NFL free agency, trade grades 2024: Mac Jones, Jerry Jeudy
Matt Miller, ESPN
Ravens give big money to DT Justin Madubuike
The deal: Four years, $98 million with $75.5 million in total guarantees
Grade: B+
The 2024 defensive tackle market has been set. After franchise-tagging Madubuike before the deadline earlier this week, he’s now locked in for four years at $24.5 million per year, with a huge guarantee of $53.5 million due at signing. Compare that with Javon Hargrave’s four-year, $84 million with $40 million guaranteed and the 26-year-old has moved the recent market forward (though Aaron Donald blew it out of the water in 2022).
Madubuike broke out in 2023, recording 13 sacks and emerging as one of the best young interior pass-rushers in the NFL. The 2020 third-round pick is now set up as one of the league’s elite defensive tackles with the second-highest average annual value, behind only Donald’s $31.6 million. The deal does add $7 million more due at signing than Donald’s, however. No interior defender is going to top Donald’s contract, but to walk away with more cash at signing is a win for Madubuike.
Baltimore has long been one of the league’s best teams at keeping its own and does so again. In a draft that is not loaded with 3-technique pass-rushers, the Ravens now lock up a core player of the defense at one of the most important positions on that side of the ball. The key for Baltimore will be getting this production from Madubuike consistently, as he had just 8.5 sacks in his career before last season.
Keeping one of the game’s best pass-rushers is a win for the team, and getting this amount of money is a win for Madubuike.
5 Takeaways From Justin Madubuike’s Contract Extension
Ryan Mink, BaltimoreRavens.com
The Ravens secured a rare talent.
Madubuike is just 26 years old, but he’s already in elite company when it comes to his pass rush production. His 13 sacks last season, which were the most of any defensive tackle in the league, vaulted him into rare air.
Over his first four NFL seasons, Madubuike’s 21.5 sacks ranks as the ninth most by an interior defensive lineman this century, per TruMedia.
In his first four NFL seasons, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald had a whopping 39 sacks but never had a single season with more than 11. Donald exploded with 20.5 sacks in his fifth year.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones, who had 33 sacks in his first four seasons, has posted even more in the following four seasons. Even he has never matched the number of quarterback hits (33) that Madubuike posted last year.
The Ravens are betting that Madubuike’s best is yet to come.
The Ravens could have retained Madubuike on the franchise tag and revisited a long-term deal next offseason if the young defensive lineman put together a second straight stellar season.
Instead, they are confident in Madubuike’s trajectory. He’s at least doubled his sack production each of the past three seasons, and it goes beyond that. His pressure rate went from 5.1% to 6.5% to 13.1% over that span, per Next Gen Stats. Even his explosiveness off the line of scrimmage improved each year.
The arrow is firmly pointing up for Madubuike, and the Ravens are confident it will remain that direction while hoping it spikes as high as the aforementioned Donald and Jones.
Ravens free-agency primer: Key dates, biggest needs and potential targets
Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
Biggest needs
Offensive line: Solidifying the O-line is the stated priority of the team’s decision-makers. With starting guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson heading to free agency and both starting tackles Stanley and Moses having uncertain futures, the Ravens probably need to add at least two starting offensive linemen this offseason.
Running back: With Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins and Dalvin Cook all heading to free agency, the Ravens have only Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell and Owen Wright under contract — and Mitchell’s status for the 2024 season is unclear because of a significant knee injury sustained in December.
Cornerback: Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens are not a bad place to start, and the Ravens have some young guys in the mix. But they need more.
Edge rusher: The Ravens’ two biggest sack threats on the edge last season, Clowney and Van Noy, are both free agents. They feel good about Oweh and haven’t lost faith in David Ojabo, but the Ravens need an accomplished veteran edge rusher who can get eight-to-10 sacks.
Wide receiver: As usual, Ravens fans are more concerned about the state of the receiver room than team officials are. They like the trio of Zay Flowers, Bateman and Nelson Agholor, and they likely will add to that group by picking from a loaded wide receiver draft class.
Other: A No. 3 safety, inside linebacker depth and a rotational interior defensive lineman.
As Ravens rebuild on the fly, GM Eric DeCosta faces his most important offseason yet
Brian Wacker, The Baltimore Sun
In addition to signing Madubuike to a long-term deal, it’s likely the Ravens will restructure the contracts of some other players and/or cut players to open up even more salary cap space by the start of the new league year Wednesday. This can be done several ways, including by converting Jackson’s salary into a prorated signing bonus, which would reduce his cap hit by $11.1 million, according to Over The Cap. Reworking the contracts of inside linebacker Roquan Smith, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, safety Marcus Williams and tight end Mark Andrews would create even more room.
But that would also mean pushing even more money into future years, something that comes with its own problems down the line.
Given Baltimore’s salary cap limitations, the need to bring back at least some of its own free agents and history, the Ravens don’t figure to be exorbitant spenders on the open market by DeCosta’s own admission, though Madubuike’s new deal certainly helps. It’s possible, for example, that could help clear the way to sign a veteran running back such as Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry or Tony Pollard, among others, though doing so might come at what would likely not be a relatively big dollar amount given the devaluing of the position and the glut of available backs.
2024 NFL Draft: Early- and late-round fits for every AFC team
Trevor Sikkema, PFF
Early-Round Fit: OT Tyler Guyton
Late-Round Fit: CB Max Melton
Tackle could be a big need at some point in the near future, and Guyton’s athletic ceiling would make him a good player to invest in. As for Baltimore’s secondary, Melton could be a nice inside-out player who can be a contributing corner in the slot or outside.
2024 NFL Draft: Worst-case scenarios for all 32 NFL teams
Gordon McGuinness, PFF
Worst-case scenario: Not drafting any wide receivers or offensive linemen with any of their top-100 picks
The Ravens could need two new starters on the offensive line this offseason, and there is still work to be done to develop their wide receiver room. Luckily for them, this draft is deep at both positions.
First-round wide receiver options include Ladd McConkey (who earned a career-high 82.6 PFF grade in 2023) or Keon Coleman (70.3). They could then opt for a more developmental tackle in BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia or Yale’s Kiran Amegadjie in the second round.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login