Ebony Bird
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Ranking the 5 trades Eric DeCosta has made as Ravens GM

By Chris Schisler

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Marcus Peters #22 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates defeating the Kansas City Chiefs with the score of 54-51 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 19, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Marcus Peters #22 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates defeating the Kansas City Chiefs with the score of 54-51 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 19, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – AUGUST 18: Kaare Vedvik #7 of the Minnesota Vikings looks on during the second half of the preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 18, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings defeated the Seahawks 25-19. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – AUGUST 18: Kaare Vedvik #7 of the Minnesota Vikings looks on during the second half of the preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 18, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings defeated the Seahawks 25-19. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

2. Trading Kaare Vedvik to the Vikings for a fifth round pick:

Trading Kaare Vedvik to the Vikings for a fifth round pick is one of the weirdest trades in Ravens history. The Ravens traded a kicker/punter away for a fifth round pick and kickers rarely get traded in the first place. Vedvik struggled as a field goal kicker and got cut by the Vikings. Then he ends up on the New York Jets and ultimately became a free agent. DeCosta didn’t just get something for a kicker, he got a fifth round pick. Vedvik was an unproven kicker and the Ravens proved to fool the Vikings.

The Ravens played this perfectly. They really did everything they could to make this a perfect draft haul. They let Vedvik succeed in the first preseason game as a field goal kicker. They traded him before he could mess it up in a game. Everyone in Baltimore knew they didn’t have the next Justin Tucker. The Ravens reputation for finding special teams players helped them out almost as much as desperation from teams like the Vikings and the Chicago Bears did. The Vikings gave the best trade offer and they made a mistake in doing so.

The Ravens got an extra fifth round pick for a player who had no chance of starting for them. The Ravens got a fifth round pick for a player who wasn’t going to make the team and who was specifically there to be traded. The Ravens allowed the Vikings to get caught up in the need for a kicker and cashed in with an improbable trade. That’s great work from DeCosta. It’s a masterful; trade that gave the Ravens ammunition for the number one trade on this list (which you probably figured out is the Marcus Peters deal).

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