Brandon Carr will be with the Baltimore Ravens in 2018, giving the Ravens some comforting depth at the cornerback position:
The Ravens are picking up CB Brandon Carr's option, per source. So he'll be back. Team didn't want to leave itself thin at cornerback.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) March 13, 2018
The Baltimore Ravens are picking up Brandon Carr’s option according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. The Ravens could have saved a nice chunk of cap space if they declined the option in his contract, however this move makes a lot of sense. Jimmy Smith is an injury prone cornerback coming off another devastating injury.
Without Carr, the Ravens’ only veteran cornerback would be Smith. The Ravens have quite the youth movement going on in their secondary. Marlon Humphrey is full of talent and he is a potential all-star at the position. Maurice Cannady and Tavon Young have had some impressive moments on the field and are young players with long careers in front of them.
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Young is entering his third season after missing the entire 2017 season on injured reserve. Cannady missed most of the past season due to injury. With injury concerns affecting the Ravens cornerback situation so deeply, Carr’s durability is valued by the Ravens. Carr had a very good first half of the season. Carr had four interceptions. The second half of the season was less impressive but not horrible. Carr got especially roasted going up against Antonio Brown in Pittsburgh.
Carr is dependable though. He has avoided the injury bug and hasn’t missed a game in his 11 year career. Carr is a solid number two corner who could end up being the Ravens third cornerback next season. Marlon Humphrey excelled playing outside over some very good receivers in his rookie season. It will be interesting to see which player lines up outside the most in 2018, Carr or Humphrey.
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The case could have been made that the Ravens should part with Carr to free up some cap space. Then Ravens have had some awful experiences with depth in their secondary, and letting Carr go could have been a risky proposition. With the top stars quickly leaving the free agent market, the cap space seems less important than it did a couple of days ago. Carr is a steady hand as a defensive back and the Ravens decided to bring him back.