The Baltimore Ravens have locked up four of their five starting defensive backs with long-term deals. Marlon Humphrey could be next
The Baltimore Ravens have gone out of their way recently to ensure their defensive backfield will remain in place. They agreed to terms with Marcus Peters in the closing days of the 2019 season, locking up the ball-hawking All-Pro for the next three years. Safety Chuck Clark was the next player to commit to the Ravens for the long haul, inking a three-year deal of his own. With Tavon Young getting a contract extension early last offseason and Earl Thomas signed through 2023, the Ravens have four of their top five defensive backs locked up for the foreseeable future.
Thoughts now turn to the only other starting defensive back for Baltimore not locked up for the long haul, cornerback Marlon Humphrey. Could he be the next young player to earn a big long-term contract from the Ravens?
Like Peters, Humphrey was named All-Pro in 2019. He was a constant thorn in the side of opposing offenses all year long, having 14 pass defenses as well as three interceptions and three forced fumbles, returning two fumbles for touchdowns and leading the NFL in that category. Humphrey also matched his career total of tackles for loss in a single year, amassing four TFL’s in 2019. Since entering the league in 2017, Humphrey has 40 pass breakups, tied for sixth-most among all players.
In pass coverage last season, Humphrey was targeted 88 times and allowed 51 receptions for 440 yards and three touchdowns. Pass catchers didn’t exactly torch him when they secured the ball, however, as they averaged a mere 5.0 yards per target.
Humphrey was a first-round selection for the Ravens back in 2017 and after playing three seasons he is now eligible for a new contract. With the Ravens’ focus on retaining their starters in the secondary, it’s possible the team acts fast to secure his long term services. However, just because they can extend him it does not necessarily mean that they will.
Humphrey is currently signed through the 2020 season but, as a first-round selection, the team has a fifth-year option available to them. The Ravens may choose to exercise this (they have until May 2020 to exercise it) giving them more time to evaluate Humphrey’s worth. They have used this option in the past, when the value has made sense, on players like C.J. Mosley and Ronnie Stanley. With last year’s fifth-year option for cornerbacks costing just shy of $10 million for one year and top players earning around $15 million per year currently, Humphrey’s fifth-year option would be a relative steal for Baltimore even if the market doesn’t explode like it’s expected to do this offseason.
With two relatively cheap years left on his contract (with the fifth-year option applied), it might seem like a no brainer to let Humphrey play out his rookie deal. However, the danger for the Ravens in not extending Humphrey now is that he’s going to command even more money in a year or two.
With a handful of top cornerbacks set to hit free agency over the next two years, the market for the position is likely going to be reset before Humphrey’s contract would be up. Guys like Darius Slay, Tre’Davious White and Jalen Ramsey could easily push top cornerback contracts above $17 million per year. Humphrey would have a pretty easy case to then be paid even more than those guys as one of the top cornerbacks in the league. The idea Humphrey could approach $19 million APY isn’t as far out there as one would think.
Humphrey and his representatives may be less inclined to take a “team-friendly” deal in two years’ time and as a result, he could opt for big money on the open market. Humphrey has already hinted that maybe signing now isn’t ideal when asked late last season.
“I guess that’s really my agent’s job if that’s what he wants to do,” Humphrey said per Penn Live’s Aaron Kasinitz.
As non-answers go, this one went.
The salary cap is not really a huge deterrent to a good team keeping good players, and the Ravens certainly still have money to spend on their own players over the next few years. I believe that they may look to open talks with Humphrey, but given their leverage over him, they are not likely to want to re-set the cornerback market right now when they have guys like Stanley and Matthew Judon to deal with first. But with general manager Eric DeCosta working hard to get guys under long-term contracts early, don’t count out Humphrey being the latest.
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