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If there were any lingering concerns about how Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta was going to perform after taking over for Ozzie Newsome, those should be well shut down now. The Ravens are set to trade a fifth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for defensive end Calais Campbell. However, when you look a little closer at what pick that actually was, it’s pretty shocking.
Baltimore only had one fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, which comes thanks to the Minnesota Vikings trading for kicker Kaare Vedvik last season. That means DeCosta effectively turned an extra kicker — who the Vikings didn’t end up keeping anyway — into a Pro Bowl pass rusher they desperately needed. Um, excuse me!?
It’s not the first time DeCosta has turned a late-round pick into something extraordinary. In the middle of last season, Baltimore traded a fifth-round pick and struggling linebacker Kenny Young to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for cornerback Marcus Peters. Peters went on to have an All-Pro season as one of the best cornerbacks in the league, earning a three-year contract extension from the Ravens as a result.
The move helps solidify Baltimore’s biggest hole from last season and should further transform a defense that finished fourth in yards allowed and third in points allowed into an even better unit next season. When teamed up with the Ravens’ league-leading scoring offense led by quarterback Lamar Jackson, it could firmly put Baltimore on the path towards their third Super Bowl win. More importantly, it fills the Ravens’ biggest roster need without dropping an early-round pick. Meaning Baltimore could still look to the first three rounds for an impact pass rusher but now don’t necessarily have to, giving them a little more freedom in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Ravens are going to have to start throwing around the term “In EDC we believe” a little more often now.
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