2026 Offseason Preview: Baltimore
Baltimore embarks on a new era under Jesse Minter
statbutler.com will be compiling offseason previews for all 32 teams in the lead up to free agency. Feel free to share any of the text/visuals below with attribution. All underlying contract data was collected by overthecap.com.
Recent Team History
For the second time in the 8 years since drafting Lamar Jackson, Baltimore missed out on the playoffs. Unfortunately, that success has only translated to a single trip to a conference championship game.
2025 Season
Baltimore began the season with an incredibly difficult stretch of games. Before their bye week, they faced off with five of the seven other teams who appeared in the 2024 divisional playoffs. The Ravens dropped all five of those games and battled a smattering of injuries at the same time. Their post-bye schedule eased up quite a bit. Baltimore won five straight to get back to 0.500, but could not complete the comeback. Their season ended with a loss to Pittsburgh in the final game of the regular season.
Replacing John Harbaugh
After 18 years of success, Baltimore cut ties with head coach John Harbaugh. Harbaugh took the Ravens to the playoffs 12 times and delivered a Super Bowl. The Ravens won more than 60% of their regular season games under Harbaugh, one of four teams to do so (NE, PIT, & GB). Harbaugh’s exit comes two offseasons after Super Bowl winning head coach Mike Macdonald was hired by Seattle. Baltimore is looking to rebound with a different young defensive minded coach in Jesse Minter. Minter is coming off an impressive two year run as the Chargers defensive coordinator. Minter is bringing in another young mind in Declan Doyle to serve as offensive coordinator, a role he previously held in Chicago. Anthony Weaver has been tapped as defensive coordinator. Weaver spent the last two seasons with Miami.
Returning Players
Note that all restructures below are assumed to be max restructures. This means that the team will use void years to prorate cash across up to five seasons, minimizing amount that will hit the current year’s salary cap.
For players who are not vested veterans, I’ve replaced information about the player’s active contract with a description of the team control remaining until the player can become an unrestricted free agent.
Baltimore’s offense will return several key players for 2026. At the top of that list is Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers look like the primary pass catchers for now. Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten make for a solid pair of returning offensive tackles.
2025 was a down year for the Baltimore defense, especially in the early going. They lost Nnamdi Madubuike for the season in Week 2 and there still isn’t a ton of clarity around the defensive star’s status. Madubuike’s absence coincides with a breakout season from Travis Jones. Jones efforts were not enough to life the Ravens pass rush, which ranked 29th in QB pressure rate this past season. Other pieces on defense are solid. Roquan Smith remains one of the best linebackers in football. Kyle Hamilton leads a talented young secondary that may soon get even younger.
Expiring Contracts
The headliner for this free agent class is center Tyler Linderbaum. Baltimore passed on Linderbaum’s 2026 5th year option (equal to the franchise tag) last year because it would have blown the top off the leaguewide center market. Whether he returns to Baltimore or not, he should be expected to set the market. He’s been graded by PFF in the 79th percentile or better for three straight years now. Versatile offensive threats Patrick Ricard and Isaiah Likely are also heading for free agency. On defense, the Ravens could opt to bring back some defensive line depth or a couple older defensive backs.
Projected Cuts & Options
I’m not including ERFA eligible players here (expiring contracts with less than 3 accrued seasons), as they can either sign a league minimum contract or the team can allow them to leave.
I have one cap casualty on tap for Baltimore: CB Marlon Humphrey. Humphrey has spent nine seasons with the team, but I think it’s time for him to move on. He has a $4m roster bonus due on March 15th, putting a finite deadline on the decision to cut (or reduce pay).
Similar to Linderbaum above, the Ravens are a victim of their own success when it comes to 5th year options. Zay Flowers was voted into his second Pro Bowl this season on the first ballot which will bump up his 2027 option to match the 2026 franchise tag. At an estimated $28.8m, it’s a big number for a player who has not quite distinguished himself as a true star. Unlike Linderbaum, I think Baltimore ultimately picks this option up.
The Salary Cap
In the image below, each blue bordered rectangle is equivalent to the cap hit of a single player. Within that rectangle, there are more rectangles that break down the player’s cap hit. Areas colored green can be pushed entirely into a future cap years via max restructure. Areas with vertical bars are “locked in” and the team cannot open them up by releasing the player. They represent either fully guaranteed cash that hasn’t been earned yet or remaining proration from cash earned in previous league years.
Baltimore is currently under the cap. They can create additional space with restructures to Jackson & Madubuike’s fully guaranteed money if they so choose.
I’m currently projecting the Ravens to have $75.2m in cap space (23rd) if they take all their restructures after handling draft picks and practice squaders. It’ll be enough to operate with, but they won’t have the freedom of some other clubs.
Draft Capital
The Ravens hold each of their first five original picks in the draft. They’re also projected to net four compensatory picks, two in the 5th & two in the 7th. Their first selection will come at #14 overall.