ExtremeRavens Posted 9 hours ago Posted 9 hours ago Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline featured a few blockbuster deals amid a flurry of moves by teams. The Ravens were not among them. As 4 p.m. came and went, they stayed put without any additional moves, their lone deal in the past 24 hours being the acquisition of veteran outside linebacker Dre’Mont Jones from the Tennessee Titans for a conditional 2026 fifth-round draft pick — a pick that would turn into a fourth-rounder if Jones has two sacks the rest of the regular season and Baltimore makes the playoffs. The New York Jets, meanwhile, made the biggest splash, sending two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for two first-round draft picks and second-year wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. Then they made another one, unloading three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys in return for a first- and second-round pick. The latter was a player Baltimore perhaps could have used for a defensive line that lacks depth and production after tackle Nnamdi Madubuike was lost for the season following Week 2 with a neck injury. But general manager Eric DeCosta likes to hoard draft picks and clearly believed the prices being asked for any players he was potentially interested in were too high. The Ravens are currently slated to have seven draft picks and could get two additional compensatory picks in the fifth round. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones unsurprisingly had a different take and thought it was worth it for a three-time Pro Bowl selection and former All-Pro who has racked up 40 sacks in seven seasons (albeit just one so far this year). DeCosta, by contrast, made smaller moves. On Saturday, Baltimore sent little-used cornerback Jaire Alexander and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2026 sixth-round pick. Last month, outside linebacker Odafe Oweh was traded to the Los Angeles Chargers last month in exchange for safety Alohi Gilman that included a draft pick swap, a move that has allowed the Ravens to return to the three-safety looks they prefer to move safety Kyle Hamilton all over the field but also cost them a pass rusher. That the Ravens didn’t address needs along the interior of the defensive and offensive lines, however, was at least mildly surprising, especially amid one of the busiest NFL trade deadlines in three decades. With Madubuike out and Broderick Washington having recently undergone surgery for an Achilles tendon “issue,” according to coach John Harbaugh, the Ravens remain thin up front. Travis Jones and John Jenkins have been getting the bulk of the work, with only Taven Bryan and C.J. Okoye to spell them. How significant an impact Jones has also remains to be seen, though he at the very least provides depth to a unit that was thin and lacking production after Oweh was dealt and Tavius Robinson broke his foot last month and is expected to be out at least six to eight weeks. The Ravens dressed just three outside linebackers in each of the past two games and no player on the roster had more than 1 1/2 sacks. Their 11 sacks are also the second-fewest in the NFL behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 10. Still, per Pro Football Focus, Jones ranks 48th out of 93 edge rushers in win rate on true pass sets. He joins a group that includes veteran Kyle Van Noy, rookie first-round pick Mike Green and fourth-year pro David Ojabo, all of whom rank even lower. Baltimore is also likely to elevate veteran defensive end Carl Lawson from the practice squad this week, which could provide another boost. The 30-year-old has 32 career sacks across seven seasons, which included five in 15 games for the Dallas Cowboys last year. On offense, guards Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele have struggled, particularly in pass protection. Rookie third-round draft pick Emery Jones could be ready to contribute soon, but after missing all of spring and summer because of a shoulder surgery, he’s still unproven. There also weren’t a lot of offensive linemen dealt Tuesday — struggling guard/tackle Trevor Penning was the only one moved, getting dealt from the New Orleans Saints to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick after L.A. lost starting left tackle Joe Alt to a season-ending ankle injury this week. Yet, with more than $13 million in salary cap space and holes to fill, it was surprising that the Ravens didn’t do more. Newly acquired outside linebacker Dre'Mont Jones ranks 48th out of 93 edge rushers in win rate on true pass sets. (AP Photo/Stew Milne) Other options also included possibly trading one or more of their two dozen impending free agents. Instead, they’ll move forward with the roster at hand, though they could still make another move or two. Any player that is released is subject to waivers. Before the deadline, that only applied to players with fewer than four accrued seasons. With the Ravens sitting at 3-5, they have one of the higher priorities in the pecking order. Three moves Baltimore did make Monday included releasing second-year safety Sanoussi Kane, signing undrafted rookie safety Keondre Jackson from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and signing tight end Scotty Washington to the practice squad. Those decisions came after Kane, a 2024 seventh-round draft pick out of Purdue who was a core special teamer each of his first two years, was a healthy scratch the past two games. Jackson was out of practice squad elevations after being elevated for special teams each of the past three games. Kane appeared in 21 games for Baltimore, mostly on special teams with 465 snaps to go with 34 defensive snaps. Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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