Tag: Ronnie Stanley 5th-year option

Ronnie Stanley named the best offensive tackle in the NFL in 2020

One prominent analyst believes the Baltimore Ravens have the best offensive tackle in the NFL on their roster.

Over the last few weeks, Touchdown Wire writers Mark Schofield and Doug Farrar have been running a series looking at the best players at their respective position groups heading into the 2020 season. The latest offering looked at the offensive tackle group, and a name familiar to Ravens fans was sat atop the perch at No. 1.

In Schofield’s words, Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley was “almost perfect” in 2019. Stanley gained massive amounts of praise for last season, earning a PFF pass-blocking grade that put him alongside Hall of Fame linemen. Stanley allowed just six quarterback pressures all season, with none resulting in sacks until the AFC Divisional Round game against the Tennessee Titans. While those numbers are impressive, what’s even more impressive was the competition Stanley lined opposite of throughout the season — top pass rushers like Chandler Jones and Nick Bosa.

Stanley certainly picked a great time to enter the upper echelons of his position group, as he is set to play out the 2020 season on his fifth-year option, the terms of which make him one of Baltimore’s biggest salary cap bargains of the season. This comes after a 2019 season that saw him earn his first Pro Bowl nod as well as an All-Pro berth. Another season where Stanley excels to that degree and he could easily get a record-breaking contract for offensive tackles, beating the already sky-high deal Laremy Tunsil signed this offseason with the Houston Texans. Not to mention keeping Lamar Jackson upright as the MVP of the league looks to build on last year’s successes.

Go check out Schofield’s article where he breaks down the magnificence that was Stanley’s All-Pro 2019 campaign.

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Laremy Tunsil and Texans to set high bar for Ronnie Stanley’s contract with Ravens

The Ravens are likely itching to get Ronnie Stanley signed to an extension but will have to wait for Laremy Tunsil to fleece the Texans

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The Baltimore Ravens have been masters of signing their key players to extensions before they absolutely have to. General manager Eric DeCosta, since taking over for Ozzie Newsome, has worked hard to bring back star players like kicker Justin Tucker, safety Chuck Clark and cornerback Marcus Peters on long-term extensions before they were set to hit free agency.

DeCosta and the Ravens are looking to continue that new tradition with left tackle Ronnie Stanley and cornerback Marlon Humphrey as soon as this offseason. The problem for Baltimore is Stanley definitely isn’t going to come cheap and it isn’t likely to come before the Houston Texans get a deal done with their franchise left tackle Laremy Tunsil.

According to The Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, the Texans’ initial offer to tackle Laremy Tunsil averaged $18.5 million per year. That would make Tunsil the highest-paid offensive tackle in the league by $500,000 a year, according to Over The Cap.

Stanley should be in no rush to get a deal done before Tunsil sets the market for him. He’s the better player and will rightfully want more money than Tunsil to help prove it. And with a league that is continuing to see offenses pass the football more, left tackle might just be the second most important position behind quarterback.

The problem there for the Ravens is the Texans gave up a King’s ransom in their trade for Tunsil last offseason, sending the Miami Dolphins two first-round picks and a second-round pick along with two players. Tunsil rightfully has Houston stuck between a rock and a hard place in any negotiations, which should cause his value to skyrocket. When combined with a 2021 NFL salary cap that is expected to explode thanks to the new CBA, the idea of Tunsil earning $20 million or more per season doesn’t seem that shocking.

The Ravens and Stanley have time to get a deal done, with Baltimore picking up his fifth-year option to keep him under contract through the 2020 season. However, with minimal cap space right now, there could be a little pressure for the Ravens to get an extension signed sooner rather than later to give them a little more cash to spend this offseason.

That means all eyes are on the Texans and Tunsil to see what they can get figured out.

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Ravens in early contract talks with Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey

The Ravens are once again working to retain their own players early as they’re in contract talks with Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey

Under general manager Eric DeCosta, the Baltimore Ravens have been aggressive in retaining their own players. To the point where they’ve signed several players a full year before they’d hit free agency. With two star players set to hit free agency on the horizon, Baltimore once again isn’t messing around.

According to The Baltimore Sun’s Jonas Shaffer, Eric DeCosta told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine the Ravens have already had talks with representatives for both cornerback Marlon Humphrey and left tackle Ronnie Stanley about long-term extensions.

We already speculated that Humphrey and Stanley would be targeted for early extensions given DeCosta’s philosophy about keeping the Ravens’ homegrown talent. DeCosta has worked to sign guys early, including nine players who would have hit free agency this offseason. It makes sense that the Ravens would want to be proactive with those two players as both will likely help reset the market at cornerback and offensive tackle when they finally sign their next deals.

Baltimore has already picked up Stanley’s fifth-year option, which will keep him in Baltimore through the 2020 season. At the combine, DeCosta said the Ravens picking up Humphrey’s fifth-year option was just a formality, locking him up through the 2021 season.

While DeCosta said the team is in discussions, I wouldn’t expect any deals to be imminent. With free agency set to start in the middle of March and a new CBA currently being worked on, contract values are likely going to jump up quite a bit this offseason. It would be wise for Humphrey and Stanley’s agents to at least wait that out in order to figure out their respective values. But it does show DeCosta’s drive to keep two key players from 2019’s 14-2 season.

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