Marlon Humphrey gets extension: 3 big things to think about
2. The Ravens locked up a core player:
With this deal the Ravens have officially made Humphrey a core building block of their team. The Ravens have gotten everything they were hoping for when they drafted Humphrey in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Humphrey was an instant starter and he quickly became one of the most important players on the team. Don Martindale likes to ask a lot of his cornerbacks and when they’re not playing Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs they almost always deliver in man to man coverage. Humphrey especially is a shut down corner. Barring injury or something unexpected Humphrey should be a key starter through the 2026 season.
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It does say something about Humphrey that he was the first in a wave of big name drafted players to get an extension. The Ravens are on a first round pick hot streak. Ronnie Stanley and Humphrey have become two of their best players. Hayden Hurst got traded for a second round pick and was a respectable piece to the puzzle in his two seasons in Baltimore. Jackson of course was the MVP in 2019. Marquise Brown has mostly been a hit to this point and Patrick Queen has been an instant impact linebacker. The line is getting long in terms of players the Ravens need to find a way to keep. Humphrey got the first big deal of that group. It’s hard to argue with, DeCosta has his priorities right.
Ronnie Stanley and Mark Andrews are presumably the next in line, with Jackson most likely getting a deal in a year or two. The Ravens have lost a lot of good players in free agency. One thing that may become a defining characteristic of Eric DeCosta as a general manager, is that he won’t let foundational players hit the open market if he can help it. Humphrey’s ability to play man to man coverage is at the very bedrock of the Ravens defense. If the Ravens don’t want to change their approach defensively, they need Humphrey to keep doing his thing.