Steve Bisciotti Top Lists of 'How Much Every NFL Owner Wants to Win'
While all NFL teams look to compete, there are teams who prove it with hiring, drafting, and building a staff and roster to contend for the Lombardi Trophy year in and year out.
In a recent ranking from The Athletic's Mike Jones, Baltimore Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti topped the list on being serious about contending.
"Re-signing Ronnie Stanley to ensure Lamar Jackson's blind side remains well protected was big. And DeAndre Hopkins should help improve the depth of the wide receiver unit," Jones wrote. "Salary-cap restraints made it hard to do more, but Baltimore's front office always finds gems in the draft. When it came to their belief in Steve Bisciotti's commitment to building a winning team, Ravens players in the most recent NFLPA team report cards gave the owner the ninth-highest rating in the league."
The Ravens and Bisciotti have long-proven their desire to be an upper echelon team fighting in the playoffs. In their 29-year history, they've been in the playoffs 16 times, or 55% of their existence. And in that time, they've won 18 playoff games, played in five AFC Conference Championship games, and won two Super Bowls.
As for the rest of the AFC North, the Cincinnati Bengals were two tiers below in "content to compete." Both the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers were in the lowest ranking, "stuck in struggle mode."
Multi-Round Mock Drafts Feature Similar Position Selections
Mock drafts are aplenty with free agency cooled off and just over a month before the 2025 NFL Draft. But in the latest multi-round mock drafts, both NFL.com’s Chad Reuter and CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso pursued similar moves, including trading in the first round and adding similar positions.
In Round 1, Reuter mocked a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, with the Ravens moving back four spots and swapping a fourth-round pick for the Chiefs' third. Similarly, Trapasso sees the Ravens trading down (in fact, out of Round 1) to the No. 35 pick and picking up a 2026 second-round pick.
Both selected a defender with their first pick, though they differ on the choice. But afterward, the two mocked an offensive guard with their second-round pick. Then, they both followed up with a combination of linebacker, cornerback, and edge rusher.
NFL.com's Chad Reuter multi-round mock Ravens selections:
- Malaki Starks, S, Georgia (Pick 31)
- Cameron Williams, OG, Texas (59)
- Jeffrey Bassa, LB, Oregon (91)
- Jaylin Smith, CB, USC (95)
- David Walker, EDGE, Central Arkansas (129)
CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso multi-round mock Ravens selections:
- Tyleik Williams, DT, Ohio State (No. 35)
- Tate Rateledge, OG, Georgia (No. 59)
- Josaiah Stewart, EDGE, Michigan (No. 90)
- CB Dorian Strong, CB, Virginia Tech (No. 91)
- Smael Mondon Jr., LB, Georgia (No. 101)
It's clear what pundits see as the Ravens' needs and how they will presumably look to fill them with the draft beginning on April 24.
Ravens' Most Valuable Trade Asset for Draft Day
Late last week, PFF’s Bradley Locker listed each NFL teams most valuable asset prior to the draft. For the Ravens, Locker named outside linebacker Odafe Oweh.
"Baltimore's list of players going into a contract year is relatively steep, although many — Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews and Kyle Van Noy — are over 28," Locker wrote. "Oweh, though, is a name to keep an eye on in that group for trade purposes."
The Ravens last made a Day 1 trade with a rostered player in 2022, sending wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to the Arizona Cardinals for the No. 23 overall pick, which became two-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.
Locker suggests the Ravens are rather tight against the cap and the financial decision would be the leading cause. However, Heavy.com’s James Dudko argues it's a tall order due to the depth at outside linebacker.
"DeCosta would likely prefer [Oweh emerges as the focal point of the Ravens' pressure schemes] since he'd get the plaudits for a homegrown player he drafted maturing into a star and playing his prime years in Baltimore," Dudko wrote. "Oweh continuing to step up would also ease the reliance on last season's team sack leader, 33-year-old Kyle Van Noy … but there's no obvious successor to the 11-year pro. Not when the Ravens are still waiting on 2022 second-round pick David Ojabo to stay healthy and get onto the field more often."
But Dudko still sees the financial impact of Oweh delivering another impact season.
"Problems like these mean the Ravens might have to pay Oweh a year from now," Dudko wrote. "Provided they have the space under the salary cap."
- The Ravens rank fifth in ESPN's "way-too-early power rankings." According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, their best under-the-radar signing was Patrick Ricard.
