The Case For The Ravens Being NFL Trade Deadline Sellers. And Who Should Go ASAP

The Baltimore Ravens might be three weeks away from truly pivoting to playing their youngsters and embracing the fact that the alleged Super Bowl contender carried 20 percent of its roster with rookies to open the season in the first place.

If they lose to the Bills and Jaguars in the span of a few days, and if their second-half defense continues to be historically suspect, and if their novice coaches continue to looks horribly overmatched after halftime (they should have hired them help), and if Jesse Minter keeps wondering why his $370M roster can’t display any heart and leadership, then it just might be that this team is a mere extension of last year's disaster, and that general manager Eric DeCosta is one of the biggest frauds in the NFL, and that Baltimore is doomed again.

This might just be a bloated, complacent roster that is the handiwork of an entitled, stubborn, egomaniacal fake smart guy (just like Mike Elias), who skirts accountability and blames others and curries favor with checked-out billionaires. Meantime John Harbaugh and Todd Monken – the men allegedly holding back DeCosta’s treasure trove of talent – compete for NFL Coach of the Year honors elsewhere.

DeCosta tends to put own self-interest ahead of the team, wanting “his guys” to make him look good for rewarding them with unnecessarily rich extensions while primo young talent leaves the building (which is why the baby-faced coach is forced to start guys, who are replacement-level talent, at best, making top-10 money at their positions).

But imagine if the Ravens had an honest broker running the team. Someone clear-eyed – not a politician obsessed with his media clippings who is constantly working to hone that image – who could see this Frankenstein roster for what it is. What would they do? Well, as longtime NFL GM Marty Hurney suggested on “The Daily Flock” several times this year and again this week, this was always going to be the final year in Baltimore for a legion of starters and key reserves, and this organization might need to shift into player-development mode soon.

“At some point if things still have not gotten right, I do think you have to make that switch and start playing more of the young guys,” Hurney told me, “and try to make that transition. Because I think that every team hits it and the Ravens do a really good job, as good as anybody of really turning it over and not having the ‘window; philosophy, because they've always drafted well and had a lot of draft choices. But right now, you kind of feel like this is a time where the young guys need to step up and it feels like there's a little bit of a transition taking place in Baltimore."

Indeed, so, wouldn’t it make sense to load up on draft picks – even very low draft picks because these are more salary dumps than football trades (again, blame DeCosta and blame a half-interested owner for not rebuilding his decaying front office when he fired Harbaugh). Getting DeCosta-ed 17 times since this guy was handed the reigns from Ozzie Newsome is a sign that even Lamar Jackson can’t overcome this mess, isn’t it?

There are some moves they could make to buy on the fringes ... but DeCosta may have created more problems already with a desperate deal for Cam Jurgens. Not sure he should be trusted to add more.

The Case For Selling

Dec 31, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta speaks with tight end Mark Andrews on the sidelines before the game against the Miami Dolphins at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

DeCosta is beyond a failure when it comes to extending his QBs contract like any half-assed GM would. So Jackson can decide if he wants to go to Miami, or whatever, and DeCosta knows it, which explains why he acted like a fool at his pre-season press conference when pressed on this topic.

But if Jackson doesn’t want to take their money, he doesn’t have to, and with an $85M cap hit the Ravens would have to move him. So there’s that. Then consider that it’s painfully obvious that Ronnie Stanley, Mark Andrews, Derrick Henry, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, Rashod Bateman and Calais Campbell are at the end here (and would be if this team had a real GM in charge). And that of their young players on rookie deals, only Tavius Robinson (on season-ending IR) and Trent Simpson would be making a case for an extension.

That’s bleak folks. But that’s DeCosta, who would rather give Humphrey the 10th most money of any corner in the NFL, than admit he did another stupid contract structure and acknowledge his obvious decline just pay him $4M to leave.

And in terms of blue chip players on a contract extension, there’s Kyle Hamilton and Zay Flowers and Nnamdi Madubuike and that’s it. Not much.

But their culture is clearly warped - DeCosta is at the core of that - and it’s not getting better and I’d be perfectly fine with taking whatever you can get for Smith and Andrews and Bateman and Humphrey right now and embracing a future without them. Move Simpson to Smith’s spot, or Teddye Buchanan, give TJ Tampa a run for Humphrey, and they drafted two tight ends who are already better than Andrews.

Now, let's be real - no one wants those veterans. No one would give DeCosta anything for Andrews after the 2024 season and he insisted in paying him again, anyway. Oh, and the real problem is his drafts have stunk too, so the next man up at these positions could be perilous.

Sending a message to the locker room and starting to position for the future isn’t crazy. If those guys can’t lead – and Minter says he’s desperately searching for leaders – then empower your youth. I don’t think the drop-off would be significant in most cases (maybe not even going from Stanley to Carson Vinson)

They're going to need to convince Jackson why he should stay, and almost none of those veterans will be back here in 2027, whether the QB is or not.

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