The Harbaughs are making a deal. The Ravens are trading edge rusher Odafe Oweh to the Chargers in a pick-swap exchange also involving Alohi Gilman, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo report.
Baltimore will trade Oweh and a 2027 seventh-round pick to Los Angeles for Gilman and a 2026 fifth-rounder, ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds. This will move a former first-round pass rusher to a Chargers team missing Khalil Mack on the edge. Oweh is tied to a fifth-year option; no substantive extension talks are believed to have occurred between he and the Ravens.
This trade, 12 years after Jim and John Harbaugh agreed on an Anquan Boldin swap when Jim was with the 49ers, also reunites Oweh with Chargers GM Joe Hortiz. The Bolts hired Hortiz from the Ravens; he was Baltimore’s director of player personnel when the team drafted the outside linebacker in 2021.
Oweh is tied to a $13.25MM fifth-year option salary. It has not been reported the Ravens will pick up any of that tab, with Schefter adding the AFC North team will save around $8MM with this trade. Gilman is tied to a prorated $3.5MM base salary, giving the Ravens some flexibility as they attempt to recover from a disastrous defensive start. While it is a bit surprising to see the Ravens give up on a former first-round pick who played well in 2024, Oweh is unsigned beyond this season.
Baltimore did not re-sign Matt Judon after franchise-tagging him in 2020, leading to the Oweh draft choice, and the team did not bring back Jadeveon Clowney in 2024. The Ravens ahve searched for a long-term OLB piece post-Judon, using Oweh and veteran stopgaps — Kyle Van Noy the most notable — during this period. Baltimore picked up Oweh’s option in April 2024 and then saw him post a 10-sack season also including 23 QB hits. Both were runaway career-high marks for Oweh, but he does not have a sack yet in 2025 (Oweh does rank 33rd in 2025 pressure rate, per TruMedia). The Chargers will still bet on the sporadically productive pass rusher.
This trade comes as both the Harbaugh-led teams are trending downward. As our Ely Allen detailed Sunday night, the Ravens are mired in a historically bad defensive stretch. The injury-wrecked unit has fallen from ninth last season to 32nd through five games. John Harbaugh reaffirmed Zach Orr‘s DC status, but at 1-4 and with Lamar Jackson sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Ravens are well off course. The Chargers have lost back-to-back games, seeing O-line injuries pile up. They will say goodbye to Gilman, who played in three-safety sets alongside Derwin James and Elijah Molden under DC Jesse Minter.
The Ravens have played without Van Noy at points this season, and while the aging EDGE returned in Week 5, Baltimore still dropped a 44-10 game to Houston. The Ravens have six sacks as a team, with Tavius Robinson — a 2023 fourth-round pick who supplanted Oweh in the starting lineup — delivering two of those. The team will lean on Robinson moving forward. Robinson’s rookie deal runs through 2026; Van Noy (34) is signed through season’s end.
Oweh, who will turn 27 before season’s end, started 23 games from 2021-24. The Ravens showed modest extension interest, but no deal was believed to be close this offseason. That set up a pivotal contract year for the Penn State product. He will now finish that out in Los Angeles, as the Chargers will pair Oweh with Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree for the time being. Mack’s dislocated elbow is not viewed as a season-ending injury, so the 3-2 Bolts should be able to roll out a Mack-Tuipulotu-Dupree-Oweh quartet later this season.
How Oweh fares during his L.A. stint will crystalize his free agency value. If Oweh can bounce back under Minter, he could command a reasonably strong market. After all, he also played an auxiliary role for a No. 1-ranked Ravens defense in 2023. Though, Oweh never eclipsed five sacks in a season prior to 2024. The Chargers will attempt to coax better form as they compete for the AFC West title with the Chiefs and Broncos.
The Gilman move comes a year after the Bolts re-signed him. Early in the Hortiz-Jim Harbaugh partnership’s run, the team brought back the Tom Telesco-era find on a two-year, $10.13MM contract. A former sixth-round pick, Gilman has been a full-time starter over the past three seasons. Gilman’s presence has helped unleash James in a hybrid role at which the All-Pro excels, but Garafolo notes the Ravens wanted him for the same role — for Kyle Hamilton-unleashing purposes. Hamilton and Gilman also played together at Notre Dame in the late 2010s.
Baltimore has been busy at safety today, adding both Gilman and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The Ravens’ home run with Hamilton aside, they missed on safeties Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson in recent years. Eric DeCosta was also at the controls for the team’s Earl Thomas misfire. In Gilman, the Ravens have a player who excelled under Jim Harbaugh. Gilman’s deal expires at season’s end.
As I discussed in a recent Trade Rumors Front Office piece, the Chargers had been getting by with a low-cost defense — everywhere but safety, that is. The Bolts had allocated by far the most money to safeties this season, having re-signed Molden on a three-year, $18.75MM deal early this offseason.
With James still on a top-market safety pact, the team will swap out the Gilman money for Oweh’s option price, taking on a few million more than it is sending out. Pro Football Focus slots Gilman 33rd among safeties this season. The Chargers should be expected to turn to ex-Raven (and ex-Ravens scout) Tony Jefferson in Gilman’s place, per ESPN.com’s Kris Rhim.
It is the Ravens who are now flooded in safety investments. Although Gardner-Johnson is starting out on the practice squad, it should be expected the veteran starter debuts for the team soon. Baltimore also used a first-round pick on Malaki Starks. It would stand to reason Gilman would play in three-safety looks in Maryland soon, though it is obviously unclear at this point if he will be in the Ravens’ post-2025 plans.
Wow. Watching Oweh fail to overwhelm that terrible Texans offensive line must have been a last straw moment.
That, and he was about to make some bank on spotty production. That’s been a pretty consistent story with Ravens young pass rushers. They show nothing for 3 years, and then all of a sudden when they are about to hit that option or free agent years, the motor finally turns on and they ball out. Then they get massive money either here or elsewhere.
I don’t know what this team was thinking about giving Broderick Washington all that money. What did he show that he deserved what he is making? Then they pay Justin the Mad lad a huge contract off of one big season, then he has a down year. And now he might never play football again. Now, nobody could foresee the injury he sustained, but they are paying him like he’s a lock to get double-digit sacks every season after only doing it once.
They spend tons of money on the secondary and it constantly looks horrible.
Throughout the whole ordeal one thing has remained constant. Harbaugh.
Blow this clown show up. Time to rebuild. Time to get fresh ideas on the field.
That seems like a pretty wild overreaction to a snakebitten season. They were third in the league in points scored when Lamar went down. The defense has been really bad, but also has had horrible injuries. They’re also still only a year removed from a huge brain drain on that side of the ball.
They were horrible for most of last season as well, without the injuries.
The mismanagement of this team has been apparent for years now. Harbaugh is a rah-rah player guy and I think he’s lost control of this team.
I don’t care how many points this team was scoring, they were playing LOSING FOOTBALL. I don’t care how many regular season games they win, they look like Pop Warner in the post season, and the huge reason for that is how Lamar plays in the post season.
This isn’t a kneejerk reaction to a poor season, this is a call to reality based on years of failure.
Yeah this smells of someone who wants to play the hindsight game.
Madubuike had a down season? He got more attention which led to others eating as well as having the league best run defense. But sure, they paid him off one season, goofy ass.
Washington makes 5M/season. On his second contract, kind of below market for a good player.
Complaining about the secondary like they weren’t making teams hold the ball only to not get finished on pressure is…clearly someone who isn’t watching the games.
They’re down 7 starters on defense and you’re shocked they look bad? Really?
The “blow it up” crowd when they’ve got one of the most talented rosters in the league aren’t fans. They play madden and fantasy football and wonder why things don’t go right when half of the projected day 1 starters aren’t there. But sure, let’s blow it up because the salary cap doesn’t exist. What a loser.
I am not a fan, I am a realist. People are literally arguing with me that Henry isn’t the best or at least one of the very best RB’s in the league, that Lamar’s receivers are garbage, and he has a poor OL, but then they want to turn around and say not to blow this up because the team has so much talent. Which one is it?
Yes, Mad had 13.5 sacks and the Ravens paid him based on that. The previous season he put up 5.5, and the season after he got paid, he put up 6.5 sacks. A down year. Literally. So yes, they paid him upon that one season. They certainly weren’t paying him based on his 2022 numbers.
They signed Washington to that deal after his 2022 season, and he hasn’t put up numbers even close to that since. He’s not worth what he’s making.
I don’t know what you’re watching. I am watching guys blow coverages and not make tackles. I watched Wiggins get roasted and the Ravens do absolutely nothing to help him or adjust. This isn’t a new thing, the secondary has been an issue for the last few years.
I don’t care that they are down 7 starters, this defense last year with all the starters still looked bad. But you want to try to tell me that I don’t watch games and don’t know what I am talking about.
You got a lot of aging veterans on expiring contracts that are also going to cots a lot of money to keep around if you want to keep them. Madubuike is probably done for his career with how they are talking. They already traded Oweh. Kyle Van Noy isn’t going to play forever. So, the team is already blowing itself up just due to expiring contracts. Your main MLB will be gone after 2027, Humphrey is signed through 2026 and then there are void years, Stanley is the same way and is due a HUGE raise in 2027.
And if the salary cap is such an issue, well, whose fault is it that they put themsevles into cap problems? That’s why you don’t pay guys like Washington to $5M contracts.
Holy cow!!! You watched Wiggins get roasted one time? Please keep talking
Been more than once, pal. But, you keep thinking this is a great team and Lamar is superman.
Every team struggles with 7 starters out on one side of the ball. Players are too good.
This team was struggling on defense last season, or do all of you people arguing against me not have memory spans that go back that far? They didn’t have a bunch of injuries then. So what’s the excuse for that?
The Ravens obviously saw safety as a bigger problem spot on the defense, having also signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the practice squad.
They must have some news that Hamilton’s injury is going to keep him out for a while to make a move like this for another safety.
It is time to blow this underachieving unit up. Get rid of all the expiring contracts and then get rid of the coaching staff in the off season. This team is an embarrassment and has been for far too long. Winning the regular season awards and then looking like a team that doesn’t even belong in the NFL in the playoffs.
The Ravens go out and get him the best RB in the league, they get him top flight receiving weapons, they gear the offense solely around him, and Lamar still flops. Ever stop to think that the problem isn’t the entire team around Lamar, and could just maybe be Lamar himself?
Top flight receiving options? That’s not even a top ten group of pass catchers. They also got him a running back who was already on the wrong side of 30.
Henry was the best RB at the time that they got him. He was the second-best rusher in the game last season only because Barkley managed to stay healthy for a full season, and he had a breakout season.
Mark Andrews wasn’t one of the top 5 TE in the game before his car accident injury? Then they get him Isiah Likely. They have two first round draft picks on the roster at WR, and then they get him D-Hop who while is slowing down, still has plenty in the tank to make some tough catches.
Stop making excuses.
That’s still not a top flight pass catching group.
It certainly is. The reason why they aren’t putting up more numbers is because they have a running back under center.
That comment on Jackson is so tired at this point. But also compare their pass catchers to Philly or Minnesota or Detroit. It’s not even close to the highest tier groups.
Based on what? Their receiving yards? Could it be they put up less yards because their QB doesn’t throw as much….or perhaps isn’t as good of a QB?
Based on them obviously not being as good? Aside from your Jackson jabs being ridiculously exaggerated, you really think Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman are as good as Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison? Or AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith? Come on man.
Again, what measurement are you using to qualify “not as good?”
My “jabs” at Jackson are not jabs. They are reality. He doesn’t throw the ball as much as other QBs, because he runs a lot. Is that true or isn’t it?
He was middle of the pack in pass attempts the past couple of years. I promise you would notice if his pass catchers were elite. I don’t think Flowers would even crack the top two receivers in the best few groups in football.
It is hard to top in the receiving numbers when your QB isn’t targeting you in the passing game as much as the leaders in those departments. Just to give you some context as to what we’re talking about here I am going to give you the 2024 numbers for Minnesota and Baltimore. This should show you a couple of things. How many times Lamar targets his wideouts, and how many times he targets his TE’s compared to other offenses. I can also do this with Philadelphia, but Hurts and I think AJ Brown missed time that season. So it might be more accurate to compare 2023 numbers. At any rate, I think my Minnesota/Baltimore data will prove my point more than enough:
2024:
MIN QB Sam Darnold: 545 attempts 4319 yards 35TD
BAL QB Lamar Jackson: 474 attempts 4172 yards 41TD
Now, we already see something I stated proven true, that Lamar didn’t toss as many passes. Now pay attention to the second part of the equation. The Pass distributrion and who these QBs target
MIN WR Jefferson: 154 TAR 103 REC 1533 yards 10TD
MIN WR Addson: 99 TAR 63 REC 875 yards 9TD
MIN RB Jones: 62 TAR 51 REC 408 yards 2 TD
MIN TE: Hockinson: 62 TAR 41 REC 455 yards 0 TD
MIN WR: Nalor: 42 TAR 28 REC 414 YDS 6 TD
BAL WR: Flowers: 116 TAR 74 REC 1059 Yards 4 TD
BAL WR: Bateman: 72 TAR 45 REC 756 yards 9 TD
BAL TE: Andrews: 69 TAR 55 REC 573 Yards 11 TD
BAL TE: Likely: 58 TAR 42 REC 477 Yards 6TD
BAL RB: Hill: 51 TAR 42 REC 383 Yards 3 TD
BAL WR: Agholor: 39 TAR 14 REC 231 Yards 2 TD
So what we can see here, that in less targets and less receptions, Bateman put up nearly the same amount of yards as Addison, and the same number of TDS. Flowers had nearly the same amount of targets as Jefferson did targets. But, notice how Lamar targets his TE’s MUCH more than Darnold did his? Minnesota’s entire TE room contributed for 5 passing TDs total, and Andrews alone had 11. You think Bateman could have put up better numbers if he got those 20 or so more targets than Addison did? I do.
So who is to say what kind of numbers Zay could have if he was tarted nearly 160 times a season.
So the situation is simple. Lamar doesn’t throw as much as other QBs in the league, and when he does throw, he targets his TEs more than his receivers.
You’re trying to BS your way around this with selective stats when anyone who watches football remotely objectively would tell you that Flowers, Bateman, and 2025 Hopkins is worse than what the best groups have. I like Bateman, but he wouldn’t sniff the top two in any of the best receiver groups in the NFL and Flowers ain’t exactly a top ten receiver.
How do you know when they don’t get the opportunity? It is hard to make plays when you don’t actually get the football.
They’ve gotten plenty of opportunity. We could all tell DJ Moore and Garrett Wilson were really good without them having quarterbacks nearly as good as Jackson.
So you want to complain that the Ravens receivers don’t produce as much as other receivers on other top passing teams in the game, when Lamar doesn’t throw as much in total, and doesn’t target his wideouts when he does throw.
Here’s your argument:
Hey, this RB sucks because he carries the ball 10 times on the season and he didn’t put up the same numbers as this guy who carried 300 times!
But you want to say my take is awful. Sure, buddy.
Damn, sure enough you kept talking 🙁
And I will keep doing so. I don’t care what you think about that. When people are wrong, I am going to point it out. When people attack my positions, I will defend them, because I actually can do so, unlike all these other people that all they can do is say, “nuh-uh” and then call names. Yeah, great points there, chief.
You’re the one talking about their raw production. I’m saying your claim that they’re a top flight group is just false. Stop trying to put ridiculous words in my mouth.
And I have asked you for your PROOF of what makes other players top flight, and the Ravens corps of receivers not top flight. You can’t answer that. You simply offered that they perform better. Okay, well, I provided to you that they perform better and put up bigger numbers because….they get way more opportunities to do so. This isn’t words in your mouth, this is what you said. So, if you’d like to try again and actually give me some kind of concrete measuring stick as to how one set of receivers is top flight, and the Ravens receivers aren’t, please go right ahead. Otherwise, you have no argument.
You said Addison was a top flight receiver, and I showed you that in nearly identical amount of targets, (Bateman having around 20 less targets than Addison) Bateman put up very similar production. Close to the same amount of yards, and exactly the same number of touchdowns.
So again…..by what measuring data are you basing your claim on that the Ravens receivers are not top flight and the other names you mentioned are. All you are saying is, “Because I said so,” and that’s not proof. If that is all your argument is based off of, you don’t have an argument, and you can stop responding, because nothing you say has any merit.
No I said Minnesota has a top flight receiver group. Now you’re arguing only with production… which I guess means Lamar isn’t holding these guys back?
I’m done with you. I’m sorry you’ve been so tortured rooting for a team with a top three quarterback. There’s something very wrong with your personality and I don’t need to go any more circles with it.
Okay. So what makes them top flight as you claim, and what makes the Ravens receivers not top flight other than you just saying so? So far, you’ve offered absolutely nothing to substantiate your claim.
I posted production, because YOU, didn’t OFFER ANYTHING. So I had to use some sort of measuring stick. And what I proved is that IF you base it off of an actual measuring stick of PRODUCTION (which seems pretty logical here when you want to compare players to each other) you can see that the reason WHY the Ravens wideous in particular do not have similar production as the ones on Minnesota is….OPPORTUNITY.
There are two points to this OPPORTUNITY issue. The first one being, Lamar runs a lot, and thus, he’s not throwing the ball as much as other passers in the league, and I outlined that with your comp of Minnesota. Darnold threw the ball more than Lamar. Fact.
The second point being WHO LAMAR TARGETS. You can see from the data, not just last season, but for seasons prior, that Lamar focuses more heavily on his TEs in the passing game than his wideouts. Now, we can have a debate about this if you like, but it has been suggested by many others and not just myself, that Lamar likes to throw between the numbers a lot more than outside of them.
You’re done with me because you can’t prove the point you’re trying to make, and I have proven mine, and that you are wrong. I am not being tortured, because if you are insinuating I am rooting for the Ravens, well, they don’t have a top three QB, and I don’t root for the Ravens or any football team at all. There’s nothing wrong with my personality. I am simply taking you to task, I am better at this than you are, and you don’t like it. You wanted to try to portray me as some kind of idiot, and you can’t win an argument with me. So what does that make you?
The only circles made were by you. You just simply make a claim and proclaim it to be the gospel just because you said it. All I am asking you for is simple proof to back up your claim, and you have a nuclear meltdown over it. Good, be done. You have nothing of value to add to this discussion anyway. Have fun being wrong.
Nothing looks good when run game isn’t working and your run game isn’t working this season.
I agree, the team looks atrocious this season. But, there are issues that have been going on for quite some time with this team that have been here for years.
The best running back in the league? Jackson in Philly is wearing multiple rings.
Check the numbers over the past few seasons. Who has put up more yards and TDs than Henry?
Since I know people don’t like to do any research or are completely ignorant of history:
Over the past 5 seasons, Henry has put up the most yards and most rushing TDs than any other player in the NFL, and it isn’t even close. Over that time he has over 1200 yards more than the second place rusher, and 13 more rushing TDS than the second place rusher.
So you’re going strictly by stats and also leaving out the part where he’s a running back in his 30s.
I am going by the fact that he was the best running back in the game over the past 5 seasons, and as recent as last season, he was barely edged out in yardage by Barkley that had the season of his life, and Henry still led the league in rushing TD. So my statement that Henry is the best RB in the league was not off base at all. Henry still is averaging 5.0 yards per carry which is well above league average this season.
Are you going to tell me that Henry is absolute garbage or something?
Obviously not. Hall of fame player. But five years is a very long time for a running back.
Okay, so now you are saying Henry is a HOF’er, but all of a sudden he’s not the best RB in the league when the Ravens signed him, and you want to bring up that he’s 30, after coming off one of the best seasons in the game of football at age 30 last season, just barely missing going for 2,000 yards and leading the league in rushing TDs.
Are you trying to defeat your own argument or something? Given how the Ravens are right now, if they can sure up their offensive line issues, are going to be relying on Henry quite a bit while Lamar is out, and even when Lamar comes back. Lamar’s passing game relies on a believable running game threat. The better they run, the better he passes. Unless Henry gets injured, he’s a pretty good bet to go over 1,000 yards and double digit TDs.
This is such a terrible take
I agree, Ooof’s really is. He has no idea what he’s talking about.
Henry lead the league in touches for a rb pretty much every healthy year with Tenn. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s a lot easier to get yards when your touching the ball more. why do you think his ypc gained almost a yard when he lined up next to Jackson?
So you are saying that staying healthy is a big factor into being a successful player.
You clearly don’t know football. It’s pretty clear with all of these posts that you just don’t know.
Let’s see your theory. So let all of the expiring contracts go. Nobody at QB/RB/FB are expiring.
At WR, Hopkins was never coming back, Wallace is a rotational player. Literally every TE is a FA. So let them go? Okay.
On the OL. Linderbaum, Faalele, Noteboom and Cleveland are FA. By your estimation, let Linderbaum go. One of the top 3 C in football. Okay.
At Edge LB, KVN was likely going to be gone, Ojabo as well. DL, Travis Jones, Jenkins and Urban. 2 of those 3 are rotational guys, the other is a starter. Whose absence has made a difference in run defense statistically since he was drafted and that is showing while he is injured.
Hummel is the only off ball LB. Awuzie and Alexander at corner. Gilman and Washington at Safety.
So your solve to the problem is 80% of the guys were gonna be gone anyways but they should also allow Linderbaum, Jones and the TE group to go as well because…reasons.
Good teams don’t let talent walk out the door. It’s why the Ravens have consistently been a good team since they became a team.
You want to blow up the team because of an injury plagued season when the only major problem was a terrible DC? No one blows a team up when they have a QB making $70m next year.
Kind of interesting that Goodell and the owners are paranoid about Brady having possible conflicts of interest but don’t even consider that the Harbaugh boys might conspire to help each other.
@crosseyedlemon. Hortiz was in the ravens organization for 27 years, and has been the head of player personnel for years. I believe he knows Newsome, decosta, and oweh very well.
What is the CHARGER angle on this? I think this is a front end move to get a tackle this clears cap
Chargers actually take a on a lot of money in this deal, but they need edge help more than safety help right now.
Plus is it only a one year deal. They can let him walk if it doesn’t pan out at the end of the season, or if he blows up all of a sudden, they can try to re-sign him as a FA.