The Baltimore Ravens are always looking for ways to improve their roster. General manager Eric DeCosta and company know that there are always ways to make a team better, so when the trade deadline comes around every year he is seemingly always on the phone trying to make a deal. That didn’t change in 2021.
Even though Baltimore didn’t end up making any deadline moves this year, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network dropped a huge story on Sunday morning, detailing that the Ravens tried to make a plethora of deals, including for a star cornerback.
The #Ravens didn’t make a trade last week, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Among the high-profile targets was #Dolphins star CB Xavien Howard, though the complicated trade never materialized.
Details: https://t.co/rWQVO9QE9M
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 7, 2021
Howard would have provided a big boost to a struggling Baltimore pass defense, but it seems like the price was too steep to acquire the star cornerback. Rapoport reported that there are multiple reasons why Howard probably isn’t a Raven right now.
“…Yet Howard isn’t a Raven now for a variety of reasons. For one, Miami wanted premium picks for a player of Howard’s caliber, likely a first-rounder and more. To make that happen, Baltimore would have wanted the Dolphins to eat some of what’s left of Howard’s $13.785 million salary.”
This situation feels very similar to draft night in 2020, when it was reported that Baltimore tried to acquire then-Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, but couldn’t quite get the deal done. He was later sent to the Arizona Cardinals.
There’s always a balance that needs to be met when making a trade. While acquiring a player who can help a team is great, teams are reluctant to give up big draft capital or pay massive amounts of money. DeCosta figured that he would be giving up too much in any trade this year to actually pull the trigger on a deal. However, it wasn’t for a lack of trying.