What might the Baltimore Ravens do in the 2021 NFL Draft with three new picks after trading Orlando Brown Jr. to the Kansas City Chiefs?
Following the Orlando Brown Jr. trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens find themselves needing a new right tackle, but also enter the 2021 NFL Draft with an additional first, third, and fourth-round pick. With that in mind, what might their draft haul look like at the end of next weekend?
There is never a year where the draft isn’t important, but with Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews in line for new contracts, and key defensive pieces Calais Campbell, Brandon Williams, and DeShon Elliott (who could get a new deal of his own) on expiring contracts, this year’s draft may be as important as any in recent memory. Baltimore has current needs at receiver, edge rusher, and along the offensive line, and will also likely look to add a safety, future replacements for Campbell and Williams, and possibly a tight end.
This draft has ample opportunity to add impact players at each of those spots, but the Ravens will need more than three picks inside the top-100 if they hope add real talent across the board. With nine total picks, including two first-rounders, Eric DeCosta has plenty of room to move around the board and get more picks, and that’s exactly what I expect to happen when the draft opens next Thursday. While the odds of the exact four deals listed below all happening are unlikely, it should not surprise Ravens fans in the slightest if something like this unfolds.
After the deals are all done (though deals will likely take place as the draft unfolds, rather than before it starts), the Ravens are left with picks 47, 58, 70, 77, 84, 85, 97, 184, and 207. Nine total picks help the team towards making the “20 picks in the next two years” that DeCosta said he hopes to make at last Monday’s annual Liar’s Luncheon press conference, and having seven in the Top 100 leaves the organization in a solid spot to walk away with plenty of pieces that can help extend the current competitive window into the next several seasons.