OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Will the Ravens roster look the same on Tuesday night? That is the big question as one of the National Football League’s most important dates looms.
We’re talking about the NFL trade deadline. It arrives at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Which big name players will change teams? Which clubs will commit to buying and which ones will commit to selling? If the Ravens (6-2) belong to either group it will be the former. They are tied for the best record in the AFC and on a three-game winning streak after beating Arizona 31-24 on Sunday. General manager Eric DeCosta is no stranger to taking a swing at this time of year. It was just last season he made what head coach John Harbaugh on Monday called one of the all-time great trades in franchise history. He acquired linebacker Roquan Smith from the Chicago Bears.
Could the Ravens make headlines once again?
"Do we have a specific overarching 'have-to-have' guy? No. We have an excellent roster; [we] love our players; we have guys who are getting healthy that will be coming of IR, even, like [Damarion] ‘Pepe’ Williams, for instance, and guys like that. I love our guys. I think we have everything we need to be successful. At the same time, if an opportunity came to bring in somebody that can help us or make us better in any area, really, but certain areas more than others of course, and you can do it in a way that was affordable to the team and the club cap-wise [and] draft pick-wise, those kind of things, you would do it. You would do it to try and get better. So, that’s where we’re at right now," said Harbaugh on Monday. "[General Manager] Eric [DeCosta] and his group are working through that. I was just meeting with Eric now about some of those things, and it’s a possibility. It’s not easy making trades in this league, it’s just not. It’s not."
Harbaugh said until the deadline arrives he will be working on a game plan for Sunday’s opponent, the Seattle Seahawks. But there will be breaks to speak with DeCosta when the GM has a realistic deal on the table.
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