Why the Baltimore Ravens should re-sign John Brown

John Brown should be brought back to the Baltimore Ravens:

John Brown signed a one year deal with the Baltimore Ravens to get his career back on track. While he played well and had great moments in 2018, Brown’s performance may not have out-priced the Ravens. Brown stayed healthy in the 2018 season, which was big because of his injury history, but he only had 42 receptions. While he is a good deep threat, he probably won’t be one of the more coveted receivers in free agency.

The Ravens have a lot of work to do at Brown’s position. The Ravens wide receivers include Willie Snead, Chris Moore, Jordan Lasley and Quincy Adeboyejo, which isn’t a very impressive list. Brown’s production dipped off for two reasons in 2018. First, it was obvious he was the Ravens deep shot guy and teams were determined to stop it. Secondly he only had eight grabs in games that Lamar Jackson started.

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Brown is a better player than his numbers indicate. He can run all the routes and was Joe Flacco’s favorite new receiver to start the season. In the first half of the season Brown had 34 receptions. He probably would have had 60-70 receptions on the year if Flacco remained the starter. Brown had 715 yards and five touchdowns this past season, which shows he can do a lot with a little.

The Ravens would still need to add to the receiving corps but bringing back Brown would be a strong move. Willie Snead is a go to guy for Jackson over the middle of the field. The Ravens are going to have to let Jackson be more free as a passer and Brown is a great way to build his deep passing game. A trio of Snead, Brown and a player to be named later could work for the Ravens with Chris Moore providing something as the fourth receiver.

In Eric DeCosta’s press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine, the idea of Brown’s return was raised. It seems like DeCosta wants to bring back Brown if he can; he praised Brown and called him a play-maker. Looking at the receiver landscape heading into free agency, it could be possible for the Ravens to get number 13 back on their roster.

Bringing Brown back makes a ton of sense. While Jackson and Brown didn’t get off to a great start together, familiar faces help a young quarterback. This is a move that should be able to work out but we’ll have to wait and see.