Will Baltimore Ravens sign Broderick Washington to an extension?
As the Baltimore Ravens head into the meat of the offseason they will have their eyes on the future. One name that the team may consider extending before the season starts is Broderick Washington. Washington is a former fifth-round pick, and he has been progressing in the way that the Ravens tend to see from these types of players. However, he will be a free agent at the end of this season, so the team is going to want to make a decision on him soon.
Will Baltimore Ravens sign Broderick Washington to an extension?
Washington started in a rotation but played just 161 snaps as a rookie in 2020. Then, he started to fill in more and went up to 293 snaps. Last season, an injury to Michael Pierce had them calling on Washington for a bigger role. Washington played 501 snaps, showing progression in each year.
Beyond that, his pressure-per-snap percent went up from 2% to 5%, to 6.5% in each season. His pressures went up from two to nine and then 18 last season, but it was not just because he was playing more snaps.
His run defense skyrocketed as well. He went from one stop to eight and then last season he had 26 run stops. His run-stop rate went from 1.4% to 6.5%, and then all the way to 11.7% last season. Needless to say, he took advantage of the extended look.
So, the Baltimore Ravens have two ways to play this. They could assume that he is only continuing to grow, and they can try to lock him down to an extension before the season, If they get him at a nice market rate, it could be a great deal.
However, they could also be thinking that this was his first real exposure, and linemen have tape on him now. If he proves it again, they may pay a touch more, but it could be worth it. Beyond that, the worst case if he does play well enough to get a payday elsewhere is that he helps the compensatory formula.
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Still, when you look at the depth on the Ravens' line, they should probably extend him. They will need to extend Justin Madubuike as well, but these two are the only trusted lineman moving forward as of now. Travis Jones could do well in year two, but we have not seen anything from him yet, and Brent Urban and Michael Pierce are not future pieces on this roster. Building around Washington and Madubuike as their young interior rushers is probably the best bet for the Baltimore Ravens.