Ebony Bird
FanSided

Baltimore Ravens: Post NFL Draft offseason report card

By Chris Schisler

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 06: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens throws a pass against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first quarter in the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 06, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 06: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens throws a pass against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first quarter in the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 06, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
OWINGS MILLS, MD – SEPTEMBER 08: Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass (L) and assistant general manager Eric DeCosta (R) watch the team practice at their training facility on September 8, 2014 in Owings Mills, Maryland. Earlier in the day the Ravens terminated the contract of running back Ray Rice and the NFL suspended him indefinitely after the release of video showing Rice striking his then-fiancée in a hotel elevator. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
OWINGS MILLS, MD – SEPTEMBER 08: Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass (L) and assistant general manager Eric DeCosta (R) watch the team practice at their training facility on September 8, 2014 in Owings Mills, Maryland. Earlier in the day the Ravens terminated the contract of running back Ray Rice and the NFL suspended him indefinitely after the release of video showing Rice striking his then-fiancée in a hotel elevator. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Baltimore Ravens general manager, Eric DeCosta, hasn’t gotten through the entirety of his first offseason, but the most consequential moments of the offseason are in the books. That means it’s time for an offseason report card:

B +. . . Baltimore Ravens. FREE AGENCY

The free agency period is never easy to get through at first. That could be said doubly for the Baltimore Ravens. It started off with players leaving. It wasn’t run of the mill departures either; the Ravens said goodbye to Eric Weddle, Terrell Suggs, Za’Darius Smith and C.J. Mosley. The patience and discipline that the front office showed was almost hard to believe.

The Ravens got into the action shortly after the Le’Veon Bell drama ended with him getting a New York Jets contract. Eric DeCosta made Mark Ingram his first big signing. Not long after that, Earl Thomas was signed and the mood in Baltimore changed. The Ravens didn’t make the big splash to get Bell. Instead they got Ingram at a bargain.

The Ravens walked away from free agency with a completed secondary and a reliable veteran running back. The Ravens also added special teams prowess with Justin Bethel and a receiver entering his prime in Seth Roberts.

Losing Suggs was a tough turn of events. It was the one moment of the free agency period that was surprising. The rest of the departures were going to happen one way or another. Suggs was a member of the Ravens since 2003. It won’t be the same without him and now the Ravens have a young and mostly unproven group of outside linebackers.

The Ravens also did not address the offensive line in free agency. Adding a center to the mix and keeping number 55 would have made this a solid A.

Home/Ravens Draft