Days before the start of free agency, the Ravens have ensured their longtime left tackle won’t be hitting the open market and will continue protecting star quarterback Lamar Jackson’s blind side.
On Saturday, Baltimore announced an agreement with Ronnie Stanley on a three-year, $60 million contract including $44 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports. Keeping Stanley was widely regarded as general manager Eric DeCosta’s top offseason priority as the Ravens won’t have to undergo a major shakeup along the offensive line for a second straight year.
With few alternatives in free agency — and multiple teams looking for a left tackle — and not selecting until 27th overall in next month’s draft, the Ravens would have faced a tall order trying to replace Stanley with 2024 second-round pick Roger Rosengarten being the only other established tackle on the current roster. The new agreement comes 4 1/2 years after the sides signed a five-year, $98.75 million contract that made Stanley the second-highest-paid left tackle in the NFL just two days before he suffered a severe left ankle injury, which sidelined him for a stretch of 31 of 32 games from 2020-22.
“Ronnie and I did a deal the last time, so that’s great,” DeCosta said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis late last month. “He and I have a great friendship. We’ve known each other for a long time. 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. … I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to get a deal done.”
The average annual value of the new contract puts Stanley eighth among left tackles, according to OverTheCap.com.
The agreement comes a year after Stanley accepted a $7.5 million salary reduction that also voided the 2025 season of his previous deal. The 30-year-old responded to that pay cut by playing in every game for the first time in his career and turning in his best performance in several years, which led to him being named a Pro Bowl alternate. It proved to be a gratifying season for Stanley, who never shied away from expressing frustration about his injuries and their impact on his play over the bulk of his previous deal.
“It was killing me. We may have been playing well, but it was really killing me on the inside just knowing that I wasn’t playing to my potential,” said Stanley reflecting on his injury-plagued 2023 last summer. “That’s something that’s harder for me to live with. But moving on from last year, I feel very good about this upcoming season.”
Of course, the re-signing doesn’t come without risk for the Ravens, who are making a lucrative bet on Stanley’s newfound durability and improved play continuing in his age-31 season as they seek a third straight AFC North championship and a seventh playoff berth in eight years. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound left tackle’s return allows the rest of DeCosta’s offseason plans to fall into place with Baltimore’s biggest objective now out of the way. It remains to be seen whether the Ravens will re-sign left guard Patrick Mekari, who is also set to become an unrestricted free agent this week.
The sixth overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Notre Dame, Stanley is a two-time Pro Bowl selection and a 2019 first-team All-Pro selection. He’s started 104 out of a possible 148 regular-season games in his nine-year career.
