The Baltimore Ravens watched outside linebacker Matthew Judon and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue leave this offseason, heading to greener pastures through free agency. While Baltimore was expected to lose both, their production has to be replaced, if not grown upon. Though the Ravens have been quiet to start free agency, as is typical, the second wave has some intriguing options still available.
As defensive end Derek Wolfe noted on The Lounge podcast, the losses of Judon and Ngakoue might not be as bad as expected. Baltimore’s defense relies more on an aggressive scheme through blitzes to get pressure and create havoc. That’s seen on the stat sheet as no Ravens player reached above six sacks last season though 16 different players had at least one sack. If Baltimore can manage to get good all-around players, they could fill the void left by Judon and Ngakoue at a far better value.
The word value should really stick out since it’s been a key part of the Ravens’ strategy over the last few decades. Baltimore typically builds up through the NFL draft, doing very well at scouting and developing star talent. With a solid core, the front office has often gone digging through the bargain bin in free agency to find role players for cheap, creating a consistently competitive team vying for a championship.
With the second wave of free agency starting ahead of the 2021 NFL draft, here are the best remaining EDGE options for the Ravens.