Jaire Alexander Signing Continues Ravens' Winning Trend

The Baltimore Ravens' signing of two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander sent waves around the NFL, as they addressed one of their major needs with one of the best at the position when healthy.

Was it all that surprising, though? Not really.

This is a move that screams Ravens through and through. It's a late, team-friendly deal with a proven veteran who was discarded by his former team, checking off virtually every box on Baltimore's list.

Not all of the Ravens' signings of this nature have worked out, but more of them have been successful than not. Some past success stories include pass rushers Kyle Van Noy and Jadeveon Clowney, and if one includes those made earlier in the offseason, then it can also include running back Derrick Henry, guard Kevin Zeitler and others.

As SI's Albert Breer noted, the Ravens are aggressive in this market for several good reasons.

"The first reason is that, by that point in a player’s career, you have a pretty good idea of who they are, bringing the team signing them some certainty," Breer wrote. "Second, you don’t have to worry, as you sometimes do signing guys to big second contracts, about how they’ll react to having money in their pockets. Third, a lot of times, though not always, they’ll bring a certain level of leadership to the table — most develop that if they last that long in the league. And fourth, cut players, or guys 10-or-more years in, do less damage to the comp-pick equation."

If Alexander can stay on the field, he could very well become the latest success story from this group of Ravens signings.

"So Alexander’s the latest in a long line of these sorts of signings," Breer wrote. "He can still play, for sure. The Green Bay Packers could call the defense differently last year when he was in the lineup. The problem, of course, is he wasn’t in the lineup nearly enough, losing 10 games to injury for the second consecutive year. And the Ravens protected themselves against that, in tying $2 million of the $6 million in his one-year deal to play-time incentive."

"As for Alexander himself, the Ravens are a great landing spot for a ton of reasons. One, clearly, being that if anyone’s going to bring his career back to where it was, Baltimore has the history of being that team."

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