The Ravens went into the 2025 season with a roster that was widely billed as the best in the NFL.
Baltimore fell short of the playoffs and expectations for a multitude of reasons, but one was because the roster the Ravens envisioned didn't pan out.
"Honestly, when you underachieve, you can blame a lot of things," General Manager Eric DeCosta said at the Ravens' season review press conference this week. "You look at a lot of situations and players, I think."
"I think that you can look at a lot of guys on our team that we had expected to take the next step that did not take that next step," Owner Steve Bisciotti added. "And we've got to get to the bottom of that with coaching and scouting."
So how do the Ravens improve the roster in 2026? As always, there's not one magic fix, but here's what DeCosta had to say this week:
Sign Lamar Jackson to a contract extension before free agency.
The Ravens will carry over just more than $10 million in salary cap space from last season. According to OverTheCap.com, the Ravens are projected to have $20.8 million in salary cap space – 18th most in the NFL.
The Ravens could gain significantly more spending power if they reach a contract extension with star quarterback Lamar Jackson, whose salary cap number is scheduled to jump from $43.5 million to $74.5 million.
"A deal with Lamar would give us the ability to be more active, to re-sign some more players on the team and to potentially go after a couple of big-ticket items," DeCosta said. "We haven't traditionally done that. We've been more reserved when it comes to free agency."
Signing Jackson to a contract extension gives the Ravens more flexibility to improve the roster as a whole, including the pieces around the two-time MVP.
Improve the offensive line.
Jackson took the ninth-most sacks in the league despite playing just 13 games. He missed four games and dealt with injuries for a significant chunk of the season.
The Ravens want to protect Jackson better and be even more efficient in the run game after leading the league in rushing yards per game (187.6) and yards per attempt (5.8) in 2024.
Re-signing pending free agent Tyler Linderbaum would be a good place to start. When the Ravens opted not to pick up his fifth-year option, DeCosta stated that the team's intention was still to keep him long-term. After another Pro Bowl season, Linderbaum is projected to be one of the top free agents on the market, but he's been clear about his desire to remain a Raven.
The other focus would be making improvements at guard, where Daniel Faalele and Andrew Vorhees had ups and downs throughout the year. Bisciotti specifically said the Ravens' offensive linemen didn't improve.
The Ravens re-signed left tackle Ronnie Stanley last offseason, and he had a Pro Bowl-caliber year. Roger Rosengarten was a solid right tackle for a second straight year, with room still to grow. If Linderbaum returns, that's a strong nucleus.
"In some games, I thought the line played well, [and] in other games we struggled. I think we have pieces," DeCosta said. "I think we've got to be more consistent on the offensive line. We just didn't gel quite as much this year in that way, and yet I say that, and I think we [were second in] the league in rushing, maybe, and that was with less quarterback-driven runs."
Vorhees is under contract, Emery Jones Jr. is healthy and got some valuable game reps down the stretch as a third-round rookie, and the Ravens could use a high draft pick or spend more in free agency to get another plug-and-play piece at guard.
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Bolster the pass rush.
The first area for improvement that DeCosta mentioned in Tuesday's season review press conference was the pass rush.
Only two teams had fewer sacks than the Ravens' 30, which was a drastic drop-off from the previous season when the Ravens had the second-most sacks (54) in the league.
"I think generally speaking, we've got to do a better job of creating pressure on defense," DeCosta said. "That will help the secondary, I think, being complementary on defense that way. Getting after it [and] affecting the quarterback – affecting the pocket would be something big."
The Ravens ranked 31st in the league in pass defense despite making heavy investments in that area the past two offseasons with first-round draft picks of cornerback Nate Wiggins and safety Malaki Starks. They also spent at cornerback and have one of the NFL's top safeties in Kyle Hamilton.
But the secondary and the pass rush need to be married, and it didn't work that way this season. The Ravens sacked Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers twice in two games – both huge losses. They had just two combined sacks on Josh Allen, Jared Goff, and Patrick Mahomes at the start of the year.
The loss of Nnadmi Madubuike to a season-ending neck injury was a "horrible situation for our team," DeCosta said, and had a ripple effect on the rest of the pass rush. DeCosta couldn't share more about Madubuike's future this week, but the Ravens should be able to plan accordingly this offseason. Broderick Washington Jr. is also under contract and set for a return after suffering a season-ending reported Achilles injury in Week 3.
Getting help for Travis Jones, who led the Ravens with five sacks, in the trenches would help unlock him more as well.
"God bless Travis. I think he did the very best he could, but if he'd had Madubuike next to him, he'd have been singled all year long, and instead, they were able to double him all year long," Bisciotti said.
At outside linebacker, second-round pick Mike Green saw valuable extensive action as a rookie and logged 3.5 sacks. Tavius Robinson will return after a career year that was shortened by a foot injury. The Ravens will have to decide whether to bring back Kyle Van Noy and trade acquisition Dre'Mont Jones.
The Ravens could dip into the defensive tackle or outside linebacker pool early again in this year's draft. They last used a first-round pick at defensive end/outside linebacker on Odafe Oweh in 2021. Baltimore could also add a veteran (or multiple pieces) in free agency or via trade to bolster the pass rush.
