Ravens Earn High Marks for Early Free Agency Moves

The Baltimore Ravens have done some good work in the first two weeks of free agency.

Sep 5, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley (79) at the line of scrimmage against the Kansas City Chiefs during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

With free agency slowing down after nearly two weeks of action, more and more pundits have decided to take a look at each team's performance thus far, including the Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens began free agency with a bang by re-signing left tackle Ronnie Stanley to a three-year, $60 million deal, far less than he would've gotten on the open market. Since then, though, they've been relatively quiet, but that's not a bad thing. They were able to add a great No. 3 wide receiver in DeAndre Hopkins and a new backup quarterback in Cooper Rush, which already look like good moves given the price tags.

For their overall body of work, the Ravens' earned a B- grade from CBS Sports' Jordan Dajani.

"The big storyline from Baltimore's free agency was the re-signing of left tackle Ronnie Stanley, but the Ravens did lose Patrick Mekari to the Jags," Dajani wrote. "DeAndre Hopkins is an intriguing addition, but he's probably not some game-changing 1,000-yard Pro Bowl receiver anymore. At the same time, it doesn't take a game-changing receiver to guarantee a Super Bowl for Lamar Jackson and Co. Maybe Hopkins is more of a 'move-the-chains, possession' guy, but that's big for this offense.

"Next up, the Ravens need to focus on pass-rush help and the secondary."

The Ravens are in a pretty good spot in regard to their overall roster, but as Dajani notes, their work is not yet done.

For the pass rush, they'll need some extra help behind leading sack artists Kyle Van Noy, who turns 35 next week, and Odafe Oweh, whose future in Baltimore has some questions. There are still a few solid pass rushers remaining, including old friends such as Za'Darius Smith and Matthew Judon.

For the secondary, they need more depth all over. Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins are a great duo at cornerback, and the same goes for Kyle Hamilton and Ar'Darius Washington at safety, but both position groups are very thin. This may be an issue the Ravens address at the draft, as the secondary market has dried up considerably.

Those concerns aside, it's hard to be upset with the Ravens' work.

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