Ravens News 3/13: Star Laden

The Ravens are committed to their rising stars. The surging cost is a ‘good problem to have.’

Jonas Shaffer, The Baltimore Banner

Madubuike’s deal was the third in 14 months that the Ravens paid record money to finalize: $75.5 million guaranteed at signing, briefly the record for defensive tackles. In May, the Ravens signed quarterback Lamar Jackson to a five-year extension that made him — again, briefly — the NFL’s highest-paid player ($52 million annually). In January 2023, Roquan Smith became the league’s highest-paid off-ball linebacker with a five-year, $100 million contract.

Consider: In 2022 and 2023, the Ravens’ five biggest cap hits accounted for about a third of their cap space, according to Spotrac. This offseason, unless the deals for left tackle Ronnie Stanley or cornerback Marlon Humphrey are reworked, 45.7% of the Ravens’ cap would be tied up in five players. In 2025, the top five would account for about 49.6% of a projected $273.3 million cap. In 2026, with a $292.4 million cap, a projected 56.4%

The Ravens’ own championship aspirations could come to rest on those two demographics: the well-paid stars and the overachieving youngsters. As the back-loaded deals of players like Jackson land on the cap, second or third contracts for middle-class veterans like right tackle Morgan Moses and fullback Patrick Ricard could become vanishingly rare.

Derrick Henry agrees to terms with Ravens on 2-year deal: Perfect fit for Baltimore?

Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic

How he fits

The Ravens have been the best running team in football since the dynamic Lamar Jackson took over at quarterback at the midpoint of the 2018 season. In Jackson’s five full seasons as the starter, the Ravens have led the league in rushing three times and finished second and third in the other two. Yet, they’ve relied largely on Jackson and an unheralded group of running backs. Mark Ingram (2019) is the only Ravens 1,000-yard running back in Jackson’s five seasons as a starter.

Outlook

Given their cap situation and the quality of their free-agent class, the Ravens knew they were going to lose a lot of key guys this offseason. In the first 24 hours of the negotiation window, they lost six players. Their only move was re-signing part-time starting linebacker and core special-teamer Malik Harrison. Henry stops the bleeding in a lot of ways. The Ravens can cross off running back from their list of needs. Baltimore now knows that it’ll have a feared running attack in 2024. Now, DeCosta, with little cap space at his disposal, has to figure out a way to fill the team’s myriad other needs, starting with solidifying the offensive line and adding an edge rusher.

2024 NFL Free Agency Live Grades: Signings, trades and latest transactions

Brad Spielberger, PFF

RB DERRICK HENRY SIGNS WITH BALTIMORE RAVENS

2023 PFF Grade: 90.2 (3rd/59)

2023 PFF WAR: 0.2 (2nd)

Fit/need grade: A+++

Value grade: A

Contract: Two years, $16 million ($8 million per year), $9 million fully guaranteed

PFF projected contract: Two years, $18 million ($9 million per year), $10 million total guaranteed

The Ravens finally get their man, with Henry a target at last year’s trade deadline as Baltimore geared up for a deep playoff run. The duo of Henry and Lamar Jackson in the backfield is going to be an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses, and we can’t wait to see it in action.

LB PATRICK QUEEN SIGNS WITH PITTSBURGH STEELERS

2023 PFF Grade: 73.0 (24th/82)

2023 PFF WAR: 0.16 (21st)

Fit/need grade: B+

Value grade: A+

Contract: Three years, $41 million ($13.67 million per year),

PFF projected contract: Four years, $72.5 million ($18.125 million per year)

We called our shot here on Queen becoming the next Tremaine Edmunds type signing, a fourth-year breakout of sorts — carrying over a strong second half of 2022 — who earned Pro Bowl honors as a former first-rounder. However, Pittsburgh was able to anchor this deal to the other upper mid-tier linebacker deals signed this offseason instead of closer to the true top of the market. Queen is a great fit alongside Elandon Roberts, though coverage will be a bit of a concern over the middle, with two disruptive forces coming downhill. And it’s a great value.

2024 NFL Free-Agency Tracker: Grading Every Major Move

Matt Verderame, Sports Illustrated

RB Derrick Henry agrees to sign with the Ravens

The obvious fit in free agency has happened.

Future Hall-of-Fame running back Derrick Henry agreed to a two-year, $16 milliondeal with the Baltimore Ravens. The contract could be worth up to $20 million with incentives.

Henry, 30, played eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans, including five years of more than 1,000 rushing yards. His best season came in 2020, when he eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark while being named a first-team All-Pro.

In Baltimore, Henry will take over the lead-back role with Gus Edwards having agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Grade: A

NFL free agency, trade grades 2024: Best, worst moves

Seth Walder, ESPN

Ravens to sign RB Derrick Henry

The deal: Two years, $16 million with $9 million guaranteed

Grade: A-

Henry might be close to done, sure. He’s 30 years old, an age when running backs often are well into retirement. And his play has clearly declined. He recorded just 4.2 yards per carry last season and just 0.3 rush yards over expectation per carry, per NFL Next Gen Stats data. Actually, that last part has been on the decline for a while — the last time he exceeded 0.3 RYOE/C was in 2020 (1.0). But he also still recorded 2.2 yards per carry after contact, the most of any running back with at least 100 carries last season.

Somehow Henry still led the league in carries last season with 280. If he were to bring that number down, he possibly could be efficient again. Plus, the contrast between Henry, the battering ram, and speedy Keaton Mitchell (who averaged an insane 4.3 yards over expectation per carry on his 47 attempts last season) should make them perfect complements to one another once the younger back returns from an ACL tear suffered last December.

Henry still commands attention from opposing defenses. When the Titans were in 11 personnel without Henry on the field last season, they faced a light box 92% of the time. But in 11 personnel with Henry that number dropped to 55% (some selection bias might apply — it’s possible Henry could be in only when the threat of running is higher).

It’s enticing to imagine him in this Baltimore offense, which ranked fourth in run block win rate and could allow him to get his momentum going. And of course, having Henry play with Jackson — an elite running threat in his own right — should make life difficult for opposing defenses (but result in great viewing for the rest of us).