Mink: Well, the Ravens checked off a huge item on the to-do list with Kyle Hamilton. General Manager Eric DeCosta said he was happy to get that one off his plate, but he still won’t rest easy with several others in waiting.
Among those are quarterback Lamar Jackson, center Tyler Linderbaum, tight end Isaiah Likely, defensive tackle Travis Jones, outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, and more.
How many deals can DeCosta get done and what’s the priority list? We don’t know, but DeCosta made it clear Wednesday that it won’t be everyone.
“Unfortunately, you’re going to see some good players probably in the next couple years play for other teams,” DeCosta said. “We’ve seen that. That’s going to be something that continues.”
The biggest domino is Jackson, whose salary cap hit is set to jump to $74.5 million the next two years. Obviously, the Ravens will prioritize keeping Jackson in Baltimore above all else, but who knows how those negotiations will play out. Both sides will keep things quiet until there’s an extension to announce. The good news is DeCosta said the Ravens can still navigate around getting extensions done without having Jackson’s next deal in place.
DeCosta brought up his first offseason as general manager in 2019, when the Ravens had to part ways with linebackers Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosley, and Za’Darius Smith and safety Eric Weddle. DeCosta doesn’t want to see that kind of purge again, but it remains to be seen how many losses the Ravens can avoid.
The more good players you have, the tougher it becomes to keep them all. As DeCosta said, it’s a blessing and a curse. It’s one that 31 other teams around the NFL would love to have.