Ravens Reuniting With Former DE Is Perfect Gamble as Offseason Slows Down

The Ravens have been at least one player short, and in some years, two or three, in terms of edge rushers for years.

A franchise that was synonymous with intense pass rush through most of its existence and certainly as it rose to its first Lombardi Trophy, has been fairly inept at identifying, evaluating it or developing it since Eric DeCosta took over as general manager, whether it be whiffing horribly on high draft picks or letting a guy like Matthew Judon leave before he has to do or paying guys like Justin Houston or Kyle Van Noy one more time than he should have.

And, perhaps, one could argue that getting back together with Jadeveon Clowney now would court some of that same danger. But given the ways the past two years have played out, I’d rather risk that being the case than simply bank on young guys like Zion Young and Mike Green and Tavius Robinson being enough on the edge if need be.

If DeCosta was willing to opine about potentially having a roster that included both failed-trade acquisition Maxx Crosby and big free-agent signing Trey Hendrickson, then kicking out a few million more in payroll for Clowney to fortify the edge group would seem to make plenty of sense as well.

Clowney Is Still Bringing It

A lot has transpired since Clowney left town after a 2023 season that was his career best, overall. At the time the Ravens signed him, late in the summer and not for a huge amount of cash $4.5M, there were lingering concerns about his health and attitude and where he might fit and where he might not.

His highly-successful stint in Baltimore, and runs with Carolina and Dallas since, have put a lot of that to bed.

Now 33, Clowney made $7.5M last season and he is multi-faceted enough to fit new head coach Jesse Minter’s scheme in a number of ways. Minter is running very much a similar defense to what Mike Macdonald has installed in 2023, and Clowney could win of the edge in the run game and pass game and also wreak some havoc rushing inside in NASCAR packages.

Yeah, he’s cost more now to probably pay less, but there is no guarantee that Young, a second-round pick, is ready to make an impact right away and Clowney as part of a deeper rotation on the edge feels like the perfect scenario for him.

If you haven’t been keeping track, Clowney played 349 snaps for Dallas last season over 13 games and registered a ridiculous 19% pressure rate, far and away the best of his career, and 8.5 sacks and he remains strong and stout against the run. Even with a bad Carolina team in 2024 he had a 14% pressure rate still playing every-down snaps, and his long levels and ability to disrupt passes at the line of scrimmage never go out of style.

Sure, it would be great to get a younger, pure pass rusher like Josh Sweat, but that would be far more costly in cash and cost significant draft capital. DeCosta loves to bring back former Ravens (Calais Campbell just another example this summer), and this reunion would make a lot of sense (or Darren Waller on the other side of the ball)

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