The Baltimore Ravens signed Broderick Washington to a three-year extension worth $17.5M and $10M in guaranteed salary. The deal came in a little more than the market could have expected, but that can happen with a rising salary cap. Overall, this is something that the Ravens had to do, and it is hard to say that they made a bad decision. Here is why.
3. Broderick Washington has improved with the Baltimore Ravens every year
Broderick Washington is a former fifth-round pick from Texas Tech. So, he has slowly been climbing his way up the depth chart, and now the Ravens think that a breakout is about to happen. Based on his first three seasons, that may not be a surprise.
Washington has progressed every season. This starts with the snap counts, as he went from 161 to 293 and then 482 last season. Of course, his counting stats went up as he went from 2 to 9 and then 17 pressures. Also, his run stops went from one to eight and then 25.
It is easy to see your counting stats go up when your total snaps are up, but what is more impressive is that Washington has improved in his per-snap rates across the board as well. He started with a 1.2 pass-rush productivity rating, which jumped to 3.1 and was 3.6 last season, per PFF. His productivity has only improved on more snaps.
Same thing with his win rate, which jumped from 2.3 to 3.7 and now is 5.2. His run defense jumped every year as well. His run-stop rate was 1.4%, then 5.9%, and last season it shot all the way up to 10.9%.
Every year, he plays more snaps, and every year, he takes advantage of it. The Ravens are going to ask him to play more snaps this year without Calais Campbell, so they must want to get this deal done before his stats improve again and people around the league start to notice.
2. Baltimore Ravens need to take care of their own in-house
This has more to do with the locker room dynamics than anything. Football is a team sport more than most because 11 players are on the field at the same time, and 53 players make up the team. The dynamics can change quickly, and everyone has to have that common goal to win.
Baltimore is a team that understands this and stays relevant every year because they develop players, take care of their own, and keep the culture strong. They draft players who show up ready to work and improve every year. When those players do what is expected, the Ravens reward them. It sets an example for every fifth-round pick or every backup player that if they do their job, the Ravens will reward them.
If the locker room saw Broderick Washington do everything right, show up every day, and improve every year, and they treated him like an asset that they do not value, the rest of the locker room would take notice. Why put in the extra work if they do not trust you? This shows everyone that they will pay their own.
Drafting and developing is how you have to win in the NFL. The teams in free agency wind up paying far more than they would have liked, and they add a player who may not be fit or understand the culture. Washington will carry on the culture and will now become a locker-room leader for younger players.
1. Baltimore Ravens needed some long-term options on their defensive line
When you look at the Baltimore Ravens defensive line depth chart, they had to do something. Players set to enter free agency are Brent Urban, Angelo Blackson, Justin Madubuike, and Michael Pierce. That leaves Travis Jones and Broderick Washington as the only two out of the top six who are signed beyond this year.
Before they signed Washington, it was just Jones. The reality is that the Ravens were and are going to have to do something about this room. As we noted, one route could be paying up in free agency. Still, that ends up with you spending more and possibly getting a poor fit.
The Ravens wish they could draft that many replacements, but there are more needs and not enough picks to fill the entire room. So, the team was going to have to allocate more money to the defensive line in recent years, no matter what. They might as well have paid someone they trusted and ensured that there is now some help on the line.
If Washington and Jones take steps next year, the Ravens could draft a defensive lineman early and then sign a few depth pieces for cheap to fix the unit for 2024. It is more cost-affordable than paying a bunch of free agents, and Washington did not get quite what Madubuike is asking for. Overall, the deal makes too much sense for the Ravens not to offer it.