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Cornerback Marlon Humphrey is the latest Baltimore Ravens player to get inked to a contract extension. The five-year, $98.75 million deal will keep Humphrey under contract with Baltimore through 2026, giving the Ravens one of the best cornerbacks in the league for the foreseeable future. It points to a bigger picture for Baltimore, as well.
Humphrey joins teammates cornerback Marcus Peters and safety Chuck Clark in getting a recent extension. Peters and Clark are currently signed through 2022 and 2023 respectively, giving the Ravens one of the most talented secondaries in the league for quite some time.
Since Baltimore put Clark in the starting lineup and traded for Peters, they’ve been outstanding when defending the pass. In 14 games (13 regular-season games and one playoff game), the Ravens have allowed an average of just 184.79 passing yards per game. That would have ranked third in the NFL last season and second this season, despite playing solid passing offenses like the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, and New England Patriots over that stretch.
It’s a continued emphasis on defending the pass from Baltimore, something that’s clearly needed in today’s game. As the NFL has altered the rulebook more in favor of the offense, teams have responded by throwing the football more than ever before. It’s fairly routine to see a few quarterbacks with over 5,000 passing yards in a season, and three-plus passing touchdown games are an every-week occurrence this year alone.
To even have a shot at countering these types of high-flying offenses, defenses need a stout secondary with at least two solid cornerbacks and a capable safety. The Ravens have found that in Humphrey, Peters, and Clark while hoping players like Anthony Averett, Tavon Young, and DeShon Elliott can grow into the next batch of top defenders. It’s not an undefeated group, as evidenced by Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs, but that long-term pairing of defensive backs alone will help keep Baltimore competitive in the NFL for years.