EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER ERIC DECOSTA
In trimming down the roster to 53, what were some of the more difficult decisions that you feel like you had to make? (Jamison Hensley) "We're strong in the secondary, and we stayed strong; we kept some additional guys. We really like our corner group and our safety group. It would have been more challenging honestly, had Trayvon Mullen stayed healthy and then Arthur Maulet – two really good players who got hurt. We're really strong [in the secondary], and we had a few teams call us about a few of our players, and my mentality is, 'If you're strong, stay strong.'" In some years, we've traded players, and then you get a couple of injuries and then you look at it and kind of regret it, now you're happy at draft time, but it makes for some challenges in [the] season. We just decided this year that we liked our team and we were going to stand put with the players that we had. We felt that there was a chance we could get some really good players to the practice squad, and we were fortunately able to do that."
With the rule about carrying a third quarterback your 53-man roster, there's only two quarterbacks. Is that sort of an issue that you'll deal with if the issue comes up? Or what kind of plan do you have in place for that? (Todd Karpovich) "Well, we have three QBs, so heaven forbid we get an injury, and if that happens, then we'll have to adjust the roster if we get a long-term injury at quarterback. That was an interesting dynamic. The rule passed at the owners' meetings, and then we were notified – I believe on July 11 – that the NFLPA had not agreed to that rule change. It was a little complicated especially for teams that potentially drafted a QB in the draft. We found out so late in the game, but in the end, we have three QBs; we just have [Devin Leary] on the practice squad, and we have a mechanism for getting that player up, if we need to get him up. I guess the one scenario would be if both QBs got hurt in one game, and we've dealt with that for years up until last year, so we'll be ready to go regardless."
So, are you happy with your current quarterback situation? There was a former Raven quarterback who was released earlier today, but do you think you're pretty good with what you have there? (Jeff Zrebiec) "Well, we have an MVP [in Lamar Jackson], so I think we're pretty happy there. With Josh [Johnson], we have a really experienced guy. He's like having another coach, and he's great with Lamar, the players love him, he's highly respected, [and] he's a talented player, so we love Josh. And with Devin [Leary], we have a young player, and he had his moments. As we've seen with quarterbacks, there's a lot of things that he can improve on and get better at, and we believe he will. We like the room, but it doesn't mean that we won't add another guy, which we could do at some point. It's like any position on the team; we'll continue to evaluate and look at players that become available and make decisions based off of that."
With the offensive line, there was a lot of turnover this offseason. I'm sure it was a big point of emphasis for you this offseason. How do you feel about them now, compared to going into the offseason? (Cordell Woodland) "I think there's still a little bit of an unknown, because we haven't played as a unit in games – we've [only] seen it in practice. Tyler [Linderbaum] getting hurt early on in camp probably wasn't ideal. We're very excited to get him back, but not having a Pro Bowl center out there, that's kind of the guy that drives the car, in a lot of ways, on the offensive line. He's the guy that will typically adjust the offensive line and works hand in hand with the quarterback on things like protections and stuff. [It's] a very important position, and we're blessed to have one of the best guys in the league. Across the board, we made the decision to start to build up the offensive line with young players. Unfortunately, with a salary cap league, you just can't build a team up with veterans at every position. If you could, that would be great. I always tell people, I grew up a Cowboys fan, and the 1993 Dallas Cowboys – that was one of the great teams of all time – if that team had been able to stay together forever, they would've won Super Bowls every year I think, but there is a salary cap, and there is free agency and things. And so, you have to pay players, but you also understand you have to draft ,and you have to develop young players as well, and we have started to do that on the offensive line. [I'm] excited about Roger [Rosengarten]. I'm excited about Andrew Vorhees. I'm excited for the future. We may have a couple of hiccups along the way, but I think we've started to build from the bottom up, and I think a year from now, we'll be in a great place."
Did you know going into the offseason that that would be the plan with that group? Or if the right value came up with a veteran, might you have adjusted? (Childs Walker) "It's hard because we went into this year knowing that when you pay [Lamar Jackson], your MVP quarterback and make him the highest-paid [quarterback]. You pay basically the heart of your defense – Roquan [Smith] – and make him the highest-paid linebacker. You pay arguably one of the top three defensive tackles in football last year – Justin Madubuike. You realize you're going to have to make some changes in the way that you do business. That's going to affect us, [and] it's affecting other teams. I can give you 10 other teams that are dealing with that exact same phenomenon, and you see it. It's just one of the realities of this business. I can think of multiple teams right now that are struggling with this dynamic, and they're probably going to have to make major, massive in the next coming years. And so, we're aware of that; you just simply can't pay everybody. And we made the decision that we were going to go young on the offensive line as best as we could [and] develop our guys. We've had a lot of success developing offensive linemen in the past. I could give you a bunch of players that we took in the draft or even got off the streets, and those guys became good players for us."
When you were constructing this offensive line, how did having a guy like OL Patrick Mekari affect the way that you look at it? (Giana Han) "Patrick [Mekari] is great. He can play multiple spots. He's played probably all of five spots on the offensive line. Having that flexible chess piece really helps us on gamedays especially. It's great. He's like having an elite sixth man in basketball. A Kevin McHale when I was a Celtics fan back in the '80s, he was a sixth man at one point. Patrick is kind of like that. He can play all five spots and plays them well."
You're no stranger to trades, you've made them many times over the years. Do you feel like you have the flexibility if there's a player that you want at some point this season to pull of a trade? (Garrett Downing) "We don't right now, because I think we're probably over the [salary] cap, when you factor in [the] practice squad and things like that. But at some point, we will have to make some moves in the coming days and weeks, and we've been planning for all of that. There's a lot of things that we will be able to do. We will be cap compliant, and we will have at least some money to spend if a player is available that we think will help us be the best team that we can be."
You've been watching the preseason for a while now. How much value do you get out of watching these games, and do you think we're closer to ending it all and just going to 18 games all together? (Jerry Coleman) "Oh, I don't know. I don't have an opinion on that, but I do think that for us looking at the practice ... I mean looking at the preseason games is really about looking at the lower-end roster players and undrafted free agents and guys like that and getting a chance to evaluate those guys. We know we're not going to have a chance to look at really the starters and to get much of a feel – it's not like the old days when guys played in the first couple preseason games, but it's still a great opportunity for us to evaluate the talent on the backend of rosters [and] to look at those players that we may not know a lot about [and] to assess those players to help us find a couple guys here and there. I think our pro department led by [vice president of player personnel] George Kokinis and [director of player personnel] Mark Azevedo do as good a job as anybody in the NFL, and I think that's proven every single year. They find players at all different levels of football, and we'll have a chance to, at some point, probably churn our practice squad and find some guys that we think are better than what we have; and those guys will probably help us win some football games."
You have another undrafted player making the team with S Beau Brade. Is that a specific pride you guys take in in finding that undrafted player to get to the 53-man roster? (Pete Gilbert) "Someone said maybe we had 20 out of 21 years we had a guy make it. That's not necessarily a streak we're trying to address. Even that one year – I don't know who it was – [but] had I been aware of that streak, I probably would have kept a guy just to keep the streak going." (laughter) "I really didn't know about that streak. In this year, I just think with Beau [Brade], that guy just really earned it. And if you looked at our games – the Packers game, let's face it, it was kind of a joke. It was hard to watch in a lot of ways. I couldn't wait for the game to be over, really to get the Popeyes' chicken sandwich on the plane." (laughter) "The reality is, Beau actually just played great, and he did it consistently. He won the job. He took the job. And in the end, he deserved being on the team, and that's what it was all about."
You mentioned salary cap compliance. Projection websites have you between $2 million to $3.5 million over. Are you expecting significant restructures? Do you have to make more wide-sweeping moves to get cap compliant to be comfortable for in-season moves and a potential trade, which you tend to have an affinity for in season. Are you expecting significant moves to get cap compliant and comfortable for the season? (Kyle Phoenix) "Well I think I answered that. We have some flexibility to make some moves, and we will, in the next probably week, be cap compliant. There's a lot of different things we can do. We've been pretty conservative. I'm blessed to have [vice president of football administration] Nick Matteo, who's a great salary cap guy, and [consultant] Pat Moriarty, who's kind of like a Conciliarity of salary cap guys. We're in good shape upstairs, and we'll have a good plan."
When you look at where you are at edge rusher and specifically with OLB David Ojabo and OLB Tavius Robinson? (Luke Jones) "I think both those guys really made a jump this year. David [Ojabo] has really been snake-bitten by injuries. He's worked extremely hard. You guys know coming back from an ACL tear is challenging, and this is a guy that did that and started practice in probably eight months, which is pretty remarkable. He is showing me that he has his quickness back and his twitch and his suddenness. He's playing with heavy hands, and I'm very excited about what he's going to bring to the team this year. And then Tavius [Robinson] is a guy that just keeps getting better. He plays with a passion. He's very, very physical, stout [and an] edge setter. He plays with a relentless energy about him. I think his best football is on the come, and he's going to be one of these guys that probably a year from now, two years from now, we're going to say was one of our better fourth-round picks."
Along those lines, I don't think we asked you yet about OLB Odafe Oweh and the decision to pick up his fifth-year option. What have you seen to give him a pretty significant chunk of money for 2025? (Jonas Shaffer) "Well, I'm glad I did from what I've seen. We were betting on the come with [Odafe Oweh]. He was a guy last year ... Everybody wants to evaluate a player based on just his sack production – which I get that; that's what we do as fans. But this is a guy that impacts games and played well last year, and we felt he was going to make another jump; and we've seen it in training camp. We've seen it every day – you guys are out there. You see the energy he plays with, [and] his ability to disrupt and make things happen. It's never easy when you're talking about a fifth-year option – that's why you see so many fifth-year options not get picked up around the league. It's kind of surprising when you think about it. We do this for a living, and yet, we draft these guys, and then we don't pick up their fifth-year option, probably half the time, I'm guessing. I don't know the stats on that. But with Odafe, we just felt like this was a guy that has all the tools. He plays hard; he has a great energy about him; he wants to be good. He has all the talent to be one of the better guys at his position. And, we just decided to make a bet on him that he was going to do it, and so far, I feel really good about it."
When you were deciding to make WR Rashod Bateman a part of the team's future and evaluating what you thought would make him a success, how much of that comes down to chemistry with QB Lamar Jackson, and how do you think they can continue building that? (Giana Han) "It's just really an opportunity for [Rashod Bateman] to show what he can do consistently. I think a big part of that is him staying on the field, playing [and] catching the ball. He runs great routes, [and] he's tough. He wants to be good. He has the talent to do it, and he needs the opportunities. And half of that is getting the opportunities, and the other half of that is staying healthy and being the best he can be. I am very bullish on Rashod; I've said that repeatedly. It was a no-brainer for us to extend him – to give him the chance to be what we all know he's going to become. He is a great kid and an awesome guy. I love having him here in the building. He's got a great opportunity, and I believe he's going to show the fans this year what he can be."
On paper what do you like about the roster that you constructed? (Carita Parks) "We have a lot of guys that love the game. They play hard, [and they are] relentless. The camaraderie is great. The culture is awesome. These guys really get along well together. And we have a lot of really good young players; and we're going to have more challenges, because looking out in the next couple years, starting after this season, we're going to have some really, really good players that we can extend. It's going to be challenging, but we're going to try to do it, because we're trying to keep ... I think I said this back in 2019 – we're going to try to keep as much of our young talent here in Baltimore as we can. We can't do it all the time, but that's a mission that we have. I love that we have so many good young players, and they keep emerging, and we keep seeing these guys develop. Our training staff, and our strength and conditioning staff and our coaches just do a great job taking young players and helping them be the very best that they can be. It's great in one way, but in the other way, it's hard because we can't keep every single player. But we're going to try to keep as many guys as we can. So, I think our future is very bright."
Along those lines, DB Brandon Stephens is going into his fourth year. Is he a guy that you're really watching this year to say, 'Hey, maybe this is someone I want to have those contract negotiations with this year'? (Ryan Mink) "Yes, Brandon [Stephens] had as good a year last year as anybody on the team, and I love his attitude. [I] love how he just takes care of his business as a player, and I think he's going to make another jump this year. So again, he's a guy that we certainly want to keep here long term; it's not without challenge. He plays a position where the best players are highly compensated, but we'll do our best. I admire so many things about Brandon. This guy has had some adversity he's overcome – so many different things [like] position changes, transfers and all these things – and he's made himself one of the best corners in the NFL."
One of the guys you'd probably want to extend when the time comes is S Kyle Hamilton. Do you ever think back to that Draft and wonder how did this guy still fall to you guys? (Jamison Hensley) "I just credit [executive vice president and former general manager] Ozzie [Newsome], because it happened to him so many times where the best player fell to him, and it happened to me. So, I'm blessed to have been around Ozzie and sat next to him, and maybe some of that magic kind of fell off on us that year, and we were able to get who I consider to be one of the best players in that Draft class [in Kyle Hamilton]."
Along those lines, S Kyle Hamilton is very versatile. Head coach John Harbaugh and all the coaches talk about his versatility and the flexibility of the roster. Is that something you guys are seeing in the college game and emphasizing to scouts or how you're developing those players when they get here? Every Ravens coach talks about it. (Keith Mills) "Well, I think versatility is a skill. It's a trait that we look for as scouts, so when we see a guy that can do multiple things or be used in multiple ways, they get graded up for that, and so if you have an offensive lineman that can play multiple spots, [or] you have a DB that can play safety or corner or play on the nickel [defense], or you have a receiver who can return kicks or do different things or be a gunner, you get extra credit almost. It just makes it easier for the club, because we can account for gameday, and we can account for the roster and the 48 players and all of those different things, and it's really peace of mind when you have a guy that can do multiple things to get you out of a game, or you can create packages where a guy is moving around quite a bit and keeping the offense – or the defense – kind of on their heels, because they're not really sure how that guy is going to be used. So, it makes you more multiple, and it makes it more confusing for the other side of the ball. All of that kind of factors in, but I would say one of the things that our scouts have to do is really assess the [individual] player's versatility to do multiple things, and the most versatile players end up being players that get moved up the [draft] board a little bit."
What's impressed you about QB Lamar Jackson's training camp and coming off another MVP season? (Garrett Downing) "Well, [Lamar Jackson] looks fast as heck. He looks really, really fast. He's throwing the ball extremely well. What I've noticed about Lamar really is more of an intangible thing: his urgency as a leader [and] his urgency with other players. He's just really in tune with the other players every single day in practice. He's so engaged with the coaches. He's engaged with his teammates. Heck, he's engaged with me; we talk personnel. We [met] after practice, just the other day, talking about personnel. He's got some great ideas and suggestions, and he just really wants to win badly. I'm seeing that. As a player, I've always known that [about him], but now, I'm seeing his personality kind of come out more, where I can really get a sense like, 'This guy is so hyper-focused on this season and really working to get a ring.'"
Is QB Lamar Jackson's meetings with you about personnel a new thing, or is that the norm? (Shawn Stepner) "We would always talk about players and stuff, but I think just Lamar [Jackson] sees – I don't want to speak for Lamar – but I think we all see an opportunity for us to be a good team this year, and we want to do it this year. There are so many different layers to that. What have we done in the offseason? What are we doing in training camp? How can we be the best team on Sundays? Are there players out there that might help us? Where are we strong? Where are we weak? What can we improve on? There are just so many different things, but again, I just feel an urgency with Lamar. It's great; I love it. That's how I am, and so I really appreciate that quality in others – just the urge to get better and the daily [urge to] improve on things; that's how you win as a team."
With TE Isaiah Likely, do you envision him being a breakout player this year? He's a guy that can get down field and also has great hands. He had a great training camp. What do you see from him? (Todd Karpovich) "I love 'Zay' [Isaiah Likely]. He's a playmaker. He's got route-running ability – [he's] similar to a reciever in some ways. [He's] strong after the catch; that's something that going back to college when I evaluated him, that's the one thing you kind of hung your hat on, 'This guy was dangerous with the football in his hands.' He's another guy – I've seen an urgency with him. His leadership, interaction with other players ... He's kind of changed from being a rookie to being a vet, and I just feel like he and Mark Andrews will be the best tandem at their position in the league and really create a lot of problems for opposing defensive coordinators."
With the passing of offensive line coach Joe D'Alessandris, that's a huge blow off the field. Even football-wise, to lose a coach with that status and bring everything that he brings to the table right before the season, what does that do for the team? (Cordell Woodland) "It's just a hard one. Joe [D'Alessandris] is just a great friend of mine. If you've seen practice, you know I always stand behind, usually next to Joe, and we talk about football and just life and things. His ability with the younger players was a special thing – watching him develop these guys. He could push, but he could love, and that's what makes a great coach – a great teacher. Think about all the great teachers we've had, right? The best teachers will push you, but they could also love you up, too, when you were struggling, and that's 'Joe D.' It's a tough one. It's a tough one for all of us here. That's what I have to say on that."
Have you had conversations with the coaches about being featured on HBO's In-Season Hard Knocks and the risk of your practice squad players being seen throughout the league? (Kevin Richardson) "I don't think so. We evaluate the practice squad guys; we don't use HBO to evaluate them. We watch the tape. So, we're going to know the players, and we'll know everybody else's players, too. We'll get a guy poached once or twice a year, [and] we'll poach a couple guys, but in the end, I think teams are really comfortable with their own players. It's going to be an interesting dynamic with Hard Knocks, and I'm not exactly sure what that's going to be. I don't know how much focus will be on the practice squad guys – if it's up to me, there won't be much – but I don't see it as a major hindrance for us, in terms of keeping our players."
Sometimes you hear fans say, "This team can't prove anything else to me during the regular season. It's all about what happens in January. What do they do at the end?" How do you kind of balance that urgency to win the Super Bowl with knowing all the steps you have to go through to even have that chance? (Childs Walker) "Yes, it's an excellent question. I mean, I would say ... I was thinking about this the other day: If I had to just rank some of the best Ravens teams, you'd put 2000 on there, but it was a one-sided team. And then you go 2006; that was a hell of a team. You know, 2011 was a great team – one of the best; 2019, 2023, those are like really strong teams. The 2012 team – we got hot late. There are a lot of factors that really go into a team winning the Super Bowl, and in the end – and I know this because I'm at the Senior Bowl every single year – there's only one team that ends up being happy, and there's a lot that goes into that. So, my goal is to build a team that has talent at every position, that is flexible enough to withstand injuries, that we have depth to get us through a long season and to make the playoffs and to be sort of ascending at that point. It's really hard to project what's going to happen, and it's mentally challenging, too, for me. It is tough. I think we've maybe had the best record twice in the last five years, and we didn't make it to the end; that's tough. But I am proud of our team – what we've accomplished. We haven't accomplished our ultimate goal, but I don't really subscribe to the idea that your season is a failure if you don't win the Super Bowl; I know a lot of people do. If I did that, I'd probably be in a mental institution." (laughter) "So, I don't feel that way. I measure success of a season in a lot of different things – Super Bowl being one of those things, but certainly not the only criteria that I would use to judge a season."
You talked about how the QB Lamar Jackson contract was going to change how you could build the roster into the future. Speaking of DB Brandon Stephens, among other players, how has your approach to in-season negotiations changed? Has it changed? Has that strategy changed since the Jackson contract? (Bo Smolka) "I don't know that it changes that; I think it's just, 'right player, right price.' I mean, you've got to negotiate a contract that works for you and works for the player, and sometimes you're under parameters that might make it more challenging. You just simply can't afford to have the highest-paid players across the board at their position; you can have some. But, if you study the league, you're seeing the impact that has on rosters and what that means, whether that's holdouts or players getting terminated – quality players getting terminated. It's just ... You just ... Fundamentally, financially, you can't do it. You can't have 10 players making $20 million a year; you just can't do it on a $258 million salary cap. So, you have to look at it and have a strategy, and every team operates with a different strategy – how they pay players, what's important to them. We try to be balanced across the board, and we try to pay our best players as much as we can, understanding that sometimes we just can't keep every single player. If we could, the roster would be different. But it's not, and we understand that. It is challenging, sometimes, to let really good players leave, but that's the business we're in."
At quarterback, specifically, it was pretty obvious that, given QB Lamar Jackson's accomplishments and talent, he was going to reset the quarterback market at the very top. Across the league, it seems like every time a quarterback selected high in the draft gets a second contract, it's for a market-setting deal. Do you think that's going to continue to be a reality across the league, or at some point, is that going to bounce back, and teams are going to say, "We can't afford to keep doing this?" (Adam Kilgore) "Well, we paid Lamar [Jackson]. We made Lamar the highest-paid quarterback because we felt he was the best quarterback in the league. He won an MVP, now two MVPs. I'm blessed. We're very happy that we did that. Generally speaking, I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory that every time you do a negotiation with a quality player, they need to be the highest-paid player at their position, and I think, in a lot of cases, we haven't done that. It's challenging at times. There is typically an expectation when you negotiate with agents that they want the market to work that way. I think it's up to the club; it's up to the individual club. The hard part is that when a deal is done, good or bad, that goes into the library of deals that get done, and it's used – good or bad – by clubs and by agents. We try to be responsible with our deals, and we try to be respectful of the player's position, but we're going to pay the players what we can afford to pay the players. We're going to spend most of our money every single year. We're going to be over the cap – cash over cap – most years. Now, there's always going to be a day of reckoning; you can't be cash over cap every single year. There's going to have to be a purge at some point, so we understand that. But I've seen these contracts. Every club has to operate the way they want to operate. We operate the way we're going to operate, and we look out, and we know we have a lot of really good players to pay, and every dollar that we can save on a contract is a dollar that we can use on another really good player. And that's my theory."
