Less than a week remains for Baltimore to work out a new contract with either one of them before they hit the open market.
The Ravens have already offered Osemele a “really aggressive” contract to stay as their left tackle. Meanwhile, General Manager Ozzie Newsome was non-committal on Upshaw’s future with the team.
“If we can bring back our full team from last year, we would. But we just don’t know,” Newsome said when asked about Upshaw. “History will say we’ll get some signed and some will go to other clubs. When that happens, I wish them well.”
Here’s what two NFL analysts predict will happen with Osemele and Upshaw:
Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports
“If Kelechi Osemele leaves, like I expect he probably will, you’re looking at multiple starting positions on the offensive line where you probably need help.”
“[Osemele has] waited it out this far, why would you at least not dip your toe in the water? Then once you dip your toe in the water and now the Ravens have so many other things they’re addressing … I mean, he may be the best offensive lineman available.”
“When the Ravens did the deal with [Marshal] Yanda, they knew the potential ramification would be … now I don’t think they knew K.O. would end up playing left tackle and increasing his value even more that way, but you knew that there was a risk that you would probably lose the other guy. How many people are you going to pay top-end money to along your offensive line, particularly along the interior of that offensive line? But if they do manage to keep him off the market or he comes back to them, my guess is they pay him tackle money, which would surpass even high-end guard money. If you’re representing him, if you’re him, you’ve come this far, there’s no more risk of injury. Free agency starts in less than two weeks, I don’t think there will be too many more deals that get done.”
Ian Rapoport, NFL Media
“It’s really tough to figure out [Upshaw] because he’s never going to have the stats. But he’s a very good football player. You can see what he does at the point of attack, how physical he is, setting the edge. He’s not going to be in all the highlights, but he’s been very valuable to the Ravens.”
“I certainly could see a scenario where he comes back, but if there’s another team – maybe the Colts – who run a similar system who sees that value, then it may be a little more of a battle than the Ravens are ready for and anticipate.”
