Ravens Were Top Team For WR DeAndre Hopkins
Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is the new big man in town in Baltimore, and he seems to be echoing sentiments heard last year from Derrick Henry from whenever he was the big, new thing. 11 months ago, Henry told the media that “Baltimore was always (his) No. 1 option.” This week, Hopkins took a page out of Henry’s book, saying that “the Ravens were (the) top team on his list,” per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. 
Hopkins cites the presence of two-time MVP Lamar Jackson as one of the main reasons for his desires to play in Baltimore. It’s something we’ve seen a number of offensive acquisitions say over the years, which says a lot considering wide receivers don’t typically boast big seasons in Baltimore due to Jackson’s ability to spread the ball out effectively throughout the offense.
Baltimore has a history of its best wide receivers being veteran free agent additions. The franchise leader in receiving yards, Derrick Mason, came to Baltimore at 31 years old after eight seasons in Tennessee. Anquan Boldin came to the Ravens at 30 years old after seven seasons in Arizona and helped deliver a second Super Bowl to Baltimore alongside contributions from another veteran free agent in the late Jacoby Jones, who joined the team at 28.
Despite spending 13 years of his career in Carolina, Steve Smith Sr. came to Baltimore at 35 years old and delivered three incredibly strong seasons. Even Mike Wallace delivered one of the three 1,000-yard seasons of his career in Baltimore after signing with the team at 30.
Baltimore has also, unfortunately, garnered a reputation as a wide receiver graveyard, a place in which aged wideouts go to die (or at least their careers do). We saw it in 2017 when a 29-year-old Jeremy Maclin delivered a career-low receiving yard total in what would be his final NFL season. Or the next year, when a 31-year-old Michael Crabtree logged a solid but overall underwhelming performance in Jackson’s rookie campaign.
A 32-year-old Dez Bryant attempted to make a comeback in Baltimore after two years away from the league, only to catch six passes for 47 yards in 2020. Most recently, a 31-year-old Odell Beckham Jr. attempted the same with better results, though still not up to the standard of his early years in the league.
At 32 years old, it will be interesting to see which side of history Hopkins falls on. 12 years with four teams may have worn Hopkins down like the second group of receivers mentioned above. He hasn’t earned Pro Bowl or All-Pro honors since his first season in Arizona in 2020, but he did deliver a 1,000-yard campaign just two years ago in Tennessee at the hands of Will Levis and Ryan Tannehill.
While Ravens receivers don’t tend to put up huge numbers — only Mark Andrews (1,361), Zay Flowers (1,059), and Marquise Brown (1,008) have delivered 1,000-yard seasons in Jackson’s tenure — Hopkins still has potential to make a lasting impact with the Ravens.
Jackson returns a backfield that features the bell-cow Henry, the versatile Justice Hill, and the speedy Keaton Mitchell, as well as a tight ends stable that should feature Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Charlie Kolar. He will likely see Nelson Agholor depart in free agency, but replacing him with Hopkins, who will line up with Flowers and Rashod Bateman, gives the Ravens one of the most impressive wide receivers groups they’ve had in their short history.
It will just depend on if Hopkins is willing to find his role among the litany of offensive options and if Hopkins can bring a veteran energy akin to Mason/Boldin/Smith/Wallace versus that of Maclin/Crabtree/Bryant/Beckham.
Ravens Re-Signing G Ben Cleveland
The Ravens have made a move that could impact their view on needing to address the offensive line this offseason. According to Ravens editorial director Ryan Mink, the team has re-signed backup offensive guard Ben Cleveland, who could get another crack at a starting role with the departure of Patrick Mekari in free agency. 
Since coming out of Georgia as a third-round pick in 2021, Cleveland has failed to live up to his Day 2 draft stock. While he appeared in every game for the Ravens in 2024, it was the first season in which he did not start a single game. He’s only started in seven contests over the four years of his rookie contract despite several opportunities to seize the job.
Cleveland saw his largest chunk of playing time as a rookie, when he started four of 12 game appearances. That rookie campaign also saw his lowest blocking grades, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which was mostly chalked up to being a rookie adjusting to the speed and physicality of the NFL game. In 2022, he opened training camp in a starting battle with Tyre Phillips for the left guard spot, which ultimately stayed with Ben Powers, the incumbent from the prior year for whom Cleveland started in the final games of the season.
When Powers departed for Denver, the battle once again opened, this time with four participants. Duking it out with Mekari, John Simpson, and Daniel Faalele, Cleveland once again became a nonfactor, falling out of a race that ended up being between Simpson and then-rookie Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, a battle Simpson would win and, like Powers, earn a big payday from.
In 2024, for the third year in a row, Cleveland was granted an opportunity to fight for two open guard spots after the departures of Simpson and Kevin Zeitler. He seemed to be in competition with Aumavae-Laulu and Andrew Vorhees as Faalele competed with second-round rookie Roger Rosengarten at right tackle and Mekari was seemingly reserved for any spot that may need a starter, if necessary. Vorhees ended up winning one of the jobs, and Faalele, unable to win a tackle spot, slid inside to start at the other with Mekari starting at right tackle. Early struggles from Vorhees could’ve offered a spot for Cleveland. Instead, the Ravens moved Mekari back inside and brought the rookie, Rosengarten, into the starting lineup at tackle.
At this point, it seemingly became clear that Cleveland didn’t have a future in Baltimore. Given starting opportunities time and again, Cleveland seemingly lacked the drive or talent to take over the role despite a menacing physical build. When Cleveland became the latest former Georgia Bulldog to be involved in some traffic situation, getting arrested as a result of a DUI incident, it seemed increasingly likely that his time in Baltimore had come to an end.
Instead, the team has brought Cleveland back to perhaps continue his role as a depth piece. He was third in line for the guard spot he lost last year, and with Mekari gone, Vorhees is next in line for the job opposite Faalele. Perhaps, with Josh Jones, the team’s oft-used sixth offensive lineman in jumbo packages, departing in free agency, and having seen Cleveland work reps at tackle in the preseason, Cleveland is being retained as an emergency option who could play at both positions. Regardless, one would expect that, between his inability to claim a starting role and his recent legal troubles, the Ravens got a good deal on the signing.
NFL Announces 2025 Compensatory Picks
MARCH 14: In an unusual step, the NFL has awarded the Saints a seventh-round compensatory pick and stripped one from the Dolphins. The Saints’ pick appears to check in in front of the Browns and Chargers’ Nos. 254 and 255 slots, as NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero notes Cleveland and Los Angeles’ last 2025 picks will slide down one spot. The Dolphins will retain their other seventh-round comp pick, however.
MARCH 11: The NFL has awarded compensatory draft picks for teams in the 2025 draft. Based on an add/subtract formula that covers the 2024 free agency period, comp picks span from Round 3 to Round 7. The higher picks go to the teams that endured the most significant free agent losses.
This year, the NFL awarded 35 comp picks. The comp pick formula assigns picks to franchises who suffered the largest net losses, so teams that signed multiple free agents have a lesser chance of receiving picks.
Sorted by round and by team, here are the league’s 2025 compensatory selections:
By round:
Round 3: Vikings (No. 97 overall), Dolphins (98), Giants (99), 49ers (100)*, Rams (101)*, Lions (102)*
Round 4: Dolphins (135), Ravens (136), Seahawks (137), 49ers (138)
Round 5: Bills (169), Cowboys (170), Cowboys (171), Seahawks (172), Bills (173), Cowboys (174), Seahawks (175), Ravens (176)
Round 6: Chargers (209), Ravens (210), Cowboys (211), Ravens (212), Raiders (213), Chargers (214), Raiders (215), Browns (216)
Round 7: 49ers (249), Packers (250), Chiefs (251), 49ers (252), Dolphins (253), Browns (254), Chargers (255), Dolphins (256), Chiefs (257)
By team:
- Baltimore Ravens: 4
- Dallas Cowboys: 4
- Miami Dolphins: 4
- San Francisco 49ers: 4
- Los Angeles Chargers: 3
- Seattle Seahawks: 3
- Buffalo Bills: 2
- Cleveland Browns: 2
- Kansas City Chiefs: 2
- Las Vegas Raiders: 2
- Detroit Lions: 1
- Green Bay Packers: 1
- Los Angeles Rams: 1
- Minnesota Vikings: 1
- New York Giants: 1
* = special compensatory selection
Ravens Sign WR DeAndre Hopkins
MARCH 14: Hopkins’ pact – which is now official – includes a $1.26MM base salary which is fully guaranteed, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network notes. The deal includes a $3.75MM signing bonus, while its incentives are based on playing time and performance thresholds. With void years being included, Hopkins will carry a 2025 cap hit of roughly $2MM.
MARCH 11: The Ravens are signing veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
Hopkins’ deal in Baltimore has a base value of $5MM with another $1MM available via incentives, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. He will join former Titans teammate Derrick Henry and catch passes from two-time MVP Lamar Jackson in 2025.
The five-time Pro Bowler started the 2024 season in Tennessee before being traded to the Chiefs for a fifth-round pick that could be upgraded to a fourth-rounder, though details of the conditions have not been publicly reported. Hopkins recorded just 15 receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown in six games with the Titans last year, but fared much better in Kansas City. He posted 41 catches for 437 yards and four touchdowns in 10 regular-season games as a Chief, though he only caught three of his eight targets in the playoffs.
The Ravens have been linked with Hopkins multiple times over the last few years, but they were never willing to part with the trade or financial compensation to acquire him. His $5MM APY is a significant discount on his previous contracts, the lowest and most recent of which was a two-year, $26MM deal signed with the Titans in 2023.
Hopkins was originally a first-round pick by the Texans in 2013 who followed up a solid rookie year with a breakout season in 2014. He earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2015 before a down year in 2016 with Brock Osweiler under center in Houston. The Texans then signed him to a five-year, $81MM extension in 2017, at which point Hopkins began to take off. He averaged 105 catches, 1,372 yards, and 10 touchdowns over the next three seasons and earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in each year.
The Texans then surprised the league by trading Hopkins to the Cardinals in 2020, packaging him with a fourth-rounder to receive running back David Johnson and second- and fourth-round picks in return. Hopkins then signed a two-year, $54MM extension with the Cardinals.
Houston was widely criticized for the trade, especially after Hopkins’ debut year in Arizona ended with 115 catches for 1,400 yards and six touchdowns. That earned Hopkins his fourth-straight Pro Bowl appearance, but injuries plagued him over the next two years. After playing in at least 15 games in his first eight seasons, he appeared in just 19 across 2021 and 2022 with a commensurate decrease in production. Hopkins was released after the 2022 season and signed with the Titans, where he put up another 1,000-yard season despite inconsistent quarterback play from Will Levis and Ryan Tannehill.
Another downtick in production in 2024 showed that the 32-year-old Hopkins was no longer the dominant wideout he once was, but he won’t be asked to shoulder a heavy burden in Baltimore. The Ravens already have Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman at wide receiver and Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely at tight end, not to mention one of the best rushing attacks in league history with Jackson and Henry as the primary ballcarriers. Instead, Hopkins will play a tertiary role in the Ravens’ passing game, which has lacked a contested-catch specialist in the receiver room for most of Jackson’s tenure.
OL Notes: Becton, Texans, Smith, Jags, Rams
The Eagles‘ Mekhi Becton signing proved to be a highly effective one. The former Jets tackle was able to have success upon moving inside, and he helped his market after playing on a $2.75MM ‘prove it’ contract in 2024.
Becton’s preference would be to remain in Philadelphia, but he is of course an attractive option to teams eyeing upgrades up front. PFR’s No. 22 free agent in 2025 could look to capitalize on the strength of the guard market, which saw the likes of Robert Hunt, Jonah Jackson, Kevin Dotson, Damien Lewis and Jon Runyan Jr sign deals averaging eight figures per year in free agency. Becton will likely not be able to match many of their earnings, but an Eagles departure could still be looming.
ESPN’s Tim McManus reports there has not been tangible progress between team and player to work out a re-signing in this case. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland is among those who would like to see Becton, entering his age-26 season, brought back. As the Eagles move forward with a line already featuring four lucrative deals, though, keeping him in place may not be possible.
Here are some offensive line notes from around the league:
- The Eagles, of course, have a deal in place to add a guard in the form of Kenyon Green. The former Texans first-rounder is one of three O-linemen the team is moving on from as part of its offseason plans. Veteran Shaq Mason was recently released, while left tackle Laremy Tunsil is on his way to the Commanders. The offensive line group increasingly became a problem in Houston last season, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated writes. Tunsil is respected in the organization, Breer adds, but making sweeping changes up front this offseason allowed the Texans to avoid a third lucrative commitment to the 30-year-old. Houston will look for a noticeably different combination and a new culture along the O-line in 2025.
- Colts general manager Chris Ballard said at the Combine right tackle Braden Smith intended to continue playing in 2025. That will indeed be the case, with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reporting an agreement has been reached on a restructured contract. The pact will pay out a $2MM roster bonus next week in addition to a $3.96MM base salary, per Over the Cap. Smith, 29 later this month, has served as a full-time starter since his arrival in 2018 but he missed the last five games of the 2024 campaign due to an undisclosed personal matter. He will still be a free agent next spring as things stand, but Smith’s return (at a cap charge of $10.4MM) will be welcomed on a Colts O-line which is set to lose Ryan Kelly and Will Fries after they both agreed to Vikings deals this week.
- The Ravens managed to take care of one of their most important offseason priorities with the re-signing of left tackle Ronnie Stanley. That three-year, $60MM deal features $44MM in guarantees. The latter figure includes a $20.25MM signing bonus, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 details. Stanley has dealt with several injuries in his career, but this latest pact guarantees $22MM in pay for 2025 and ’26, according to Over the Cap. The two-time Pro Bowler is also scheduled to collect a $4.04MM option bonus next March.
- Prior to the Stanley deal, Alaric Jackson agreed to a three-year pact to remain with the Rams. The deal can reach a maximum value of $60.75MM and includes $35.43MM in guarantees, Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap writes. $30MM is fully guaranteed at signing, with most of Jackson’s compensation over the next two years locked in. $1.45MM in per-game roster bonuses are present in every year of the deal, and a $5.43MM injury guarantee will shift to a full one if he is on the roster on the fifth day of the 2026 league year.
- Patrick Mekari parlayed his Ravens tenure into a three-year Jaguars contract at the outset of the negotiating period. That pact features $22.5MM in guarantees, including a $10MM signing bonus, per Wilson. The former UDFA has $10.5MM in 2026 salary locked in for injury, and remaining on the roster early in the 2026 league year will lead to further guarantees. Per-game roster bonuses totaling nearly $30K along with a $500K Pro Bowl incentive are present in every year of the deal.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/12/25
Here are the minor moves from the first day of the 2025 league year:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: CB Mike Ford, OL Kyle Hinton, DL Ta’Quon Graham, OL Elijah Wilkinson, LB Josh Woods
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: LB Jake Hummel, WR Tylan Wallace
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Dan Chisena
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: DE Cameron Sample
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: LB Jack Sanborn
Detroit Lions
- Signed: RB Craig Reynolds, LB Grant Stuard
Houston Texans
- Signed: DE Casey Toohill
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DT Neville Gallimore, OL Danny Pinter
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DB Tavierre Thomas
New England Patriots
- Signed: S Jaylinn Hawkins
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette
New York Jets
- Signed: DE Rashad Weaver
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LB Ben VanSumeren
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: CB Tre Brown
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: QB Kyle Trask
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OL Blake Hance
Washington Commanders
- Signed: CB Kevon Seymour
Yes, a few of these players have graduated from our minor-moves sector, but today’s signing blitz being what it was, they land here. Ford highlights the batch contractually, agreeing (per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter) to a two-year, $4MM deal. Ford played on more than 70% of Cleveland’s special teams snaps over the past two seasons.
Trask will reprise his role as Baker Mayfield‘s backup, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicating the former second-round pick is staying on a one-year, $2.79MM contract. Trask and Mayfield competed for the job in 2023, but as was the case with the Drew Lock–Geno Smith battle a year prior, the winner never looked back. Trask will be in place for a fifth Bucs season, having moved from third-stringer during the Tom Brady era to QB2 in the Mayfield years.
Hawkins will stay with the Patriots on a two-year deal worth up to $2.2MM, according to the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed. A 2022 full-time Falcons starter, Hawkins saw Jessie Bates replace him in 2023. The Falcons later waived Hawkins, who ended up on the Chargers in 2023. The Pats used him as a seven-game starter in 2024, when he made 48 tackles (three for loss).
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/12/25
As the 2025 league year begins, here are the Wednesday tender decisions involving restricted and exclusive rights free agents:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Cardinals: WR Greg Dortch
- Chiefs: LB Jack Cochrane, DB Nazeeh Johnson
- Falcons: OL Ryan Neuzil
- Ravens: S Ar’Darius Washington
Nontendered:
- Cardinals: S Andre Chachere, LB Jesse Luketa, T Carter O’Donnell
- Eagles: WR Britain Covey
- Packers: TE John FitzPatrick
- Seahawks: WR Jaelon Darden
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Buccaneers: DL C.J. Brewer
- Cardinals: TE Travis Vokolek
- Giants: LB Dyontae Johnson
Nontendered:
- Seahawks: LB Josh Onujiogu, LB Josh Ross, WR Cody White
The Ravens have discussed an extension with Washington, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. For now, the safety is on Baltimore’s cap sheet at $3.26MM. A second-round tender would have cost the Ravens $5.35MM and brought back a second-round pick if the team did not match an offer sheet elsewhere. An unmatched Washington offer sheet now would not bring the Ravens any compensation. Washington started 10 games for the Ravens last season.
Ravens Release S Marcus Williams
The Ravens have officially announced the release of veteran safety Marcus Williams, per club staff writer Clifton Brown. The two sides agreed to a restructure back in January to help facilitate this exit, and now it’s come to fruition. The move will have a post-June 1 designation, as expected.
Following a five-year run in New Orleans, Williams was one of the league’s top free agents in 2022. He inked a five-year, $70MM deal with the Ravens that year and naturally faced high expectations upon arrival. The early returns were promising, as Williams intercepted three passes in his first two games in Baltimore and ultimately finished the campaign as Pro Football Focus’ 18th-best safety out of 88 qualified players.
That said, the formerly durable defender was limited to 10 games in 2022 due to injury, and he missed six more in 2023. His health woes — along with, perhaps, the depatures of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson — conspired to tank Williams’ 2024 showing.
Williams was at less than full strength for much of last year, though his starting spot was not in jeopardy early in the season. Poor performance and missed assignments forced the Ravens to bench him as part of their midseason defensive adjustments, and from Week 11 onward, Williams appeared in a grand total of two snaps.
Baltimore’s defense performed much better after the benching, which made the decision to cut ties with Williams — who finished as PFF’s second-worst qualified safety in 2024 — even easier. The club will move forward with Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington at the safety spots, and the 28-year-old Williams will seek an opportunity to rebuild his stock and return to the form that made him a hot commodity not too long ago.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
Ravens DT Michael Pierce Announces Retirement
After a nine-year career, Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce announced that he is retiring (via the Sports Spectrum podcast hosted by former NFL running back Matt Forte).
Pierce expressed appreciation for his time in the NFL and specifically thanked former Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and former defensive line coach Joe Cullen, who brought Pierce to Baltimore as an undrafted free agent out of Samford University in 2016. He made the Ravens’ 53-man roster as a rookie and never looked back, quickly becoming one of the league’s stoutest nose tackles.
“They gave me a chance when not many people were willing to take a chance on me,” said Pierce. He also thanked “big brothers” Terrell Suggs and Brandon Williams, who mentored him during his first stint in Baltimore.
Pierce played in 60 games (30 starts) for the Ravens from 2016 to 2019 with 3.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, earning him a three-year, $27MM deal from the Vikings. With a history of asthma and other respiratory problems, Pierce opted out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic. He finally debuted in Minnesota in 2021, but played in only eight games due to an elbow injury. He still put up a career-high 3.0 sacks, but the Vikings opted to move on before the 2022 season.
The Ravens then swooped in to reunited with Pierce on a three-year, $16.5MM deal. He played in just three games due to a torn bicep in 2022, but starting all 17 games the following year as a core part of Baltimore’s league-leading defense. Another injury limited Pierce to just 11 games in 2024, but returned by the end of the regular season to end his career with a highlight. In Week 18 against the Browns, Pierce became the heaviest player since at least 2000 to record an interception at 355 pounds. He was also the NFL’s biggest active defender before his retirement.
Pierce’s size made him an effective run-stuffer who could absorb double-teams in the middle of the defensive line. He remained a solid defender until his retirement, but stints on injured reserve in three of the last four seasons made retirement a serious possibility before his age-33 season. The Ravens are currently set to return Nnamdi Madubuike, Travis Jones, and Broderick Washington to their defensive line in 2025, but they will need to add depth over the next few months.
Pierce had an option year set to trigger on March 17 that included an additional $2MM option bonus if he remained on the roster, per OverTheCap. Instead, his retirement will leave $2MM in dead money, $1.33MM of which can be pushed into 2026 with a post-June 1 designation. That would save the Ravens $2MM against the 2025 cap with just $667k of dead money this year.
Ravens Plan To Release Arthur Maulet
The Ravens are planning to release veteran cornerback Arthur Maulet, according to NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe.
The move will save $2.25MM against the 2025 salary cap with $250k of dead money, per OverTheCap. The Ravens will save an additional $2.1MM by releasing Marcus Williams with a post-June 1 designation, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. That move has been expected since the team revised his contract in January following a rough season from the veteran safety, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Williams’ release will leave $6.7MM in dead money in 2025 and 2026.
Both Maulet and Williams played significant roles in the Ravens’ league-leading defense in 2023, but injuries to the former and regression by the latter limited their contributions in 2024. Multiple stints on injured reserve sidelined Maulet for most of the season with just three appearances and 72 defensive snaps. Williams started 10 of the team’s first 11 games, but played just two snaps for the rest of the year.
The Ravens also dealt with struggles from veteran safety Eddie Jackson, forcing an overhaul to the secondary for the second half of the season. Marlon Humphrey took up a full-time role in the slot, and Kyle Hamilton moved away from the line of scrimmage to play a more traditional safety role alongside Ar’Darius Washington.
Baltimore had high hopes for Williams when they signed him to a five-year, $70MM contract in 2022, but injuries in his first two years gave way to clear regression in his third. He was productive when healthy in 2022 and 2023, but inexplicably struggled in 2024. The Ravens had a new defensive coordinator in Zach Orr, but his scheme largely mirrored that of Mike MacDonald, under whom Williams excelled in the previous two years. He will now hit free agency looking for an opportunity to rebuild his value and earn another multi-year deal before he reaches 30 years of age.
Maulet joined the Ravens in 2023 after being cut by the rival Steelers. He appeared in 14 games as a slot corner and earned a two-year, $4MM extension after a solid debut season. A strong training camp in 2024 was negated by multiple lower-body injuries, which will force Maulet to sign a ‘prove-it’ deal this offseason.