3.5 million in base salary this season. That certainly leads one to wonder what other moves could be on the horizon for Baltimore, especially since its pass rush was already struggling with Oweh.
Though star safety Kyle Hamilton’s Week 6 status remains in question after he sat out last Sunday’s 44-10 loss to Houston with a groin injury, the arrival of Gilman gives the Ravens another starting-caliber safety. That should allow the Ravens to revert to using more three-safety sub packages and Hamilton to return to playing more of a hybrid nickel and dime role closer to the line of scrimmage, which is needed considering their struggles at linebacker and desire to make more splash plays on defense. With Hamilton sidelined in Week 5, the Ravens started two rookies — first-round pick Malaki Starks and undrafted free agent Reuben Lowery — at the safety positions. Many had been clamoring for DeCosta to add a veteran safety from the moment Ar’Darius Washington suffered a torn Achilles tendon in mid-May.
Gilman is a 2020 sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame — and a former college teammate of Hamilton — who’s made 39 NFL starts and 30 over the last three seasons. In five starts for the Chargers this year, the 5-foot-10, 201-pound defensive back recorded 22 tackles and three pass breakups. In 73 career games, Gilman has collected five interceptions, 21 pass breakups, 252 tackles, and a sack. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus has graded Gilman 33rd out of 80 qualified safeties this season, ranked him 52nd out of 98 last year, and graded him an impressive seventh among qualified safeties in 2023.
Oweh’s departure does create a hole in an outside linebacker group that hasn’t been particularly impressive, especially with veteran Kyle Van Noy missing two games due to a hamstring injury sustained in Week 2. Tavius Robinson and rookie second-round pick Mike Green lead the position group in snaps, and the absence of Oweh could lead to more opportunities for David Ojabo — at least for the time being. Baltimore also expects second-year outside linebacker Adisa Isaac to return to play at some point this season after suffering a dislocated elbow in the preseason that required surgery.
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The Ravens are tied for 29th in the NFL in sacks with just six in five games this season.
Tuesday’s move begs the question whether DeCosta will now aim to acquire an impact edge rusher before the Nov. 4 trade deadline. Of course, the Ravens must begin winning games quickly to avoid the opposite question of whether they should trade other assets with expiring contracts.
Baltimore also signed veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to its practice squad on Tuesday. The 27-year-old was a starter and key contributor for Super Bowl champion Philadelphia last season, but he was surprisingly released by the Texans last month after a falling out over his usage on their defense.
To make room for Gardner-Johnson on the practice squad, the Ravens released nose tackle Josh Tupou.
