Every single one of the Baltimore Ravens‘ offseason signings may prove crucial, but which is considered the best of them all?
The Kyle Fuller signing. The Morgan Moses signing. Drafting Kyle Hamilton and Tyler Linderbaum. Taking a chance on David Ojabo and others.
Any one of those decisions could be considered wise and prudent as Baltimore’s front office swung and hit most of their opportunities this summer. But the deal that arguably blows them all out of the water is the Ravens bringing on free agent safety Marcus Williams.
The Williams signing was an incredible bargain at the time and was a move few expected, but in one stroke the Ravens assembled the final piece of their stacked secondary and will field an impenetrable pass defense in 2022.
The #Ravens just landed maybe the best free agent on the market at an absolute bargain.
— Ebony Bird (@Ebony_Bird) March 15, 2022
Marcus Williams at $14 million per year is nuts. What a deal.
The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec chose the Williams signing as the Ravens’ best offseason move by far and it’s not hard to see why:
"“The Ravens don’t often bid on the top available free agents, yet they landed Williams after his market didn’t swell like many expected it would. Williams, who is just 25, gives the Ravens the rangy, ball-hawking free safety they’ve lacked in recent years. The Ravens defense depends heavily on strong coverage on the back end and forcing turnovers, so Williams should be a nice fit.”"
The Ravens’ best offseason move was acquiring safety Marcus Williams
The former Saints defender shocked the league by securing a deal with the Ravens and has the potential to make a tremendous impact in his first season in Baltimore.
Surrounded by the likes of Marcus Peters, Marlon Humphrey, Chuck Clark, and Kyle Hamilton, Williams could see his best season yet after spending the last five years in New Orleans.
In those five seasons, Williams recorded 320 tackles, 38 passes defended, and 15 interceptions, though he gained a bit of a reputation as an inconsistent tackler.
As Zrebiec notes, the Ravens haven’t had a true free safety in years and Williams could slide seamlessly into Mike Macdonald’s defense, competing with Marcus Peters to see who finishes the year with more picks.
Despite the glorious Williams signing, we can’t say we aren’t disappointed that Baltimore didn’t sign any wide receivers in free agency or the draft.
Rookie tight end Isaiah Likely has been developing well in minicamp, but there’s still a glaring lack of experienced pass-catchers in Baltimore’s receiver corps which could in turn hinder Lamar Jackson’s performance.
Signing Williams was without a doubt a home-run win for the team’s defense, but we have yet to see what the offense has in store for 2022.