The Ravens are heading into roster cutdowns with a roster that looks built for now and a payroll that could force them to think even harder about what comes next.
That tension is all over the board in Baltimore. The team is in win-now mode, but it also has a very young coaching staff and a lot of money tied up in players who may not be around much longer. With the payroll approaching $400M this season, and only one real year of Lamar Jackson left under contract, the Ravens are staring at a narrow window while carrying major questions about several cornerstone names.
Derrick Henry is 32. Trey Hendrickson is 31.
Ronnie Stanley has a career-threatening ankle problem. Roquan Smith is approaching 3000 snaps.
Mark Andrews is in the mix. Calais Campbell is 40.
Nnamdi Madubuike is coming off career-threatening neck surgery. That’s a lot of weight on a roster that could look very different six months from now.
So if general manager Eric DeCosta is looking for ways to balance the present with the future, two trades stand out.
One is Marlon Humphrey.
Dallas, the only team with a higher payroll than Baltimore, makes sense as the kind of club that could take a swing here. Jerry Jones has been talking about making trades since before training camp, and the Cowboys clearly have cornerback problems.
Humphrey’s $15M base salary is a big number, but Dallas could decide it’s worth it if it believes he can help outside, in the slot, or even as another safety in big nickel. That would also give them another piece to work with around Caleb Downs, the hybrid DB they just took in the first round.
For Baltimore, the logic is straightforward: Humphrey is the corner to move, not the younger, cheaper players with upside who could matter in 2027 and beyond. The way this roster is set up, 2026 looks like the end of the line for Humphrey anyway, since there’s been no extension to lower his cap number. If the Ravens are going to deal from a position of strength, this is the kind of move that fits.
The other name is Milton.
There has been enough buzz around him for DeCosta not to dismiss it. Some smart executives have been talking about him for years, and Phil Simms was said to be enthusiastic about him when he was stashed in New England. He’s already shown enough in preseason to get attention, and the appeal is obvious: he’s on a cheap rookie contract, and he’s a much better option right now than Snoop Huntley.
If Baltimore ever gets to the point where Jackson is moved in the offseason for three draft picks, Milton could serve as the bridge while the Ravens develop whoever they draft next. Jackson has all the leverage in the world, and if the situation gets weird, having Milton on hand would be a lot better than not having him.
Jones gave up basically a fifth for Milton, and if Dallas decides it would rather keep Sam Howell and use Milton as trade bait to help shape its Week 1 roster, Baltimore should be on the phone immediately. There’s a real starting-upside case here, and the projection to a Malik Willis-type path is not hard to see.
Baltimore also just added a depth inside linebacker with ties to Jesse Minter before its final preseason game, but the chatter around Harrison is hard to ignore. The Steelers are loaded at linebacker, while the Ravens are dealing with Teddye Buchanan coming off an ACL tear and only recently off PUP as the projected starter next to Smith. Trenton Simpson’s role appears to be shifting more toward space, and the depth chart behind those starters is thin enough to raise alarms.
An undrafted free agent being one injury away from serious defensive responsibility is not a setup the Ravens should love, especially with Minter making his first NFL starts as a head coach. Pittsburgh would likely be willing to move Harrison’s salary, which is close to $5M, and it probably wouldn’t take much to get a deal done.
If Baltimore moved Humphrey and even ate another $4M to make it happen, it would still clear $11M in projected payroll from his number. In a week where the Ravens have to keep their options open, that kind of flexibility matters.
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For Ravens fans, the more interesting ripple is what that could mean for Lamar Jackson, whose future is getting pulled back into the conversation because of speculation he might consider a trade if Tomlin lands with the Jets. Nothing has been done, both remain in their current roles, and there is a long way between rumor and reality, but the mere connection is enough to put Jacksons situation back under the microscope around Baltimore. [Read more 🡒]
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Oweh has since been open about why things felt different once he left, pointing to the freedom he had under the Chargers defensive coordinator as a big part of the turnaround. For Ravens fans, that kind of reflection adds another layer to a split that already carried plenty of intrigue, because it suggests the fit in Baltimore may have mattered as much as the player himself. It leaves the same lingering question for the Ravens as they look back on the move: whether they lost a pass rusher they never quite figured out, or simply watched him flourish once someone else gave him a clearer runway. [Read more 🡒]
Lamar Jackson Is Giving Ravens Fans A New Reason To Watch This Closely
Lamar Jackson has been around the Ravens long enough for the usual offseason rhythm to feel familiar, but this spring has carried a different kind of energy. Baltimore turned the page by hiring Jesse Minter as its new head coach after firing John Harbaugh, and Jackson has reportedly responded by diving in early, building a closer working relationship with Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. He has also been active in voluntary workouts and film sessions, a sign that the quarterback is treating the transition as more than a routine reset.
For the Ravens, the timing matters because the organization wants to lock Jackson up on a contract extension before the season begins. Even so, there is still a layer of uncertainty about when that deal gets done, since Jackson could wait until next offseason before signing. For a team trying to stabilize around a new coaching staff, that leaves Jackson as both the most important voice in the building and the biggest storyline hovering over it. [Read more 🡒]