A week after losing standout edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney to Carolina, the Ravens announced they’re bringing back veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy on a two-year contract.
According to NFL Network, the deal is worth $9 million with the potential for Van Noy to earn an additional $1 million per year in incentives. Despite not signing with Baltimore until Week 4, the 33-year-old made a significant impact last season, registering a career-high nine sacks for the NFL’s top-ranked scoring defense that also finished first in sacks. Van Noy also collected two forced fumbles, 30 tackles, and nine quarterback hits while Pro Football Focus credited him with 53 quarterback pressures — the second-highest total of his career — and ranked him 26th in pass-rush win rate among qualified NFL edge rushers. The 2014 second-round pick out of Brigham Young finished 18th among edge rushers in ESPN’s version of pass-rush win rate.
Van Noy averaged just under 35 snaps per game last season.
Now preparing for his 11th season, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Van Noy was a two-time Super Bowl winner with New England and expressed admiration for the Ravens from the moment he arrived in late September. Van Noy initially visited with Baltimore over the summer and stayed in shape over the course of last offseason, which allowed him to suit up and play in a game just days after signing.
“I’m grateful for the Ravens reaching out and believing in me and then throwing me in,” Van Noy said in mid-January. “It only took a couple days for them to be like, ‘Oh, this dude is ready to play.’ And then I’ve been hitting the ground running, and it’s awesome, and I just appreciate the guys embracing me here.”
Van Noy’s return to the Ravens brings a known commodity and much-needed veteran leadership for a young and mostly unproven group of outside linebackers that includes Odafe Oweh, David Ojabo, Tavius Robinson, and Malik Hamm. At last week’s NFL owners meetings in Orlando, head coach John Harbaugh said he had stayed in touch with Van Noy and expressed optimism about the Ravens being able to re-sign him or Clowney, who ultimately signed with the Panthers a couple days later.
