There are many parts of Eric DeCosta's job that he loves, but it's apparent that telling undrafted rookies that they made the 53-man roster brings a special warmth to the Ravens' general manager's heart.
Cutdown day is bittersweet, DeCosta said, because there are a lot of players that deserve to make a 53-man roster who don't. It's the end of some dreams and the beginning of others.
"I like the roster, but it's really hard to say goodbye to certain guys," DeCosta said on cutdown weekend. "So when you can welcome a guy, it's fun."
The Ravens have a run of undrafted rookies making the initial 53-man roster, with at least one player beating the odds in 22 of the past 23 years. This year, quarterback Joe Fagnano and outside linebacker Ethan Burke carried the torch.
Burke was one of the defensive front's most disruptive players throughout training camp practices and the preseason. Fagnano led the NFL with 509 passing yards in three preseason games.
The Ravens hadn't kept three quarterbacks on their original 53-man roster since 2020. Fagnano, who was originally brought to Baltimore on just a rookie minicamp tryout, was so stunned that he had to sit down for a minute after DeCosta gave him the news.
"Are you serious?!" Fagnano said.
"You played too good, man," DeCosta replied. "The Cinderella Man."
The stats behind the Ravens' undrafted success are impressive. Over the past five years, 92 undrafted free agents had earned a role on the Ravens' active roster or practice squad – the most in the league. The Ravens have had 10 undrafted free agents named to a Pro Bowl – second-most in the league.
Some of the names at the top of that list are running back Priest Holmes (Class of 1997), linebacker Bart Scott (2002), long snapper Morgan Cox (2010), kicker Justin Tucker (2012), and fullback Patrick Ricard (2017).
But there are many other notable names, including center Mike Flynn (1997), safety Will Demps (2002), linebacker Jameel McClain (2009), offensive tackle James Hurst (2014), linebacker Zach Orr (2014), defensive tackle Michael Pierce (2016), center Matt Skura (2016), running back Gus Edwards (2018), offensive lineman Patrick Mekari (2019), and more. A bunch of those players earned a second contract from the Ravens.
The Ravens' 16-year streak of at least one player making the original 53-man roster was snapped in 2020. It was an offseason dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant heavy virtual work and no preseason games, eliminating many critical opportunities for undrafted rookies to make a positive impression.
Even that class also turned out pretty darn well, however. It featured Tyler Huntley, who is currently the Ravens' No. 2 quarterback, and inside linebacker Kristian Welch and center Trystan Colon, who have each played six NFL seasons, including multiple years in Baltimore. Heck, the class even included current WWE superstar Bronson Rechsteiner (a.k.a. Bron Breakker), who was then giving football a shot.
So how do the Ravens do it?
In the early days of the Ravens' existence, former head coach Brian Billick had a bonus for scouts. If an undrafted rookie made the initial 53-man roster, the scout who unearthed the hidden gem would get an envelope with cash.
That program was sunset long ago, but DeCosta, who then was a young scout starting to climb the Ravens' front office, recalled the story at this year's pre-draft press conference.
"They were the wild days back then," DeCosta said with a grin. "But we still, I think there's definitely – if you sign an undrafted guy that makes the team, it's definitely like a badge of honor for us."
For a long time now, the Ravens' undrafted rookie process has been led by Mark Azevedo, who joined the team in 2005 as a player personnel assistant and has worked his way up to director of player personnel.
Azevedo coordinates not only with those in the Ravens' scouting department, but also the coaching staff. They pour over the film, talk to coaches, reach out to agents, and recruit. The recruiting begins before the draft, turns up during the final rounds, and becomes a frenzy after the final pick is made as the Ravens compete with other teams to turn verbal commitments into contracts.
"When you talk to them, the way I'd like to do it is sell who we are and how they would fit for us," Azevedo told a team of scouts and coaches the day before the draft, as seen on "Ravens Wired." "That builds a comfort level for them to know, 'Hey, if I'm coming to Baltimore, this is what my role would be, this is how I fit in the scheme.'"
This year, Azevedo was working with a largely new coaching staff, led by Head Coach Jesse Minter. But he told everyone that the "collective work that this room has done has probably been the best it has ever been."
The Ravens have built such a reputation for being a good landing spot for undrafted free agents that now they get calls from those who don't expect to get drafted (or their agent) asking if they can become Ravens. But they still do a lot of calling and selling, too. DeCosta compared the post-draft process to the trading floor of Wall Street.
"Everybody is scrambling in different directions," DeCosta said. "We're trying to navigate a very competitive process of recruitment and trying to get as many guys that we like as players as quickly as possible. I get a kick out of watching the whole process and how hectic it is."
At the end of the day, the Ravens have a trump card over other teams. It's proven that undrafted rookies who come to Baltimore have a real shot to make it. Even the past two years, when the Ravens had 11 draft picks, undrafted rookies beat out some of them for spots.
Last year, three undrafted rookies made the initial 53-man roster – linebacker Jay Higgins IV, cornerback Keyon Martin, and safety Reuben Lowery III. Two more undrafted rookies, safety Keondre Jackson and linebacker Chandler Martin, were brought up to the 53-man roster during the season. Three of those players (Higgins, Martin, Jackson) are on this year's initial 53-man roster.
The Ravens had 11 draft picks again this year, but Fagnano and Burke still made the team while a couple of seventh-round picks did not.
"I think it speaks to our team and the talent that we've assembled," DeCosta said. "It's one of the curses of having so many draft picks is you know it's built in that you're going to cut some guys."
Fagnano played at UConn, which is more of a hotbed for NBA talent rather than NFL talent. He was a footnote in stories about the undrafted quarterbacks the Ravens brought in, overshadowed by Heisman Trophy finalist Diego Pavia. But in Fagnano, the Ravens saw a quarterback who completed 69% of his passes and tossed 28 touchdowns to just one interception in his senior season, and he operated with the same efficiency in NFL games.
"I knew it was an uphill battle when I got here," Fagnano said. "I just put my head down and keep working. Now that starts even more."
Burke was a little easier to find considering he played at the University of Texas. He also stands out at 6-foot-6, 267 pounds. But Burke had more sacks (5.5) in his sophomore season than he notched in his final two years combined. The Ravens had a vision for him in Baltimore that has come to fruition.
"You overcame some adversity," DeCosta told Burke. "It's hard being an undrafted guy. It's really, really hard. You did it the right way. Your future's very bright."
