OWINGS MILLS, Md — After a 12-5 season, a second consecutive AFC North championship, and an MVP-caliber season from Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens are still working to bring home that Lombardi trophy for the first time in 12 years.
Sunday, the Ravens were bounced out of the playoffs in the AFC Divisional round against the Buffalo Bills, losing 27-25.
At Wednesday's press conference, head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta addressed the media, reflecting on their season.
"This season was an awesome season in so many ways—the ways that really mattered. You don’t live in the narratives; you live in the reality and the relationships. And that’s been fantastic. That’s the thing that I really treasure about this team, because this was a football team that was singularly focused on one another, the team, and being the best team that they could possibly be and doing the best they could do. That doesn’t guarantee that every outcome is going to be the way you want it to be in every circumstance, and that’s why it’s so hard to go all the way, says Harbaugh.
The reality is, this team won't look the same next year. This organization has some questions to answer regarding free agents like offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley, fullback Patrick Ricard, cornerback Brandon Stephens, and even restricted free agent A'rdarius Washington, who General Manager DeCosta was high on, saying he stepped in when his number was called.
"Ar’Darius [Washington] got a chance, and I’ll credit the coaches. We were at a point in the season where we were looking for solutions to play better, and John [Harbaugh] and [defensive coordinator] Zach [Orr] and [assistant head coach/pass game coordinator] Chris [Hewitt], they all kind of got together and had a game plan. I give the coaches a lot of credit for doing that; it really turned our season around. Ar’Darius is a great example of a guy who got a chance and ran with it. We knew... I’ll go back to his draft class year, [and] he went undrafted because he was a step slow [and] he’s a couple inches smaller. And we got him, and we were excited when we got him as an undrafted free agent because he was a great football player. Then the question really becomes, ‘Can he do the same thing at our level that he did at the college level?’ He got hurt a couple years, unfortunate injuries, a lot like Rashod [Bateman] in that way. His first couple of years got held back a little bit. This year, he stayed healthy, and he became that guy that we saw in college. [He’s] tough, physical, a playmaker, instinctive, smart, a leader. [He’s a] great story. Just another one of these undrafted guys over the years that we’ve had that has developed into being a really good football player. We’re proud of him. He’s going to be a restricted free agent this year for us, and we’re fortunate that we have him back again next year," says DeCosta.
Many of the tough decisions will come a year from now, according to DeCosta.
"As Mark’s [Andrews] contract goes, he’s no different than a lot of guys. In fact, I think all of our tight ends are in the last year in their contract coming up in 2025, so we’ll have some decisions to make moving forward. Not as many tough decisions this year—looking at it, which I’m thankful for, but obviously, as we look out, we’ll have some tough decisions after next season. So, a year from now, we’ll have some tough choices and decisions to make regarding players. So, that room right now, all three of those guys are in the last year of their deals, ironically. [In] Charlie [Kolar], Isaiah [Likely], and Mark, we’re blessed to have—in my opinion—the best tight ends room in the league, and we’ll be blessed this year on the field as well," says DeCosta.
There's been significant growth from rookies this year, including right tackle Roger Rosengarten. People in the organization believe his future is bright.
"I think our goal is to always have the best offensive line that we can have. We made a tough call last year to go younger and have some younger guys play, and we knew we’d have a few growing pains. I think we had a few, but looking back on it, I think it was absolutely the right thing to do, and we saw our guys improve and get better and really mesh as a unit and gel. We are aware that we have some guys whose contracts are up, and we’ll look at that and certainly have some discussions with players. We’ll look at potentially bringing back our guys; we’ll look at the draft; we’ll look at free agency; we’ll overturn every rock to find as many good offensive linemen as we can, and I think we have some good young players on the team—they’ve shown that. And one thing we’ve seen over the years with that position is guys get better as they get older and more established. They get in the weight room, they get stronger and play better, so that’s going to be the case with the guys we have. We’re blessed to have really good coaches and some good young players, but also, we realize we’re going to have—conservatively—10 or 11 draft picks this year, free agency, and still a chance to get some deals signed with some of those guys," says DeCosta.
NFL free agency begins March 4th at 4:00 pm.
The NFL Draft is April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
