Baltimore Ravens: Will Matt Judon “secure the bag” in 2019?

How to pay Matt Judon fairly:

The Baltimore Ravens play a 3-4 scheme on defense, listing Matt Judon as an outside linebacker. Per spotrac.com, the highest paid outside linebacker is Von Miller t a whopping $25.125 million. After him are Jadeveon Clowney (currently under the Franchise Tag), Justin Houston, Ryan Kerrigan, and Khalil Mack, all of whom make over $13 million per year (Mack will only make $11 in 2019 before shooting up to well-over $20 million). This excludes players like Telvin Smith who play outside linebacker in 4-3 defenses, where they’re asked to do completely different tasks.

Getting Judon somewhere in that $13+ million range seems ideal, but Judon could argue that since his primary job is to rush that passer that he deserves defensive end money. How much higher is that? There’s nearly 22 players making ~$10 million per season who’re listed as defensive ends. This includes players like Los Angeles Rams Michael Brockers, who is universally seen as a player closer to a nose tackle than a defensive end.

The worst part of it is that average defensive ends get paid massive amounts of money. In example, Trey Flowers, who recently signed with the Detroit Lions for $18 million per year, has 21.0 career sacks, albeit that production coming in three seasons. His career high is 7.5, a number Judon has already topped.

Even more inconsistent, less reliable players like Dee Ford of the San Francisco 49ers and Jason Pierre-Paul of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making more than $15 million per season. The NFL faces a society where one player becomes “the highest paid ever at his position” for an incredibly short amount of time before being topped. You’re foolish if you believe that Matt Judon won’t land a contract somewhere in that $15 million range with this logic in mind.

What are the Baltimore Ravens to do then? Let’s take one last look at the team’s situation for the 2020 off-season and how they should attack this potential issue.