The Ravens already made two of the offseason veteran additions that made the most sense to me - Calais Campbell and Ethan Pocic - and that only sharpens the case for a couple more low-cost moves.
If Baltimore is serious about building around a roster with Super Bowl aspirations, there are still a few cheap fixes worth kicking around. These wouldn’t be splashy swings. They’d be one-year veteran depth signings, the kind that clean up a few loose ends before they become bigger problems.
One name to keep circling is Darren Waller.
He sits at the top of my emergency list if Mark Andrews keeps looking like Mark Andrews and if the two tight ends the Ravens drafted turn out to be longer-term projects instead of immediate answers. The league already showed its hand on Andrews a year ago, when Baltimore couldn’t even get a decent rental return for him before signing him to a big extension.
There’s no real insurance at move tight end right now, and if you’ve watched Andrews over the last few seasons, studied the numbers, or just seen what happens when he gets into a playoff game, you know the issue. Waller has less tread because of the time he spent away from the game and the various retirements, but he still played last season on a rough Dolphins team and made plays with a pop-gun quarterback. He has never had a chance to work with a quarterback like Lamar.
The production gap is part of the argument. Waller finished with 6 touchdowns to Andrews’ 5, averaged 11.8 yards per reception to Andrews’ 8.8, posted 3.0 yards after the catch per reception to Andrews’ 2.1, and had 10.56 air yards per reception compared with Andrews’ 7.26.
Multiple GMs and personnel men have told us they believe Waller is straight up better than Andrews - and they don’t think it’s all that close - and it would be a cool way for him to finish a distinguished career than began here.
Lamar also has a long track record of leaning on tight ends, has his best career passer rating throwing to them, and is used to having multiple real options at the position.
Another veteran worth checking on is George Fant.
This one doesn’t have to happen immediately, either, but it’s the kind of move that makes sense to monitor. The offense is now in the hands of first-time play caller Declan Doyle, and it didn’t exactly come out of the offseason with a pile of established answers at spots that needed them. A lot of the improvement is being asked to come from within, and that’s a tricky ask given how much turnover there was in free agency.
Fant spent a year with Sean Payton, Doyle’s mentor, and he can play tackle on both sides. That matters with Carson Vinson possibly needing more time to develop before he’s ready to be the next man up at left tackle if Ronnie Stanley is on borrowed time, and at right tackle, where Roger Rosengarten needs a bounce-back season.
Baltimore can afford to be patient with these kinds of additions, especially with an 11-kid draft class still to sort through and a new offense still being installed. But patience shouldn’t turn into complacency, and it would make sense for the Ravens to keep looking for inexpensive veteran help before someone else gets there first.
In Other News...
Ryan Clark Just Said What Ravens Fans Feel About Lamar Disrespect
The frustration around Lamar Jacksons place on the NFL Top 100 list has been easy to understand for Ravens fans, especially after seeing him land all the way down at 69th. It is the kind of ranking that invites debate on its own, but it has also reopened the larger conversation about how Jackson is viewed nationally compared with other top quarterbacks, even when his body of work and impact in Baltimore remain obvious.
Ryan Clark stepped into that conversation and said what plenty around the Ravens have been thinking, pushing back on the idea that Jackson should be judged so harshly while other passers get more benefit of the doubt. Clark pointed to Joe Burrow as part of that broader comparison, and the contrast has only sharpened the sense that Jacksons ranking says as much about perception as it does performance, especially with injuries and missed time still hanging over the discussion. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Hamilton Just Got The Kind Of Respect Ravens Fans Expected
Kyle Hamilton keeps collecting the kind of recognition that Ravens fans have long believed was coming. ESPNs annual rankings of league executives, coaches and scouts again placed him atop the safety position, a repeat honor that reflects how much his game has grown since arriving in Baltimore. What makes Hamilton so valuable is not just the label next to his name, but the way he fits into the defense, moving around the formation and handling responsibilities that go well beyond a traditional safety.
Baltimore has leaned on that versatility from the start, and it has helped turn Hamilton into one of the defining pieces of the defense heading toward 2026. Coaches have praised the way he functions as a big nickel defender, and the numbers around him have matched the eye test, with quarterbacks far less comfortable when he is on the field. The Ravens already locked him in with a major extension, so the only real question now is how much more his role can expand as the defense keeps building around him. [Read more 🡒]