Welcome to Building The Castle, a column covering the Baltimore Ravens’ teambuilding and roster management featuring a main story each week, along with a tracker and analysis of the team’s latest transactions.
Getting Ready to Wheel and Deal
The NFL’s November 5 trade deadline is still four weeks away, but teams are already prepping for midseason moves. The Baltimore Ravens’ roster does not have any major holes, but that will not stop General Manager Eric DeCosta from calling around to see if there are any deals to be made.
But before the Ravens can pick out any specific trade targets, they need to clear cap space, identify needs and determine how much compensation they’re willing to give up. Let’s break down each of these topics to figure out how Baltimore may approach the trade deadline.
Salary Cap Space
Restructures
The Ravens currently have $4.5 million in cap space, per OverTheCap, but they will need almost all of that for remaining in-season expenses, including practice squad activations and potential injury replacements. As a result, Baltimore would need to clear some cap space in the event of a trade, but they only have a few moves they can make.
Lamar Jackson ($11.1 million in 2024 cap savings), Marlon Humphrey ($7.9 million) and Mark Andrews ($4.3 million) are the Ravens’ top restructure candidates. Jackson’s cap hits are set to balloon over the next few seasons, but Baltimore is firmly committed to the two-time MVP as their franchise quarterback, so pushing his money into future years is not a risky endeavor.
Same goes for Humphrey, who is under contract through 2026 and playing some of the best football of his career after struggling with injuries over the past few years. However, the Ravens have already restructured his contract every year since signing, so they may not want to do so again unless it is absolutely necessary.
Andrews is a more interesting case, as his contract will expire after the 2025 season. His slow start and the continued growth of Isaiah Likely has led to speculation that Andrews could be a cap casualty after this season, but the Ravens are unlikely to jettison Jackson’s top target throughout his career. Restructuring Andrews is therefore still an option for the Ravens, though only if that would clear enough cap space for a potential acquisition.
A restructure of Marcus Williams’ contract could clear $7.2 million in sap space, but that would put the Ravens on the hook for more dead money if they move on from the veteran safety after 2024 or 2025. Williams has struggled with injuries since arriving in Baltimore in 2022, and he has not played his best football even while fully-healthy this season. The Ravens still believe in his talent on the back end of the defense, but restructuring his contract would commit more future cap space to a player who may not be in the team’s long-term plans after this year.
Extensions
The Ravens could also explore extensions for Patrick Mekari ($2.2 million in 2024 cap savings) and Patrick Ricard ($2.6 million), though an in-season extension with the goal of clearing cap space would give leverage to the players in negotiations. Mekari and Ricard both went undrafted before receiving plenty of opportunity and playing time in Baltimore, so they may accept a slight raise on their current salaries as part of an overall team-friendly deal to keep playing for the Ravens.
Restructures are still the best path for the Ravens to clear cap space, as they don’t require negotiations unless the team wishes to add void years to the contract. Mekari and Ricard are more likely to be handled after the regular season as Baltimore’s 2025 roster and cap situation begin to take clearer shape.
Positional Needs
The Ravens will only clear cap space if they need it to bolster their roster, and looking at the current lineup, Baltimore has no glaring needs on either side of the ball. There are still a number of positions they could shore up, especially on a defense that has struggled to stop the pass this year.
Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh have combined for 9.5 sacks through five weeks, but no other Raven has more than 1.5. It would be difficult to find an upgrade to the interior of the defensive line on the trade market, but an edge rusher might be available. David Ojabo and Tavius Robinson have flashed, but not consistently against top opposition, and it’s far too early to determine if Yannick Ngakoue can recapture his form from the first half of his career. With the league’s best run defense, the Ravens can look for a mercenary pass rusher as a reliable third option off the edge.
The Ravens are all-too-familiar with the frequency of cornerback injuries, so they should at least take a look at the CB trade market. Arthur Maulet’s 21-day practice window opened last week, but he picked up a hamstring injury upon his return and has not practiced since. If he experiences a setback that extends his absence deeper into the regular season, Baltimore will need additional depth with Jalyn Armour-Davis already on season-ending injured reserve. Historically, DeCosta has relied on in-house options to bolster the secondary, but a significant injury or the right available cornerback could spur a move.
Baltimore has been linked to every available wide receiver in the past five years, but the Ravens have not struggled to move the ball through the air this year. With recent reports splashing cold water on the Davante Adams rumors, it’s fair to wonder if a new receiver would even see enough targets to be impactful. With only Flowers, Bateman, and Devontez Walker under contract for 2025, Baltimore could look at a wideout with multiple years left on his contract to give him enough time to integrate in the offense and carve out a role.
Compensation
DeCosta wisely wants to stockpile his draft picks to keep adding cheap talent with rising cap hits for Jackson, Nnamdi Madubuike, and Roquan Smith and potential extensions for Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, Travis Jones, and Odafe Oweh.
However, Baltimore is projected to have 11 draft picks in 2025 – all seven of their own and four compensatory picks – so they can afford to part with a Day 3 pick or two for the right player. The Ravens could even recoup some of their investment via a future compensatory pick if an acquired player signs with another team in free agency.
Transaction Tracker
Transactions
The Houston Texans signed cornerback Ka’Dar Hollman from the Ravens’ practice squad to their 53-man roster. Hollman had already used up his three practice squad elevations, but was unlikely to get an active roster spot in Baltimore.
The Ravens signed cornerback Damarion Williams to replace Hollman on the practice squad, bringing the 2022 fourth-rounder back to Baltimore after he was waived during final roster cuts. His familiarity with Baltimore’s defense and special teams could lead to game day elevations from the practice squad throughout the season.
Practice squad elevations remaining
3: CB Damarion Williams; LB William Kwenkeu; DE Chris Wormley; TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden; OT Corey Bullock; CB Bump Cooper Jr.; WR Malik Cunningham; OG Darrian Dalcourt; TE Qadir Ismail; WR Keith Kirkwood; QB Devin Leary; WR Anthony Miller; DE Adedayo Odeleye; DE C.J. Ravenell; WR Dayton Wade
2: OLB Yannick Ngakoue
0: RB Chris Collier
With just two active RBs, the Ravens used up all of Chris Collier’s elevations after relying on John Kelly in Weeks 1 and 2 before his release. Ngakoue played well against the Bengals and should be in line for more elevations.
Injured Reserve Updates
The Ravens opened the 21-day practice windows of Arthur Maulet and Rasheen Ali last week, but Maulet only participated in one practice before picking up a hamstring injury. Ali quickly reached full participation, which he continued into this week.
The Ravens will be carefully monitoring Maulet’s status with the hopes of returning him to the active roster before his practice window closes. He would revert to season-ending injured reserve if he is not added to the 53-man roster by October 23.
Ali has progressed as expected and should be added to the active roster soon. Derrick Henry and Justice Hill will continue to dominate running back snaps at offense, but Baltimore should work in Ali before Keaton Mitchell returns later this season. Once Mitchell is back, there won’t be any snaps left for Ali.
Harbaugh said last week that Mitchell is “right on schedule,” but “not close enough yet to really talk about it.” He was seen working off to the side during practice this week.
Maulet received a preseason return designation, while Ali was designated to return last week. The Ravens have six designations remaining, but they will not need to use one on Mitchell since he is on the PUP list.