Baltimore Ravens commit to defensive identity with secondary investment
The Baltimore Ravens defense is a good one, but the team is all-in on declaring its secondary to be an elite unit and its biggest strength.
Historically, the Baltimore Ravens identity has been through a brute defense and stout running game. Last season all anyone could talk about was the offense while the defense quietly dominated opposing offenses. The front-seven was good, but the secondary was where the team really set the tone.
Baltimore finished sixth in the league in passing YPG at 207.2. Unsurprisingly, the secondary that shut down opposing passing games had three players make the Pro Bowl (Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Earl Thomas). Others like Chuck Clark and Jimmy Smith played well but were overshadowed by the aforementioned Pro Bowlers.
Because of their dominance, the Ravens have decided to invest in the unit and make them the core of the defense’s strength.
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It started with the signing of safety Earl Thomas in last offseason’s Free Agency period. Thomas was given a fat four-year $55 million deal to captain the secondary. Thomas, who will one day wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, remains one of the league’s top safeties and played well in 2019 despite his low interception total (two).
Next, Baltimore traded a fifth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams to acquire cornerback Marcus Peters. Peters has always been a ball hawk in his five-year stint in the NFL, but often gambled at times and led to him giving up too many big plays. 2019 was perhaps Peters’ finest season yet and the Ravens rewarded him with a three-year $42 million extension.
With Thomas and Peters under contact for the next three years, Baltimore then gave safety Chuck Clark a new deal after he broke out in 2019 to the tune of three-years, $15.3 million. Clark led the team in total tackles (73) while notching an interception of his own. Clark was never a lock to make the team’s final 53-man roster prior to 2019. Now, he’s an established starter moving forward.
Couple these contracts with returning slot corner Tavon Young‘s deal (signed a three-year $25.8 million extension last offseason) and Marlon Humphrey’s first-round contract and you can see a clear investment in the secondary.
We can’t forget about Tony Jefferson, either. While Baltimore could choose to cut ties with the eight-year vet, they still signed him to a four-year $34 million deal back in 2017. Jefferson is locked up through 2020 and could return in a more hybrid safety-linebacker role for the upcoming season.
Jimmy Smith is currently a free agent, but don’t be shocked if the Ravens resign the 10-year vet to a short-term deal to keep continuity and depth in their secondary. Should they bring him and Jefferson back, Baltimore would be three-deep at safety and four-deep at cornerback with high-quality players. That’s absolutely unheard of and unfair to the rest of the NFL. This unit will be scary good in 2020.
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Clearly, the Baltimore Ravens aren’t afraid to invest in their secondary and have made all the right moves, both via the NFL Draft and Free Agency, to make it an elite unit. Baltimore has committed to their identity as a team that will be almost impossible to pass on in 2020. Should they retain all the players we just talked about, this could be one of the NFL’s greatest units ever.