NFL Trade Deadline: How Baltimore Ravens Could Cap Off Roster
The Baltimore Ravens could still be working on topping off the roster:
The rumor mill has been churning in Owings Mills for weeks, and the Baltimore Ravens finally made their splash. It was reported on Thursday that the Ravens are expected to acquire both Yannick Ngakoue and Dez Bryant (through a trade and signing, respectively), addressing two major needs at pass rusher and wide receiver.
While the league has seen more big names change hands at the Trade Deadline in recent years, this still constitutes as big a set of headlines as a team can make at the midseason frenzy.
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta addressed the media after the news broke on Ngakoue, and while he was of course bullish on the Maryland product, he also said the team isn’t done yet.
Most interesting part of Eric DeCosta's quote on Ngakoue trade: "Finally, we are not finished building this team, as we continue to chase our ultimate goals.”
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) October 22, 2020
It remains to be seen what cap maneuvers the Ravens will pull in order to both fit Ngakoue and Bryant while also leaving space to keep adding, but it’s also not hard to imagine why DeCosta is still looking. While Baltimore’s 5-1 record is nothing to sneeze at, there are still some very felt needs at receiver and interior offensive line, and the team could also use depth at corner and maybe a third true tight end. So with that being said, let’s take a look at who DeCosta might have in mind.
The Ravens may have already went out and added Dez Bryant, but for as easy as it is to dream on what he could be like if he still “has it”, the truth is he hasn’t seen live game action in nearly three years.
The signing could pan out, but even if it does, the Chiefs have shown you can never have too many wide receivers, and Bryant’s injury history only further reinforces the need to not put all the “fix the receiving core” eggs in his basket. Bryant is likely not the splash at receiver that Baltimore needs, but Calvin Ridley can be.
With four 100-yard receiving games under his belt already in 2020, Ridley has shown the ability to be effective at all levels of the field, and would take serious pressure off Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews in the passing game. While his per-week receiving totals would likely taper off some in Baltimore, even having Ridley on the field as another high-caliber receiving threat would be worth its weight in gold for a Ravens offense that has looked stagnant at times this season.
It appeared the offense started returning to character against the Eagles, and Greg Roman should keep fighting the temptation to try and implement more traditional passing game, but we saw against Kansas City and against the Tennessee Titans last January that this offense lacks the necessary pieces to effectively throw the ball when behind late in games.
While he won’t be cheap, the Ravens would be paying for two additional years of control on the young receiver beyond 2020, including a fifth-year option for 2022, giving them at least three shots at a Super Bowl with Ridley and Brown as receiving targets for Lamar Jackson. Ridley carries a roughly $2.9-million cap hit according to OverTheCap, meaning the Ravens should have fairly little trouble fitting him in financially.