The Baltimore Ravens have lost a key player on the first day of legal tampering, as tight end Isaiah Likely is joining former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh in New York. Likely signed a three-year deal worth $40 million with the Giants.
This is a frustrating move for the Ravens because Likely was who they were hoping would take over as their main tight end. They never traded away Mark Andrews and extended him, keeping Likely as the TE2 and now he's leaving altogether and joining his former head coach with his new team.
This is a big move for Harbaugh, who was fired by the Ravens after 18 years with the team and joined the Giants not long after. Ravens fans anticipated seeing their players bolt for the Big Apple to reunite with Harbaugh but Likely is going to be one of the most painful departures.
Isaiah Likely reunites with John Harbaugh after signing with Giants
With Likely now off to New York, the Ravens will definitely be searching for tight end help. Andrews signed an extension in December so he's with the team for a few more years but there's nobody else behind him on the depth chart now that Likely is joining Harbaugh in the Big Apple and Charlie Kolar is a free agent as well.
The Ravens will have to add depth behind Andrews so it'll be a position to watch for them in the draft. They also could opt to re-sign Kolar, who spent four years with the team and caught 30 passes as a depth piece. Clearly, the organization has liked him but that was Harbaugh's team that liked Kolar. We'll have to see if Jesse Minter feels the same way.
Overall, this is a disapointing loss for the Ravens but Likely is doing what's best for him and chasing the bag while also reuniting with a head coach he clearly respected. Ravens fans knew that firing Harbaugh was going to lead to players wanting to follow him to his new team and that's exactly what's playing out.
Likely now becomes the TE1 for the Giants and will be catching passes from Jaxson Dart in 2026. We'll have to see how this works out for him.