Come the start of free agency tomorrow, Kelechi Osemele will no long be a Baltimore Ravens. Reports came out today that Osemele agreed to a deal with the Oakland Raiders. Oseleme has been a solid guard in his career with the Ravens, and as kept Flacco remotely safe.
The Kelechi Osemele deal — 5 years, $60M max — is wild. Highest paid guard in NFL history. Crazy $$. #Raiders beef up that line.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2016
The deal for Osemele is huge, and you can see why the Ravens were not going to be able to keep him. Osemele is very versatile, having played left tackle, left guard, and right tackle for the Ravens. Osemele was the starting right tackle for the Ravens during their Super Bowl run in 2012. Osemele is physical and solid, and is well worth the money. Osemele allowed only one sack last season.
However, the Raiders may have paid too much, and that could be costly in the future for them. Spending too much money on just one single player can haunt a team when they have to make important personnel decisions in the future. The Raiders certainly improved their offensive line with this deal when all is said and done.
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The Ravens will look to draft a guard, or promote John Urschel, who is 2 years younger than Osemele. Urschel showed some promise this season, which likely makes the Ravens comfortable with losing Osemele. Protecting quarterback Joe Flacco is a top priority for the Ravens, and with Joe restructuring his contract the Ravens will have a little bit of pocket change lying around to potentially add another offensive lineman to the mix.
The Ravens did make an “aggressive” offer to Osemele at the NFL scouting combine, but not nearly as aggressive as the offer from the Raiders. Osemele will certainly be missed here in Baltimore. On behalf of Ebony Bird and the city of Baltimore, thank you Osemele for your contribution to the city and the franchise.
Here’s a few more quick hits on Osemele:
For Kelechi Osemele and the #Raiders, the deal they've agreed to in principle will pay him an $11.7M per year base with a max value of $12M.
— Rand Getlin (@RandGetlin) March 8, 2016
Raiders have agreed to a deal with OL Kelechi Osemele, source confirms to @ProFootballTalk. https://t.co/kQRWu4OXaI pic.twitter.com/3BEg3ImDJK
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) March 8, 2016