With the NFL officially setting the 2025 salary cap at $279.2 million on Thursday, the open of free agency now comes into sharper focus for the Ravens.
According to OverTheCap.com, Baltimore projects to have about $12.5 million in cap space — ranking 22nd in the league — as it appears general manager Eric DeCosta’s top priority is to re-sign longtime left tackle Ronnie Stanley before the start of the new league on March 12. Speaking at the scouting combine in Indianapolis earlier this week, DeCosta expressed optimism about striking a deal with Stanley, noting how they worked well together to sign a five-year, $98.75 million extension back in 2020.
Relative to a salary cap that’s now $81 million higher than it was five years ago and $23.8 million more than it was last season, the deal wouldn’t be as lucrative this time around with Stanley entering his age-31 season and having missed 36 regular-season games over the last five years. However, Stanley started every game for the first time in his career in 2024 and was named to the Pro Bowl as an alternate to cap his strongest season since suffering a severe ankle injury during the 2020 campaign.
“He and I have a great friendship. We’ve known each other for a long time,” DeCosta said. “He has a great agent in Kim Miale. You never want to say 100%, but I feel good that we’ll have a good, healthy debate [and] a good process. We’ll meet with Kim in Indy this week. I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to get a deal done.”
Of course, there are no guarantees as Stanley is widely regarded as the best left tackle scheduled to hit the open market and has never become a free agent in his career, factors that might entice him to want to explore how other teams needing a left tackle would value him. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus projects Stanley to receive a two-year, $40 million contract including $27.5 million guaranteed.
The Ravens have pointed to second-year right tackle Roger Rosengarten as a potential backup plan on the blind side, but that would require filling the void at right tackle, potentially weakening a championship contender at both tackle spots. Versatile offensive lineman Patrick Mekari — a longtime backup at left tackle — is also scheduled to become a free agent next month.
In other words, working something out with Stanley remains the priority.
“That would be one of the options we could go to,” said head coach John Harbaugh about Rosengarten potentially playing left tackle. “It would depend on the draft and different things like that and free agency. I think we’ll probably keep Ronnie. I’m hopeful that we will. But if we don’t, we’ll have an option, and that would be one of them for sure.”
Last offseason, Baltimore’s top priority was re-signing Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamid Madubuike, who received the franchise tag in early March and then signed a four-year, $98 million contract less than a week before the start of free agency. Taking care of that major piece of business allowed DeCosta to set his sights on signing five-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry to a two-year, $16 million deal to open the new league year.
