How the Ravens are handling the adjustments to Lamar’s supporting group
It was evident how much the Baltimore Ravens have changed as head coach John Harbaugh of the team entered the AFC coaches brunch on Monday during the NFL’s annual meetings.
Last year, at this same event, quarterback Lamar Jackson used to social media to disclose that he had asked the Ravens for a trade as soon as Jim Harbaugh sat down with reporters. “I can’t believe he missed the opportunity to do that,” Harbaugh said, reaching for his phone when someone brought up the fact that Jackson hadn’t written anything since Monday am. I ought to text him immediately. That is just too traditional.
The Ravens are laughing about Jackson’s contract negotiations, having moved past the low point of tense negotiations. This is what occurs a year after Jackson inked a five-year, $260 million contract, earned his second NFL Most Valuable Player award, and guided the Ravens to their first-ever home AFC Championship Game.
According to ESPN BET, Baltimore, with Jackson in his prime, is the favorite to win the AFC North and has the third-best chances to win the Super Bowl, after the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Ravens president Sashi Brown stated, “[Jackson has] been great in terms of coming back and really buying in.” “I thought Eric [DeCosta, Ravens GM] and John and Oz [Newsome] and Steve [Bisciotti, Ravens owner] did a great job just sticking through it last year and really putting some pieces around him so that he could feel successful and see the commitment to him as well.”
The queries concerning the pieces around Jackson in 2024 have now taken the place of all the ones concerning his future. Derrick Henry, the running back, and three new starting offensive lineman will make up about half of Jackson’s supporting cast.
What Harbaugh had to say about the Ravens’ current situation at wide receiver, running back, offensive line, and backup quarterback:
offensive line
After losing right tackle Morgan Moses and not re-signing two free agents, right guard Kevin Zeitler (now with the Detroit Lions) and left guard John Simpson (New York Jets), the Ravens are rebuilding their front line. With the No. 30 overall pick in the April draft or in free agency, Baltimore can select a starter. The Ravens can also watch to see if any of their young players—Daniel Faalele, Ben Cleveland, Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, and Andrew Vorhees—who were drafted in the last three seasons, can establish themselves as starters.
While praising Tyler Linderbaum for being the best center in the NFL, Harbaugh expressed optimism for former Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley to get back to his previous level of play.
“We’ve got to find who the next guys are going to be,” Harbaugh said. “We have the guys in-house. We have free agents that we signed. And then we’ve got the draft. I’m confident that we’ll have a very good offensive line.”
Broad receiver
Zay Flowers is without a doubt the best wide receiver for the Ravens. He is coming off a rookie season in which he was responsible for 39% of the receiving yards (858 to 2,216) and 41.6% of the wide receiver catches (77 of 185) for the Baltimore wide outs.
Team officials have continued to put a lot of pressure on Rashod Bateman, the No. 2 wide receiver, this offseason. Bateman caught 32 catches for 367 yards and one touchdown in the previous campaign.
“We drafted two great players in the last three years in the first round,” Harbaugh said in response to a question regarding recent visits by wide outs Josh Reynolds and Michael Gallup as free agents. Rashod and Zay should be thrilled to go forward together, in my opinion. That’s the starting point.”
According to Harbaugh, the Ravens had financial considerations when they decided not to re-sign Odell Beckham Jr. Last year, Beckham had a $15 million, one-year contract.
“We’re in a tight set-cap type situation and kind of was a mutual understanding, I think, that way,” Harbaugh stated.
Running back
Henry is the undisputed starter in the backfield, and Justice Hill will help out as a change-of-back runner. It’s unknown when injured Keaton Mitchell (knee) will return this season.
It doesn’t sound like there’s a good chance that J.K. Dobbins or Dalvin Cook will be back to add depth at running back.
“We’re just going to see how that shakes out,” Harbaugh said. “There are some moving pieces to that part. If we bring one of those two guys back, I’d be happy to do it. If we’re not able to do it, we’ll find some young guys.”
Backup quarterback
Harbaugh announced Josh Johnson, a 37-year-old journeyman who re-signed last week, will be the primary backup to Jackson. He won’t compete with Malik Cunningham, who was signed by Baltimore toward the end of last season.
“He can still play at a really high level,” Harbaugh said of Johnson.”He knows the offense inside and out. He contributes to the offense. He and Lamar [Jackson] have a great relationship, so I think he brings so much to us.”
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