Ravens Notes: Flacco, Mosley, Smith, Culley
The Ravens and new general manager Eric DeCosta aren’t expected to make a decision on the fate of quarterback Joe Flacco until March, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk writes. The new league year begins in roughly six weeks, and while no trade can be made official until then, Baltimore could agree to deal Flacco to another club before the 2019 league year gets underway. Any pre-June 1 release or trade of Flacco will leave the Ravens with $16MM in dead money; a move after June 1 would put $8MM in dead money on Baltimore’s 2019 books and the same amount on their 2020 cap. In a PFR poll earlier this week, 71% of voters believed the Ravens will be able to find a trade partner for Flacco.
Here’s more from Baltimore:
- Linebacker C.J. Mosley is perhaps the Ravens’ most important pending free agent, and DeCosta told reporters he “believe[s] in [his] heart” that Mosley will return in 2019, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. Mosley, who has missed only two games during his five-year run in Baltimore, graded as Pro Football Focus‘ No. 22 linebacker in 2019. He’s reportedly begun contract talks with the Ravens, but head coach John Harbaugh admitted there are “limitations with money.” Luke Kuechly currently tops the inside linebacker market with a $12.4MM annual salary, while the second tier of the position sits between $10MM and $10.75MM.
- DeCosta didn’t sound as positive when discussing the possibility of re-signing edge rusher Za’Darius Smith, tweets Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “We don’t know what Za’Darius’ market is going to be,” said DeCosta. “He had a really nice year. Typically, the market is usually out of control for those guys, initially out of the gate.” Smith, 26, played the most defensive snaps of his career in 2019, managing 8.5 sacks in the process.
- The Ravens have hired former Bills quarterbacks coach David Culley as assistant head coach/wide receivers/passing game coordinator, Baltimore announced this week. Culley’s addition will complete the Ravens’ offensive staff overhaul, which began when new offensive coordinator Greg Roman was promoted to take the place of Marty Mornhinweg, who rejected another position inside the organization. Culley, 63, overlapped with Ravens head coach Harbaugh on Andy Reid‘s Eagles staff, serving as Philadelphia’s wide receivers coach while Harbaugh led the club’s special teams and defensive backs
Poll: Will The Ravens Trade Joe Flacco?
The Ravens have their quarterback of the present and future in Lamar Jackson, but questions remain about their franchise QB of the past. The Ravens want to trade Joe Flacco in order to recoup something for the one-time Super Bowl champion, and they’re confident they can get a solid return, but not everyone in the football world is convinced. 
“At the end of the day, if I was picking what would happen, I would say that he will be released,” said former NFL GM Charley Casserly told Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “I have a hard time believing somebody is going to trade for that contract with the uncertainty of Joe this late in his career.”
Even with the dearth of quality QBs out there, there’s no doubt about it – Flacco’s contract is an issue. He has three years and $63MM to go on a deal that has no guaranteed money remaining, but still calls for a substantial cap number in 2019.
“You have to take on the $18.5MM to make the trade, unless the Ravens are willing to eat more salary to facilitate a trade,” former agent Joel Corry told Zrebiec. “You’re going to have to really want to get rid of the guy and get a draft pick to start eating salary.”
On the plus side, there are potential suitors for 34-year-old. The Jaguars are reportedly mulling a Flacco trade, the Redskins probably need a QB to fill in for Alex Smith this year, and clubs like the Dolphins, Panthers, Broncos may or may not be in the QB market depending on how things break. And, this year’s free agent crop is no hot shakes outside of Nick Foles and Teddy Bridgewater. In theory, these teams and others could wait to see whether Flacco is released outright, but that might not be a gamble worth taking.
Ultimately, do you think the Ravens will find a trade for Flacco? Cast your vote here and back up your choice in the comment section below (poll link for app users):
John Harbaugh’s Role Won’t Change With New GM
It was rumored that Ravens head coach John Harbaugh wanted to have final say on personnel decisions with the team moving from Ozzie Newsome to Eric DeCosta as general manager in 2019. The coach dispelled those rumors, however, ESPN’s Jamison Hensley tweets. 
“It works the same way, except now Eric is in the seat. Eric is the decision-maker, and he’ll be the guy making that final call, and he’ll also be the guy that will be building from the ground up.”
It took a few days to announce Harbaugh’s new contract, leading some to think the team’s longtime head coach was searching for more of a say in the team’s front office. However, he is not starting from scratch with DeCosta. The two have been in the organization since Harbaugh arrived, with DeCosta even beginning his tenure with the team in 1996. Though he won’t have “final say,” Harbaugh harped on the organization’s excellent communication.
“This is an organization that works together. We cross paths and we talk everything out – football, scouting, medical, weight strength and conditioning, everything you can think of. To me, it doesn’t matter who has what say over what. It’s never been about that here.”
Earlier in the week, Harbaugh signed a four-year extension that will keep him in Baltimore through the 2019 campaign. Before putting ink to paper, the longtime coach had one year remaining on his deal.
Ravens Want Yanda, Weddle To Return
Count head coach John Harbaugh among those who’d like a pair of veteran Pro Bowlers to return to the Ravens next season. Harbaugh told reporters that he’s hoping offensive lineman Marshal Yanda and safety Eric Weddle will be back in 2019.
“Unless something changes along the way, they will be back,” he said (via Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun). “We have talked about all those things, but no decisions have been made. One thing you learn about this whole building a roster around the National Football League and working around the [salary] cap is that no decision stands on its own feet. It’s not sequential, either. It’s not this, then this, then this. It all happens together at once.”
Harbaugh notes that general manager Eric DeCosta and executive Ozzie Newsome are also open to welcoming back the duo.
Weddle, 34, was named to his sixth Pro Bowl this season after compiling 68 tackles, one sack, and three passes defended. Following Baltimore’s playoff loss to the Chargers, the veteran said he’d either be returning to the Ravens or retiring. However, this past week, Weddle changed course, indicating that he’d be open to playing for another team. The defensive back has one year remaining on his contract, and he’ll carry a $8.25MM cap hit. The organization could clear up $6.5MM in space by cutting the veteran.
Yanda made his seventh-career Pro Bowl this season after starting all 16 games for the Ravens. The 34-year-old has spent his entire 12-year career in Baltimore, and the veteran still has another year on his contract. However, the veteran still hasn’t publicly committed to playing in 2019. The Ravens have committed some of their draft choices to offensive linemen in recent years, including using three picks in the 2018 draft.
Ravens Injury Updates
- Recently extended Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke to the media today, and provided updates on several injured players, per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Harbaugh said guard Alex Lewis, who recently underwent shoulder surgery, should be back by training camp, and that safety Tony Jefferson, linebacker Za’Darius Smith, and cornerback Tavon Young would all be out around 4-6 more weeks, putting them on track for OTA’s.
Ravens Interested In Tyrod Taylor
- Last week a reporter mentioned Tyrod Taylor as a possible target of the Ravens to be Lamar Jackson‘s backup next season, and Baltimore coach John Harbaugh added some fuel to that fire. Harbaugh said today that he’d like to add two quarterbacks behind Jackson this offseason, ideally with a similar playing style, and the recently extended coach brought up Robert Griffin III and Taylor on his own, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic (Twitter link). Griffin served as the number three this past year, and said recently he loved his time in Baltimore, so it seems likely he’ll be re-signed.
Latest On Ravens, C.J. Mosley
C.J. Mosley played out his five-year rookie contract with the Ravens, and the sides are discussing a second deal. But the Ravens may not be willing to shell out a monster pact to keep one of their top players.
“Yeah, you’d rather have C.J. back,” John Harbaugh said, via Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun. “There’s always the give and take, of course. There are limitations with money, but C.J. wants to be back and we want him back. I think that’s a really good formula for a player coming back.
“I’m just not even going to entertain the possibility right now that that wouldn’t happen. I’ll just assume that’s going to happen.”
Baltimore holds middle-of-the-pack cap space ($28MM-plus), and while clearing Joe Flacco‘s contract off their books would help, a trade would also bring some 2019 cap charges. Inside linebackers Benardrick McKinney and Eric Kendricks signed $10MM-AAV extensions last year. A four-time Pro Bowler, Mosley will be seeking to land a higher-end deal. Jamie Collins and Luke Kuechly still represent the standard for off-ball linebackers, earning $12MM-plus on average.
Mosley, 26, led the Ravens in tackles in three of his five seasons. He registered 105 stops this season, one in which Pro Football Focus gave him a middling coverage grade this season. The Ravens also have Terrell Suggs and Za’Darius Smith looming as UFAs.
Ravens, John Harbaugh Agree To Extension
John Harbaugh‘s new deal is finally done. On Thursday, the Ravens announced the signing of a fresh contract for their head coach. It’s a four-year extension that will take him through the 2023 season.
Harbaugh and the Ravens began discussing an extension early in January, but things took a bit of time to come together. Ultimately, the two sides were able to hash things out after a few weeks. Terms of the deal are not yet known, but it’s likely that the new deal will position him as one of the highest paid head coaches in the NFL.
In this cycle, multiple teams were said to be mulling trades for Harbaugh that probably would have called for the forfeiture of draft compensation. The Buccaneers and Dolphins gave it real thought, but they wound up hiring Bruce Arians and Brian Flores, respectively.
Harbaugh, 56, is 114-77 for his career and ranks fifth in wins among active coaches. Three straight Ravens playoff absences — and a 40-40 record from 2013-17 — moved him close to the chopping block, but the switch to Jackson (and Baltimore’s defense returning to elite status) transformed a 4-5 team to a 10-6 division champion. This past season marked the Ravens’ seventh playoff appearance under Harbaugh.
Latest On Ravens’ Eric Weddle
Recently, Eric Weddle indicated that it’s Ravens-or-bust for him in 2019. Now, he says that’s not necessarily the case. 
“I want to finish out [my contract],” Weddle told the Ravens’ team website (Twitter link). “But obviously, decisions have to be made for the future of the team, the organization. They got to do what’s best for them, and I respect that. … [We’ll] see if there’s something to be worked out. If not, then I’ve had an unbelievable experience here and loved every second. So if it does happen, we both move on and then … we’ll see if I’ll play somewhere else or hang ’em up.”
For now, Weddle is set to return at a cap figure of $9.25MM, which puts his Baltimore future in flux. Should the Ravens release him, they’ll save $7.5MM versus just $1.75MM in dead money.
Weddle earned a fifth-career Pro Bowl selection this season, but his age (34) will work against him. There’s also the depressed market for free agent safeties to consider. Last year, safeties with starting experience such as Eric Reid, Kenny Vaccaro, and Tre Boston wound up as afterthoughts. Standout Tyrann Mathieu found a home with the Texans in March, but even he had to settle for a one-year, $7MM deal.
Weddle’s willingness to play elsewhere may help his leverage with the Ravens, but it’s still far from certain that he’ll be retained at his current rate or anything close to it. No matter what, Weddle says he’s excited to return for yet another season.
“Who knows what the future holds?” he said. “But I live it up each day and whatever is going to happen is going to be meant to happen for myself and my family, and I’m excited for the future, for sure.”
Harbaugh Extension Accelerated During Retreat
We heard yesterday that the Ravens were close to extending John Harbaugh after all. After a lot of buzz that Harbaugh might not be looking to sign an extension and instead play out his contract and test the open market, it looks like Harbaugh will indeed commit to Baltimore longterm. Extension talks were “accelerated during Ravens high-level annual organizational retreat Thursday and Friday with owner Steve Bisciotti”, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN (Twitter link). Mortensen notes that discussions took place during the retreat about a potential trade of Joe Flacco and how best to develop Lamar Jackson. It should be a busy offseason in Baltimore, and it’ll be interesting to see if they can get something of value for Flacco on the trade market.