Eric DeCosta on Diontae Johnson, Toughest Lesson Learned From Ozzie Newsome, and More
General Manager Eric DeCosta sat down for an interview with Todd McShay for The Ringer's "The McShay Show" podcast, which dropped yesterday.
Here are some highlights from the conversation:
Why the Ravens reportedly claimed WR Diontae Johnson after cutting him: "People were like, 'What the hell are the Ravens doing? They cut the guy. He goes to Houston and gets cut, and the Ravens claim him. He can't play for anybody now.' Well, we did that because there's a small chance that he signs a contract for more than $2.5 million, and if he does that, he qualifies for a comp pick. So those are the things that really motivate me. How do we gain a small advantage? How do we gain a big advantage? You can go get Derrick Henry, you get a huge advantage. For me, part of the excitement is, how do we just keep getting all these small advantages that roll into something big?"
Toughest lesson he learned from former GM Ozzie Newsome: "You sometimes have to do what's right for the organization even though you know it's the wrong thing to do. We had a player that historically was one of the great Ravens of all time, Anquan Boldin. He just epitomized what it is to be a Raven. When you went into Pittsburgh, you wanted Anquan. The reality of it was we were in a bad cap situation and we had to trade him. And we didn't get much for him. It was a horrible football decision, but we had to do it, and it was hard. I think sometimes you have to just accept that you have to make the hard decision. We might've made it work. We could've probably finagled some contracts, done some cap deals. We probably would've put ourselves in a worse position in future years had we done that.
"So my first year as GM, 2019, we got to the first day of the new league year and we lost Za'Darius Smith, Terrell Suggs, Eric Weddle, and C.J. Mosley. Four legit Pro Bowl players. We couldn't sign them back. … And I was just getting crushed. Literally new on the job. 'What the hell is this guy doing?' It was hard. I could have finagled a way to keep some of those guys on the team probably. Could've overpaid C.J. I could've probably kept Weddle for another year. We might've overpaid Suggs. But it wasn't the right thing to do at that moment for the club. And so I had to just eat it. … I learned that from Ozzie."
Missing on draft picks: "We make mistakes. I could give you five guys we made mistakes on. Bad mistakes. Like I literally would've said to you, 'This guy's a stone-cold assassin. He's one of the greatest picks we've ever had.' And then six months later I'm going, 'Oh my god, this guy's absolutely terrible. Why did I pick this guy?' And it happens every year. We want to be right about 75 percent of the time. If we can be right about 75 percent of the time, we're going to be better than most of the other teams."
Trading back into the first round in 2018 to get Lamar Jackson: "[Eagles GM] Howie [Roseman] was willing to trade out of 32 and take our second. So we ended up drafting Hayden Hurst at 25. Kevin Byrne, our PR guy, wanted us to go downstairs to the press conference. I said, 'Kevin, let's just hold off.' The scouts and coaches thought we were done. So Steve Bisciotti's across the [room], talking to John [Harbaugh], they're high-fiving, whatever. I looked at Ozzie and I go, 'Let's call Howie.' So I call Howie. He says, 'I want to do it.' So I looked at Ozzie, I said, 'Get Lamar on the phone.' Ozzie called Lamar. I'm on the phone with Howie. We did the trade. We turned it in. No one in the room even knew that we were doing it. No one was paying attention. And then all of a sudden I go, 'Hey guys, we just got Lamar Jackson.' And the room just went crazy."
ESPN Analysts Give Josh Allen MVP Nod Over Jackson
Pundits and fans have debated for months whether Jackson or Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is more deserving of the league MVP award. Before the winner is revealed at NFL Honors Thursday night, ESPN asked 13 analysts to rank their top five candidates.
Allen, with seven first-place votes, edged Jackson, who was first on the other six ballots.
"Voter fatigue could be at play given Jackson has won the MVP twice," ESPN's Courtney Cronin wrote. "We've seen this happen in the NBA when Charles Barkley won the MVP in 1993 over Michael Jordan (who had just won it the previous two seasons) and recently with Nikola Jokic getting snubbed for Joel Embiid after locking up two-straight MVPs from 2021-22. Additionally, voters may consider Ravens running back Derrick Henry's impact (1,921 rushing yards, NFL-best 16 TDs) and argue that Jackson may have competition for being the best player on his own team."
Making the case for Jackson, Cronin wrote: "Jackson's passing reached historic levels, but it was his rushing impact that separated him from Allen as the first quarterback with 40-plus touchdown passes and more than 600 rushing yards -- and his statistical impact in 2024 was better than his previous two MVP seasons. The supporting cast argument that would appear to favor Allen can be debated by the fact that Buffalo running back James Cook had as many rushing touchdowns as Henry (16), too.
"But Jackson's case is strongest when looking at how he performed against the NFL's best teams. Jackson's 7-3 record against playoff teams trumps Allen's 2-3. Against top-10 defenses, Jackson has the edge in several categories: win-loss record (4-2), EPA/play (0.27) and total touchdowns (15)."
Pundit Says Ravens Should Consider Trading for Jadeveon Clowney or Geno Stone
The Ravens could be in the market for a veteran edge rusher this offseason, and Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine said he'd love to see them reunite with Jadeveon Clowney.
Ballentine proposed a trade in which the Ravens would acquire Clowney from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick.
"The Ravens really don't need to blow things up," Ballentine wrote. "A few more defensive pieces could have been the difference in their Divisional Round loss to the Buffalo Bills, and they will bring back much of their core next season. We already know that Jadeveon Clowney can be a difference-maker on their defense. He had 9.5 sacks and 62 pressures with Baltimore in 2023.
"He bolted for Carolina in free agency, but his numbers took a hit and the Panthers were still one of the worst teams in the league. That could leave the soon-to-be 32-year-old on the outside looking in on Carolina's rebuild plan under General Manager Dan Morgan. The Ravens have 11 picks in the upcoming draft, so using one of those to add more pass-rushing firepower wouldn't hurt."
Ballentine named former Ravens safety Geno Stone of the Cincinnati Bengals as another potential trade target.
"Geno Stone would be an obvious strong addition," Ballentine wrote. "He left the Ravens in free agency last season but failed to make the impact the Bengals were probably looking for when they signed him."
Hollywood Brown Focused on Super Bowl, Not Future
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Hollywood Brown will play in his first Super Bowl this Sunday, and he said his focus is on the game, not his future.
Brown, who was selected by the Ravens in the first round in 2019 and spent three seasons in Baltimore, is a pending free agent.
"I'm not really thinking about that until after this game," Brown said via Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams. "My focus is on the game. After that, then I'll refocus on [the future]."
Brown, who signed a one-year, $7 million deal with the Chiefs last offseason, was limited to two games because of a sternoclavicular joint dislocation.
The Ravens traded Brown to the Arizona Cardinals in 2022 for a first-round pick Baltimore used to select Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.
Brown's best season was in 2021, when he had 91 catches for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns.
