Five Top Ravens Starters Could Be In Their Final Year With The Club. Who's Most Likely Gone?

Change is inevitable in the NFL.

And massive turnover for the 2027 season is built into this Ravens roster in significant ways. Owner Steve Bisciotti is more committed financially than ever before, with a $365M payroll, and the vast majority of it is invested in older players and/or injury risks or guys in a walk year (including two-time MVP quarterback with the opportunity to call his shot in 2027 with how his contract is structured).

It’s go time for these Ravens roster as we have come to know it, and with coach John Harbaugh gone after pushing 20 years on the job, the franchise transition was always going to extend beyond one offseason. From a roster standpoint, it’s far more likely than not that the real overhaul of older players comes a few months from now, after the exodus of young talent came this past winter on offense (Tyler Linderbaum, Isaiah Likely, Charlie Kolar, Keaton Mitchell, etc).

There are a handful of stalwarts who have been around Owings Mills for quite some time who are invariably entering their final season in Baltimore. This is how I would rank them in order of likelihood to be gone, from most to least:

Marlon Humphrey

Boy did general manager Eric Decosta, in desperate need of a bounce-back year himself, go overboard hyping up this aging corner last week. But talk is cheap – he also made no attempt to restructure his deal or alter his deal, because DeCosta saw how poorly two of the last three years have gone for Humphrey and he’s always collecting corners and this is it for this one in Baltimore.

Humphrey was 70th or worse out of 76 qualified pass defenders in many key metrics last year and getting him into the slot might help. Paying him $19.25M is nuts to me, and if DeCosta really thought this is a player with future upside that would have been addressed.

“Did not have a great year last year,” DeCosta noted. “I feel confident he is going to rebound and have a great year this year.”

Not comfortable enough to gamble on it. Which says everything.

Projection: He’s gone and he knows it

Rashod Bateman

It’s kind of amazing he’s still here, but when you do stupid stuff to eliminate your free-agent status and are willing to work cheap and you were another bad first-round selection but the guy who took you reaaalllyyyy wants it to work out, then you remain a starting WR in a new offense that badly needed proven pass catchers beyond Zay Flowers.

But Bateman getting arrested while away from team activities in June, and the ugly allegations around it, added to the Ravens reputation as being enablers (Justin Tucker, Terrell Suggs, Ray Rice, for starters) and ticked DeCosta off. Not enough to sanction Bateman themselves, mind you, while the authorities in Atlanta and the NFL investigate the matter, but enough to put him on notice. Flowers is making real money now, and they just drafted two receivers on the second-day of the draft.

“It is obviously something that we are very disappointed about, that we have to deal with these kinds of things,” DeCosta mustered. “I think right now, a little bit of a distraction at some points.”

Bateman has been a malcontent for a good bit of his tenure here, one that’s already gone on too long.

Projection: He’s gone

Ronnie Stanley

I believe internally they view left tackle as a position that must be addressed as high as possible in the 2027 draft. Stanley has had a tremendous career but his career was in doubt years ago because of his ankle. The Ravens were able to rent him cheaply for a few more years as a pending UFA while playing at a high level because of the injury concerns. If Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor was still on the board with the 14th pick, I 1000% believe he would be on this roster to play guard now and tackle a year from now.

Stanley is not a guy who is going to shred his body to extend his career, he has vast interests outside of football and this might end up being his last ride no matter the outcome of the season. The guaranteed money is over, he will be 33, and they are reaching a natural inflexion point in the contract.

Projection: Retirement wouldn’t shock me

Roquan Smith

This is another guy who the coaching staff is hyping and all of that is great, but DeCosta not doing anything to extend him after two down years tell you everything. He hasn’t been a $20M linebacker for a long time, Minter’s scheme shouldn’t require a $20M guy wearing the dot – Minter’s mentor, Mike Macdonald, scooped up Ernest Jones for a fraction of what DeCosta gave up for Smith mid-season in 2024 and won a Super Bowl with him wearing the dot.

He’s pushing 3000 snaps into his career and has certainly slowed down and will continue to be a problem in coverage as he gets older. DeCosta loves to overpay old guys (he just did it with the net guy on this list), but moving forward into Smith’s 30s would be silly even for him.

Projection: DeCosta praying he gets paid enough elsewhere to land a comp pick

Derrick Henry

I give up guessing when he will hit the wall. There is 55 years of data that would indicate it is coming very soon. And I am becoming increasingly convinced that rookie coordinator Declan Doyle is going to ride him relentlessly this season. If he holds up and he wants to keep attacking the record books, the Ravens will have every chance to keep him, I figure.

The league has twice let DeCosta sign him on team-friendly terms, and the running back market remains crazy depressed with even Bijan Robinson unable to really push it forward. He’s only due $11M next season, which is only John Simpson money.

Projection: Done betting against this guy; he’ll be back

Mark Andrews

It’s mind-boggling they extended him late last season when they didn’t have to and when the rest of the league wouldn’t give them anything for him in a trade the year before. They picked him over Isaiah Likely – younger, better, faster – and paid Andrews on a yearly basis about what Harbaugh gave Likely to come to New York in free agency. If this wasn’t about playing favorites, I’d say he’s gone next year, but he’s owed $5M guaranteed in 2027 and they could probably get him to take a cut to stay if need be.

Projection: If DeCosta’s here, Andrews is here

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