Ravens free-agency primer: Key dates, biggest needs and potential targets (2024)

It should be a familiar feeling this time of year, but that doesn’t mean it won’t produce hand-wringing and angst.

A typical start to free agency for the Baltimore Ravens usually goes something like this:

Several of their better free agents agree to terms with other teams within the first 48 hours of the market opening. The Ravens are mostly quiet, re-signing a few of their own free agents to modest deals while waiting for the prices to come down and the compensatory picks to build up. Panic sets in with the fan base, which predicts pending doom for the team and questions if general manager Eric DeCosta is snoozing through the start of the new league year. Lather, rinse and repeat.

When the legal tampering period begins Monday at noon ET, the Ravens won’t be one of the more aggressive teams on the open market, bidding on a plethora of premium free agents. DeCosta and company don’t believe in building the team through free agency, and they again lack the salary-cap flexibility to get into bidding wars for many top players.

The Ravens already achieved a major offseason win Friday by signing defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, who had previously been in line to play the season on the franchise tag, to a four-year, $98 million contract extension. However, they won’t be able to pay everyone and they are particularly vulnerable to losing a ton of their free agents. They have 22 unrestricted free agents in all, and several of them are coming off career-best seasons.

As The Athletic’s Randy Mueller, a former NFL general manager, wrote, “No roster will be under greater assault (in free agency)” than Baltimore’s.

Traditionally, the Ravens make one or two selective forays into the open market to fill what they perceive as their biggest needs and then wait until the first — and often second — waves of free agency are over before making some more moves. DeCosta’s best additions last year occurred on the eve of training camp (Arthur Maulet), during camp (Jadeveon Clowney and Ronald Darby) and during the season (Kyle Van Noy).

That’s why it’s always wise to hold off grading Baltimore’s offseason until months later because team officials consider building the roster a year-round pursuit. That, however, won’t stop the judgments from rolling in this week. It’s a rite of passage for Ravens fans.

Let’s look at the particulars as the most frenzied part of the NFL offseason is upon us:

Key dates

Monday: Teams can start talking to the representatives of pending free agents at noon, although it’s foolish to think the conversations will be starting from scratch during the legal two-day tampering window. It’s the worst-kept secret that talks have been going on for weeks. By Monday afternoon, there will already be many verbal agreements between teams and free agents.

Wednesday: It’s the official start of the new league year and contracts and trades can be finalized after 4 p.m. Teams also must be in salary-cap compliance.

Thursday: Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has to be released before 4 p.m. this day or his salary for 2025 will become fully guaranteed. Barring a new contract agreement with the Ravens, Beckham will become a free agent.

March 18: This could be a key date in determining left tackle Ronnie Stanley’s immediate future with the team, which is one of the Ravens’ biggest offseason questions. Stanley is due a $4 million roster bonus. If the Ravens pick that up, it seemingly indicates that they envision him being on the roster in 2024. Cutting Stanley without a post-June 1 designation seems unlikely because, while it would create $8 million of cap space, it also would put nearly $18 million of dead money on the 2024 cap. Jettisoning Stanley post-June 1 is more plausible because it would trigger $15 million of savings and allow Baltimore to absorb a third of his dead money on the 2025 salary cap. The best-case scenario for the Ravens would probably be for Stanley to agree to a significant pay cut. That way they create some cap space and don’t have to find a starting left tackle. But such agreements can be a tough sell for a veteran player.

April 25-27: The Ravens have eight picks in the three-day NFL Draft. They have one each in the first (No. 30), second, third and fifth rounds, and two apiece in the fourth and seventh rounds.

The board is coming together ⏳ pic.twitter.com/PVLWroVWHG

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 8, 2024

May 1: After this date, free-agent signings no longer count toward the compensatory pick formula. The Ravens traditionally hold off on signing players until after the deadline to preserve compensatory picks.

May 2: DeCosta will have to make a final decision on whether to pick up the fifth-year 2025 options for wide receiver Rashod Bateman and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, the team’s two 2021 first-round selections.

The cap situation

Even with the $30 million rise in the salary cap to $255.4 million and the team’s recent deal with Madubuike, the Ravens still are right against the cap. They’ll need to do more cap-cutting to ensure they are cap-compliant by Wednesday and to allow themselves to be active in free agency.

The good news is they have a plethora of options. They still have yet to release any players despite right tackle Morgan Moses ($5.5 million in cap savings), outside linebacker Tyus Bowser ($5.5 million) and fullback Patrick Ricard ($4 million) being oft-mentioned as cut candidates. They can sign a player such as Ricard or reserve offensive tackle Patrick Mekari to a contract extension that would lower their 2024 cap numbers. They can try to convince a few players (see Stanley above) to take pay cuts to stay on the roster. They also can do simple contract restructures for some of their top players, like quarterback Lamar Jackson, tight end Mark Andrews and middle linebacker Roquan Smith. Restructuring Jackson’s contract alone would create roughly $11 million of cap space.

Baltimore will almost certainly have to use a combination of cuts, restructures and extensions to open up the necessary breathing room.

Biggest needs

Offensive line: Solidifying the O-line is the stated priority of the team’s decision-makers. With starting guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson heading to free agency and both starting tackles Stanley and Moses having uncertain futures, the Ravens probably need to add at least two starting offensive linemen this offseason.

Running back: With Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins and Dalvin Cook all heading to free agency, the Ravens have only Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell and Owen Wright under contract — and Mitchell’s status for the 2024 season is unclear because of a significant knee injury sustained in December.

Cornerback: Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens are not a bad place to start, and the Ravens have some young guys in the mix. But they need more.

Edge rusher: The Ravens’ two biggest sack threats on the edge last season, Clowney and Van Noy, are both free agents. They feel good about Oweh and haven’t lost faith in David Ojabo, but the Ravens need an accomplished veteran edge rusher who can get eight-to-10 sacks.

Wide receiver: As usual, Ravens fans are more concerned about the state of the receiver room than team officials are. They like the trio of Zay Flowers, Bateman and Nelson Agholor, and they likely will add to that group by picking from a loaded wide receiver draft class.

Other: A No. 3 safety, inside linebacker depth and a rotational interior defensive lineman.

Ravens’ top free agents

Patrick Queen, ILB: The Ravens love Queen, but they’re at peace with the fact that the 2020 first-round pick will likely get more money on the open market than they have to offer.

Kevin Zeitler, G: It seems a formality that he departs after the Ravens allowed the venerable offensive lineman’s contract to void last month.

Jadeveon Clowney, OLB: A free-agent steal last year, Clowney again hits the market coming off a 9 1/2-sack season. He’ll be more expensive this time around.

Geno Stone, S: A saturated safety market probably won’t help Stone, but he’s still only 24 years old and led the AFC with seven interceptions last season.

Ronald Darby, CB: The 30-year-old stayed healthy last year and showed he still had plenty of juice. He’s a guy the Ravens should work to keep.

Other notable free agents: QB Tyler Huntley; RBs Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins and Dalvin Cook; WRs Odell Beckham and Devin Duvernay; OG John Simpson; LBs Kyle Van Noy and Malik Harrison.; DE Brent Urban; CB Arthur Maulet.

Potential targets

Saquon Barkley/Derrick Henry/Josh Jacobs, RBs: The Ravens have done their homework on the top backs. If the price is right, they could pounce.

Zack Moss, RB: Several available running backs would fit well with the Ravens. Moss stands out as a physical, downhill guy who would be a strong complement to Hill and Mitchell’s speed and elusiveness.

Damien Lewis, G: The Ravens were miffed when the Seattle Seahawks selected Lewis two spots ahead of them in the third round of the 2020 draft. They wanted Lewis. Instead, they “settled” for Madubuike. Let’s just say it worked out. They now have an opportunity to have both on the same team.

Darious Williams, CB: Williams was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Ravens in 2018 but was cut during that season. He’s made 55 starts in the five seasons since. He’d be a nice addition to a cornerback group that is suddenly trending young.

Shaquil Barrett, OLB: Re-signing Clowney and/or Van Noy will probably be the preference, but Barrett is a nice candidate to be the latest veteran edge rusher the Ravens bring in and try to coax another year of quality football out of. He’s a Baltimore native, and since he was let go by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he wouldn’t factor in the compensatory pick formula.

Josh Reynolds, WR: It seems more likely that the Ravens will attack their receiver need in the draft, and if they do sign a pass catcher, it will be on the cheap. Reynolds is coming off a solid season for the Detroit Lions and would be a nice addition.

(Photo of Saquon Barkley: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)