General Manager Eric DeCosta
Opening Statement: "Hello, everyone. Thanks for coming. We'll get started with questions."
On how job security impact decision making: "That's a deep question. I've been blessed to be a part of an organization where we've had three head coaches and two GMs. That continuity is huge in decision making, having support from ownership, putting processes in place, systems, feeling good about the process [and] knowing the other people in the room – that's a big part of it. [Our] shared experience, calling on historical things that have happened in the past to help you make decisions factors in. The biggest thing is really just having an owner that believes in you and has put you in place to succeed and believes you will succeed. I've been blessed to have [owner] Steve Bisciotti in my life for a long time."
On how good it feels to not be looking for a quarterback in the Draft this year: "Every smart team is always looking for quarterbacks. It's a quarterback league, and whether you're looking for a backup or practice squad quarterback [or] a starting quarterback, it's hard to win without one. We're blessed to have Lamar Jackson. Before that, we were blessed to have Joe Flacco. Living in a world without a quarterback is a tough world to live in. We understand that. These guys drive the league, so it's a tough position to be in, but I think if you have the right people, [and] you trust the process, you can find one."
On if K Justin Tucker could be subject to termination based on the findings of the NFL's investigation and the team's "zero tolerance" policy: "A lot goes into that. First of all, [it's a] good question. [I] appreciate the question. The allegations are serious [and] concerning. The amount of allegations are serious and concerning. I think we are fortunate that the league is doing an investigation. We'll wait as patiently as we can for as much information as we can, and we'll make our decisions based on that."
On the potential draft replacements at kicker if the team decides to move on: "Like every position, we're going to evaluate [and] rank the board. We've been doing that for the last 29 years. We're blessed to have a really good kickers coach in Randy Brown, who does a phenomenal job evaluating punters and kickers and long snappers for us every single season. We'll meet with Randy throughout the process. Over the coming weeks, he'll travel all over the country looking at these guys, and we'll build the best board that we can."
On the volume of the K Justin Tucker allegations and how it plays into the team's deliberations: "Again, it's a good question. The biggest thing that we have to do, first of all, is look at every single case differently. There are no absolutes. In this case, we're still awaiting as much information as possible. Again, we're fortunate that the league has come down to Baltimore. I met with the League. I believe the League is meeting with other people in Baltimore as well. We'll wait for the details of that investigation, and we'll make a decision based on that."
On if he can outline exactly what the team's "zero tolerance" policy is: "I really can't, because again, we look at every case differently and the facts in every single case. We do this for a living. We study players. We look at background. We consider all these different things. Every case is entirely different – different facts, different situations – so we'll wait for the investigation to take place, and we'll make a decision based off of that."
On when the team learned about the allegations: "We were aware that a local media outlet was getting prepared to do a story on Justin Tucker, and that was the first time that we became aware of the allegations [and] the potential allegations that might result."
On if he has met with K Justin Tucker: "I've answered about four questions on this situation. I did meet with Justin. I'm going to keep those comments to myself – [it was] a personal conversation with Justin – I think it's probably the smart thing to do. But at that point, we did meet, and that's what I'm going to say about that."
On the addition of wide receivers in the Draft or free agency: "I think it's a pretty good class draft-wise and free agency-wise as well. We do a really good job ... I'm very happy to see the development that our young receivers have made the last couple of years. [Wide receivers coach] Greg Lewis does a great job coaching those guys up. Our players really did a good job this year. We feel like there is a good opportunity for us to find some good talent either through free agency or the Draft, in every round and every price point. And the other point is that we have some really good tight ends as well. This year, we really did see our vision for the offense come together with playmakers across the board, whether it's running back, receiver, tight end, backup running backs, backup receivers [or] backup tight ends. It was kind of what we hoped for the last couple of years, and we had a chance to see that come to fruition."
On a possible extension with T Ronnie Stanley: "Ronnie and I did a deal the last time, so that's great. He and I have a great friendship. We've known each other for a long time. He has a great agent in Kim Miale. You never want to say 100 percent, but I feel good that we'll have a good, healthy debate [and] a good process. We'll meet with him Kim in 'Indy' [Indianapolis] this week. I'm optimistic that we'll be able to get a deal done."
On his confidence of moving T Roger Rosengarten to LT: "That's a coaching question. We've seen ... We think Roger [Rosengarten] had a great year last year, and he's a very good athlete. He's way more mature than a typical young player. He proved that this year with how he played and competed week in and week out, whether it was on-field performance against good players coming back from injury and things like that. He's definitely a factor on the left side, if need be. We'll try to find the best five guys we can. There were a lot of questions about the offensive line last year, and we did a pretty good job of putting a pretty competitive offensive line together on the field last year. I would expect the same to hold true this year."
On the possibility of selecting a pass rusher in the first round: "It really comes down to the best player at the time. We're always going to say that. It's something that we've said every single year, starting back to 1996 with Ozzie as the GM. We're going to draft the best available player, so if we're picking at [No.] 27, and there is an edge rusher, and he is the best guy, we're probably going to pick him. That's going to hold through with every round. It's an important position. We were maybe second in the league in sacks last year, but having a continuous influx of young pass rush talent – guys that can set the edge and play the run, guys that play like Ravens, physical players who can get to the quarterback – that's a priority for us, for sure."
On RB Derrick Henry's first year as a Raven: "Derrick [Henry] is just a phenomenal worker. He's a pro. He does everything the right way, the way that he practices, the way that he takes care of his body, his mentality on the field, his leadership, his talent – he's freakishly talented – his combination of size and speed. He was just a perfect player for us last year. [He was] the right addition, and he brought a lot to the table on the field and also off the field with intangible qualities. We're blessed to have him, and I would expect his successes last year to continue this year."
On if the way running backs performed this year will change the way he evaluates the position: "It's a tough question. Running backs are kind of like the stock market; they've been up ... When I was a kid, running back was arguably the most important position on the field. I grew up a Cowboys fan, [and] Tony Dorsett [and] Emmitt Smith – guys like that – were my idols. And then we went through this period of the last five-[to]-10 years, the analytics emphasis sort of deemphasized the position. And I think last year, you saw the impact that some of these guys had, and [Eagles general manager] Howie Roseman – a great GM – went out and got Saquon [Barkley], and they won a Super Bowl. [I give] a lot of credit to Howie. But These are guys that touch the ball. These are guys that impact games. I think they're looked at as probably replaceable by some people, but if you have a great one, if you have a historic one, you can't replace those guys. They impact the game in many different ways, and they create nightmares for defenses."
On building the team through the middle: "I think that you always want to be strong through your middle. And something that we've prioritized with Kyle [Hamilton] as a safety, Roquan [Smith], our defensive tackles – Travis [Jones and] Nnamdi [Madubuike], [Tyler] Linderbaum [and] Lamar [Jackson] –all of those guys. I believe in that as well – being strong up in the middle. It's always going to be an allocation of resources in where you spend your money every year. There are different schools of thought, but you have to be physical. We've always prided ourselves on being a physical football team that can stop the run, run the ball, protect the quarterback, rush the passer and win games in the fourth quarter. I think this draft class is pretty strong. On the defensive line, you have some guys, some defensive ends that ... When we say defensive end, we mean outside linebacker, so you might hear me reference outside linebackers, [but] other clubs might call them defensive ends, but I think you have some defensive tackles that are fine prospects. And then on the interior, we see a number of guards that could get picked in the first and second round and probably provide early value and start right away for their drafting clubs."
On the possibility of extending RB Derrick Henry: "Well, I see [Sr. Vice President, Ravens Media] Michelle [Andres] over here, [and] she helps decorate my office wall, and I think we have a picture of Derrick [Henry] going up on my wall. So, what does that tell you?" (laughter)
On QB Lamar Jackson's input on personnel decisions: "Lamar [Jackson has] a great voice, and he's a student of the game. He watches players; he knows talent. Now, he does love the Miami guys and the Florida guys. But listen, Lamar is a stakeholder. He's a partner. He's earned that right to have that type of input and opinion, and a lot of guys haven't earned that right, but Lamar has earned that right. It's important, it's necessary, and I welcome his input. I'll get texts from him, and there have been some years where I've gone down and visited with him, and I'll probably do that again – to take a trip down to Florida and spend some time with him, but he's got a great command of the offense. He made great strides this year in every facet. He's my MVP, and I think his impact on our team is impossible to measure."
On if it's a trend that current quarterbacks are more involved in personnel decisions: "I don't how to answer that. I mean, Lamar [Jackson] is Lamar. He is a two-time MVP. In my opinion, he should have been a three-time MVP, so [he has] a different status, so that's what I would say. I think you have to earn those rights."
On valuing prospects' upside versus positional need: "[The] upside is, 'How good can this be?' Position need is like, 'We need a player to play right away.' In my opinion, with positional need, it sounds great at the time you draft a player, [and] you pencil him in, but if he doesn't have the ability to play at a high level, then typically you're going to be disappointed, your fans are going to be disappointed, and you're going to look at it as a bad pick. You want the best player in any given situation; your needs change day to day. I've been on teams where I felt like we had great depth at corner, great depth at tight end, and then in the matter of a couple of weeks, we had no depth. I go back to the year that in a matter of a couple of weeks, we lost J.K. [Dobbins], Gus Edwards and Justice [Hill], and [we] had no running backs. [It was] literally a Friday afternoon, [and I was] calling agents, trying to find somebody to come to Baltimore, and fortunately we were able to get a couple of the guys that came in and really saved us that year in many different ways. Needs change, but you win with talent. You win with the players. And if I have my choice, I'm always going with upside, and I'm always going with talent."
On how active the team will be in free agency: "I mean, you guys know the Ravens. [It has to be] the right player [and] right price. We don't have a lot of cap room. We have [vice president of football administration] Nick Matteo working tirelessly to find some space for us. We call it 'couch cushion coins.' We're trying to find 50 grand here, 75 grand there and a couch cushion. But we're not a team that's going to make a lot of splashes, generally speaking. We're probably going to have 11 draft picks this year. My goal would be to hit on a large percentage of those draft picks to find good, young, inexpensive talent to put guys in for the future, because the reality of it is, when you're paying guys like Lamar Jackson and the Marlon Humphreys' and the Nnamdi Madubuikes' and the Roquan Smiths' and guys like that, and the guys – someday – like probably Tyler Linderbaum and guys like Kyle Hamilton, you have to draft well every single year, so that you always have an open window."
On if the salary cap limit increase can help the team sign free agents: "It gives us a bit little more, but when you're starting with as few dollars as we have, it's a savior, but we still would like to have more money, and then we're a victim of our own success in our some ways. You guys remember, when I did become GM, one of my main priorities was to retain as much of our own homegrown talent as possible, and we have a lot of homegrown talent, which is a good problem to have, but it also means that we don't have as much money to go out and go after players that aren't homegrown talent. So, any additional money we can get is very helpful. It still doesn't mean that we're going to break the bank in free agency. We're still going to be going after those veteran minimum guys, which [vice president of player personnel] George Kokinis and [director of player personnel] Mark Azevedo do a great job of finding those types of players. We are still going to try to find the guys that we can get that we think are good value that maybe come to us and play better than what we expected, and we have a lot of those guys. And you know those guys that come in, and you're like, 'Man, this guy is really good. I can't believe the Ravens got this guy for a million-and-a-half dollars.' Those guys are critical for us to sustain the success that we've had, because the reality is, we just can't go out and spend 200 million dollars in any offseason on players like some teams do. We're just not going to be able to do that."
On TE Mark Andrews' future with the Ravens: "Mark [Andrews] is a great player. We're blessed to have three really good tight ends under contract this year. They all contribute in different ways. Their chemistry, their camaraderie, their impact on the offense, their relationship with the other skill guys is great. I mean, Mark is going to go down as one of our great players – he'll be in the [Ravens] Ring of Honor someday. I love having Mark on the team – he's an amazing player. I know he's going to have an amazing season. We'll figure out all of the roster machinations over the coming weeks, but I can tell you, there's no bigger fan of Mark Andrews than me. He's been a blessing to have on the team. His leadership, the way he approaches the game, his attention to detail – he's just one of those guys."
Head Coach John Harbaugh
On where his passion for helping high school students came from and why it's important: "That's the best question that we're going to have all day today. The high school experience ... We all came through high school; we all understand how formative that is, right? And the high school experience, whether it's sports, football, or basketball, or band, or theater, or clubs, or whatever, makes a huge difference in young lives. And you know that. The impact that you have as a coach in any one of those areas – just like a teacher – can be life transformational. It can be transformational for amazing things; it can be transformational for not so good things, or bad things too. The idea that we want to help coaches in every way we can to be the best that they can be for the young people that they're responsible for because they took on that job of coaching them. It is something that is really important – it should be important to all of us. It's important to the Harbaugh Coaching Academy, to us, and we want to help out where we can."
On one piece of advice he got from his high school coach: "One piece of advice I got from my high school coach? We had a coach whose name was Pete Palmer – he was called 'Pushup Pete.' He was my baseball coach. And if you didn't run out a ground ball or a fly ball, you got to run around the football stadium, which is about half a mile. Baseball players don't like running too much sometimes, so hustle, hustle. That's probably the best advice I got early on. Hustle serves you well in life. Thanks."
On if he has the same views on the allegations against K Justin Tucker as executive vice president & general manager Eric DeCosta: "Absolutely. It's not what you want to wake up and read. You don't want to read about it. It's not something you want to see. I don't care what it is in terms of things that are hurtful and harmful to people. There are too many headlines like that; there are too many stories that you hear that make you just sad and disappointed. And you don't ever want to see a circumstance, a situation, especially as if it relates to your world where anybody is made to feel less than great when they are involved in a work experience somewhere. As it touches all of us in our lives, we want to do everything that we can to make sure it's just the opposite, that everybody feels like they have a great work experience. You guys have been in our place every day, and you know what we try to do with that. That's just really a tough deal. The NFL is looking into it. They're going to review it, they're going to try to gather all the facts, and I'm sure we'll have an understanding of it at that time, but once there's an understanding of it, then you have a chance to make some decisions and determinations and things like that, and that's where we're at right now."
On how difficult it is to hear the allegations against K Justin Tucker: "Yes, and that's what we're waiting to try and do is reconcile it. That's what the process is for. That's why you have to come to an understanding if you can of what happened. We all have questions, but nobody knows exactly what happened, so let's see where the review takes us."
On when he first learned about the allegations against K Justin Tucker: "I learned after [executive vice president & general manager] Eric [DeCosta] told me. I think right before it came out, maybe The [Baltimore] Banner called Eric and told him that there was something coming out. We didn't know anything about what it was going to be, so I knew what it was when I read it, and then a week-and-a-half [to] two weeks after that, I gave Justin [Tucker] a call on a Sunday morning, and we had a conversation about it and talked about it, more from a perspective of being together for all these years and kind of what he was going through and what he was dealing with that and kind of how he's handling it with his family, and that's really what we talked about."
On how he approaches the K Justin Tucker situation when it rises to the national level: "Great question. Really, it's not so much about what level nationally or what level [of] attention something gets, it's the fact that it's so important to somebody in our program. To me, people walk in the door in this job and have an appointment, sometimes we call it, but things come up all the time. You could be dug deep in some football-related task, and someone walks in your door that's number one important to them, and they're talking to the boss, so to speak – or the head coach or whatever – and they just need your time and they need your attention. So, to me, it's exactly the same any one of those conversations that you'd have."
On potentially looking at kickers in the 2025 NFL Draft: "Well, sure. Every position is important, we're going to look at every single position, but certainly [in] different years, you're going to look at different positions. We're looking at kickers; we're looking at a lot of positions. We're looking at every position, but I'd say the kicker position would have been a priority no matter what because Justin [Tucker] is our kicker, we love him, and I always would have expected him to keep going forever, but nobody goes forever. So, we have to look at every position like we do."
On all of the team's coaching changes over the past few years and the new coaches in 2025: "That's the thing, we've found in the last three, four, or five years, we've had a lot of coaching changes, and there's different reasons for different coaching changes. Guys have gotten opportunities, we've had a lot of success, and that's a good thing, but it's also a challenging thing, because from the coaching side, there's nothing more important than your staff, and we have a great coaching staff. We've had great coaches come through. I'm going to be talking to Anthony Weaver and Mike Macdonald later today, and those guys are two of the great coaches that have helped us become kind of what we are as a program. So, I'm excited about [sr. defensive assistant/secondary coach] Chuck Pagano. Chuck has been there before. He's coming back. He's a great coach. He's a great guy. He started it. He helped start [our program] back in 2008 to 2011. I love Chuck, and I think he's going to bring a lot to the table. And then [defensive backs coach] Donald D'Alesio is a young guy who's got a lot of talent, and [inside linebackers coach] Tyler Santucci is going to do a great job with the linebackers and [assistant linebackers coach] Matt Pees. I'm really happy with all of those guys."
On how eager he is to look at the defensive tackle prospects in this year's draft class: "It starts there. It starts on the offensive and defensive line, so we're going to be looking at both lines really hard. You look at every position. It's a deep running back class from what I've been told, too, so we'll be looking at that position, too. But yes, game-wrecking defensive tackles, [it's] kind of a big deal. Pass-pressuring defensive ends, that's kind of a big deal, too."
On how his thought process has evolved on assembling assistant coaches: "Yes, well, our analysts are in that list, just so you know. We have about the same number of guys on the field – and women coaches too on the field. We have the most women coaches in the league which I'm really proud of that. We have a very diverse coaching staff – I'm really proud of that – and we have a great coaching staff, most importantly, and that's the thing I'm most proud of."
On the benefit of having so many coaching analysts: "Well, everybody has them, but they're just not listed on the coaching staff. We just give them coaching staff credit. I think the Browns have 24 people in their analytics department, so that would make them the biggest coaching staff in the league."
On female coaches for the Ravens: "Our women coaches are doing a great job. They're coaching football, they're contributing to our team, they're learning, [and] they're younger coaches in the weight room, on the football side, through the administrative [areas and] through the analytic part of it. We have some great young people coaching for us, so I'm excited about that."
On any position groups that stands out to him in this draft class: "Yes, that's probably a better [executive vice president & general manager] Eric [DeCosta] question. I've personally watched the tackles and guards right now so far on offense. That's where I'm through, and I like a lot of those guys, so that's what I can speak to."
On what he thinks Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh learned about himself in his first year back in the NFL: (laughter) "I don't know, man. [Jim Harbaugh] seems like the same Jim to me. People, maybe with the Chargers, learned how good he is and how much fun he is to be around every day. You're around him a lot, and he's ... I was just talking to [Chargers GM] Joe Hortiz coming down the hallway here, and he said, 'We work really hard, and we have a lot of fun doing it.' That's something that Jim has always been about. He's fun to be around. He's all ball. If you like football, you like being a Charger, and I feel the same way about the Ravens. [We] kind of run similar-type programs, and that's kind of what it should be about."
On if he's discussed potential replay changes or other rule changes with coaches around the league: "That's a great question. I have been very involved with that, and you can ask anybody that. They'll probably tell you that, 'Yes, he's been a little bit of a pain about that.' The thing I appreciate about the League is there is great dialogue with that, and they do. [NFL commissioner] Roger [Goodell] wants to hear everybody's opinion, and [NFL executive vice president of football operations] Troy [Vincent] wants to hear everybody's opinion, and those guys are kind of at the top of the food chain, and it kind of works from there through the competition committee and all that, so they're great. No, I haven't always gotten what I've suggested. Most of the time, [they are] doing what I think is right. The coaches talk a lot, too. As far as replay [changes], I'm about [having] as much replay as we can that makes sense. Some things don't make sense with replay, but to me, the end of the deal should be to get it right as much as we can, and with technology, that allows you to get more and more right through different avenues of replay."
On if the team comes to an agreement on those things before they vote: "We do. [Owner] Steve [Bisciotti] is the boss. Steve ultimately makes the call, but he listens to all of us. Then, it's not too often where ... We all come to an agreement. One of our philosophies that we agree to agree. It might be either-or or a third option or fourth option or some way of looking at [it] that melds all the ideas together, but we always try to agree to agree."
On how much pride he takes at former Ravens coaches developing and moving on to other opportunities: "Thanks, I do. You take a lot of pride in that. You take a lot of pride in the fact that your coaches are going off and they're doing well, and you kind of see the personality of the teams that they coach or the units they coach. You feel like, 'Man, that looks familiar to me.' That's something that – you do, you take a lot of pride in that, especially as you get older. You start feeling better and better about that, so I love our guys. I don't love playing against them all the time. That's not so much fun, but you love what they're building."
On if he would be comfortable moving T Roger Rosengarten to LT if the Ravens don't retain T Ronnie Stanley: "Absolutely, yes. That would be one of the options we could go to. It would depend on the Draft and different things like that and free agency. I think we'll probably keep Ronnie [Stanley]; [I'm] hopeful that we will, but if we don't, we'll have an option, and that would be one of them, for sure."
On if OL Andrew Vorhees is in the mix: "Yes, [Andrew] Vorhees has a great shot at that. He looked really good at the end of the year when he played. There are other guys in there, too, in that mix."
On if injury was the reason OL Andrew Vorhees fell out of the rotation: "Yes, it was early in [Andrew Vorhees'] career, and someone came in there and played really well. Pat [Mekari] went in there and played great, and that was the better option, but Andrew was working all the way through and developing and then all of a sudden – boom – he's back on the field. You guys don't see the practices, but then he's back on the field, and he played really well. That was because of all the work between then and when he got his opportunity."
On his feelings on the "tush push" play: "To me, you have to take all of those rules holistically. What effect does one rule change have on the next thing? So, if you take out the 'tush push,' then you're going to take out all pushing. A guy can't be downfield, and the offensive linemen can't come running in and push the ball carrier five more yards. You can't take one out but not the other. They are the same, just like you're not supposed to be able to grab a running back and pull him into the end zone. That hasn't been officiated. They've allowed that to happen. That's already against the rules. How are you going to officiate that? So, if we want to say that you can't help push a [running] back, then you can take out the 'tush push.' If you're going to say that's still allowed, then, in my opinion, can't take out the 'tush push.' So, I'm good with it. I'm OK with the 'tush push,' yes."
On the importance of adding a pass rusher this offseason and getting home with four pass rushers instead of sending more pressure: "We believe in both. You want to be able to get there with three [pass rushers] and maybe make them hold it a little longer. You want to be able to get there with simulated [pressures], when you bring four [pass rushers], but it's not the guy you expect to come and make them hold the ball with coverage disguise. You want to be able to get there with four rushers. The teams that have those guys, they do a great job with them. We have those guys, too. We've done that a lot. You want to be able to get home with zone blitzes, man blitzes, with all-out blitzes. We like to keep it moving. We like to keep people guessing. That's kind of our format, and a four-man rush – absolutely – [that's a] big part of that."
On if he can explain the "zero tolerance" policy as it pertains to Justin Tucker: "That's to be determined. That's to be determined. That's something we have to find out. That's what the review is for – to gain an understanding of what we're even talking about. You can't take an action without understanding. You have to get the facts and understand what happened as best you can. Then, you take the situation for what it is, but the principle is the same. How you define that principle, that term a little bit and how ... Maybe we'll come out and make a definition of that at some point in time. That's something that would be interesting to me. I think everybody understands the idea there, and let's see where the review takes us."
On if he regrets saying that there is a "zero tolerance" policy: "Absolutely not."
