Executive Vice President & General Manager Eric DeCosta
On where the Ravens stand with QB Lamar Jackson's contract (Jamison Hensley): "Well, as you guys know, Lamar [Jackson] and I have an agreement. We handle business kind of in-house, internally, as you all know. That worked well for us the last time, and we will continue to have that policy moving forward. I have spoken to Lamar about a lot of different things over the last month. He's been very engaged. As I said, he was a big value to us in the coaching search, but we'll continue those conversations moving forward."
On if he thinks QB Lamar Jackson should attend OTAs: "You know what? Those are voluntary. Lamar [Jackson] is a two-time MVP. I think he knows what it takes to get ready for the grind of the NFL season. He's proven he can do it at a very, very high level, and I have no preference."
On what he thinks about new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle: "He's smart, has great vision and is a good communicator. I had the chance to interview him over Zoom at the Senior Bowl and also in person in Baltimore. He's driven [and] I think relentlessly committed to his vision for what his offense is going to look like. I think he's going to work well with the players. I think he's going to be exciting."
On if QB Lamar Jackson's contract situation will be a big domino in their offseason plans (Kyle Goon): "Not necessarily. We never have as much cap room as we'd like to have, but we feel like we can start at the beginning of the new league year and conduct business."
On if he knew S Kyle Hamilton would be as versatile of a player as he is: "Well, we certainly didn't know that Kyle [Hamilton] was going to be as good as he is. He was the best guy at the time for us to make the pick. Kyle's a unicorn. I think one of the things that I appreciate the most about Kyle is his intelligence. He's a very, very smart football player. He kind of operates in four dimensions. He has the ability to kind of see what's going on in front of him. His spatial awareness is second to none, and he's just very talented. He has tremendous versatility in his game and [great] ball skills, and he's definitely force multiplier."
On if he thinks there is a possibility to also bring TE Isaiah Likely back (Garrett Downing): "Definitely."
On contract negotiations with C Tyler Linderbaum (Giana Han): "First of all, Tyler [Linderbaum] is a guy that I have tremendous respect for. Obviously, he's proven to be, in my opinion, the best center in the league. We've been having conversations. We've had conversations since the end of the season, and at this point in time, we've made him a market-setting offer, and hopefully we can get something done with him between now and the start of the new league year."
On what changes he's noticed in draft prospects following the changes to the NIL landscape: "I don't know that we've necessarily noticed any major changes. I think the process that we've used to evaluate players now is the process that we used 10 years ago, so it's all about [having a] growth mindset, passion, love of the game, being a good teammate, being coachable, playing like a Raven, being one of the most competitive players on the field in college and making plays. And we believe in that kind of model, and we'll continue to look for those type of guys."
On balancing the "best player available" mindset versus drafting for positional need: "There's a nuance there, and it's probably something that I could talk about for 25 hours. I try to line the [draft] board up, of course, according to the best available player. So, we're going to rank every single player using analysis, analytics, scouts, interviews and things like that. And then we're going to kind of fold in the idea of needs. So, a way that I could basically explain it is [that] if we're picking in the first round, and the best available player is a quarterback – we're probably not going to draft him. We've got Lamar Jackson. We're going to probably move to the next guy on our list with at least an idea of what that need might be. But the first step is really to get the players lined up. So, you're going to go through every single player, you're going to spend probably a half an hour in every meeting on the Top 200 players in the draft, and you're going to really come up with a sequence list that you're going to use to select from. And then, in the first two to three rounds, you're really going to focus on if this [is] the best player at this pick with the idea of need [in mind]. As you get into the later rounds of the draft, depending on the players that you've already selected, that may change your sequence, and that may change what you do."
On if the coaching changes impacts the types of players they're looking for (Garrett Downing): "I would say no."
On if he uses mock draft simulators: "I've seen them. We have a proprietary version of something that we've built that we think is helpful for us. I don't use any of these website-type of things that you see. I do think that assessing league value is important. Understanding how other teams see these players can be useful in terms of when you have to take a player or when you don't have to take a player. That can be useful, and sometimes there is a component of that mock drafting that comes into that."
On the DNA of the University of Georgia football program: "They love football. They're talented, but they love the game. They play hard. It's important to them, and they know what it takes. When they get to the NFL, the acclimation is going to be easier for them because they've essentially been in a program that has a lot of demands on them and is run like an NFL program."
On if he expects CB Marlon Humphrey to be on the team next year and if he thinks they will need to adjust his contract to keep him (Jeff Zrebiec): "Not necessarily. I do expect him to be on the team. I love Marlon [Humphrey]."
On if he thinks teams are increasingly using the per-game availability bonus to attach money to their availability and offseason workout bonuses: "That's a good question. It's something that we've used probably a little bit more so in the last couple of years. I do think that with players that potentially have some durability questions or haven't necessarily been as healthy as you'd like them to be, that can be a useful incentive to get them on the field. Typically, you're not talking about a lot of money attached to those bonuses, but it's something that we've seen, and that's something that we've used."
On how involved QB Lamar Jackson was in the head coach interview process: "[Lamar Jackson] was definitely a part of it. There were other players involved, as well. Some guys participated via Zoom, and some guys participated in person. It was their choice. They sat in on all of the final interviews. They had a chance to give their opinions and ask questions individually, and then at the end, we decompressed with those guys, got their feedback and then made our decisions."
On if the team plans to use the transition tag on C Tyler Linderbaum (Jonas Shaffer): "Probably not."
On how the team evaluates a player's tackling abilities and tackling in practice: "We've always evaluated tackling, so that's an important part of any defensive player is the ability to tackle. [It is] something that, as a scout, I've always paid a lot of attention to. And as far as tackling in practice – we tackle in practice. I think it's team to team. I think to be a good defense, you have to tackle at different times in practice, understanding that the CBA prevents you from tackling all the time – you can only have so many padded practices. But, as far as evaluating players, tackling is going to always be an important part of looking at a defensive player, especially if you're going to play for the Baltimore Ravens."
On if he has an update on DT Nnamdi Madubuike (Josh Tolentino): "I do not [have an update]. I love Nnamdi [Madubuike], but I have no updates at this time."
On if the uncertainty surrounding DT Nnamdi Madubuike's injury will impact how he approaches the drafting (Giana Han): "It doesn't affect me very much. I think if we have the chance to draft a great defensive tackle, of course we will. It is one of the most important positions in football. Salary cap-wise, it doesn't have any major impact on us at this time. There are a lot of unknowns when you build a team, and sometimes – I learned from [executive vice president] Ozzie [Newsome] – sometimes the best thing to do is just wait for more information, and that's what we'll continue to do."
On the Ravens' approach to drafting and if analytics plays into their process: "It's challenging. I think we have one of the best analytics staff in the NFL, led by [vice president of research and development] David McDonald. We try to blend the two models together. So, we take the human element, the scout sequence, and then we take the model – the algorithm that we use – and essentially combine the two to get the best output. We feel that allows us to get the best sense for the best pick at any given slot."
On how he evaluates the wide receiver position: "Well, they come in all different shapes and sizes, right? So, it depends on what you're looking for or what you have available at that time. You've got your big guys, you've got your small guys, you got your fast guys, and you've got possession-catch guys. They have to be able to catch, first and foremost. I think route running is very important as well. Being able to drop your weight, get open and separate versus man [coverage or] versus zone [coverage]. I think you've got to be intelligent, you've got to be competitive, and you've got to be tough. I think blocking is definitely a component if you play for a team like the Ravens, that prizes running the football. And you've got to have a flair for making the big play at the right time, being a competitive player who can make a play. I think that's a really important part of the position as well."
On if he has a general timeline on when they will make a decision about DT Nnamdi Madubuike (Brian Wacker): "I do not."
On if the drafting dynamic changes when you have a need versus picking the best player available: "I think it's probably ... Every team has their own philosophy, so you could interview every general manager in here, and they would probably have a different belief and need versus BPA – best player available. I learned under [executive vice president] Ozzie Newsome, and we've always been a best-player-available team, and that's important to me. That's in my DNA. It is something I believe in. So, like I said, you have to do it within reason. You're not going to be crazy and just draft best available player and end up with 17 different outside linebackers. You're not going to do that. So, you've got to have the roster size, you've got to understand positional – how many players in each position – but all things being equal, I think you draft the best available player."
On developing the offensive and defensive lines via the Draft (Jeff Zrebiec): "Well, I think we started that last year. We took a couple guys we were excited about last year on the offensive line in [Carson Vinson] and Emery [Jones Jr.]. We're excited to see what those guys bring to the table this year. [There are] no guarantees, but we're excited to see where those guys are, and we're not done yet. I think it was tough to see Nnamdi [Madubuike] go down last year. It left us probably a little vulnerable. We did see some guys step up. It was great to see Travis [Jones] emerge like he did, especially during the second half of the season. We were fortunate to be able to get a deal done with him. But I think we've always been a team that has valued the importance of 'the trenches' and being up front. [That is] just one of the reasons why we want to bring Tyler [Linderbaum] back, if we can. Certainly a focus for us is ... When you look at your roster, and you see the ebbs and flow. You lose players – we've lost some offensive linemen the last couple of years, and we've lost some defensive linemen. We've got 11 draft picks, I think, and we should have a good opportunity to add players."
On the decision to extend TE Mark Andrews following a season where he didn't look like himself (Jonas Shaffer): "We were in a little bit of a jam last year at that position where we had nobody coming back, and we had conversations with Mark [Andrews], and we had conversations with Isaiah [Likely], and we were able to get a deal done with Mark at the end of the season or near the end of the season that we felt really good about. We expect him to get back to himself and be the player that he can be. He's been one of our great players over the last how many years, eight years? And he still has a lot on the tank, and we think he's going to be a playmaker for us this year, and we're glad we got the deal done."
On if he's talked to ILB Roquan Smith about a potential contract restructure (Kyle Goon): "I haven't had those conversations with [Roquan Smith] yet."
On if he thinks other teams are averse to taking safeties high in the draft and if he views that as a potential advantage for them in drafting quality safeties: "I don't know how other teams see it. Frankly, we don't care how other teams see it. For us, [Kyle Hamilton and Malaki Starks] were the best guys available when we made the picks, and every year is different. We didn't go into that 2022 draft thinking Kyle Hamilton was going to be the best player available when we picked, and he happened to be the best player available, and thank God he was. This [past] year, I think we did see a scenario where Malaki [Starks] might've been that guy for us. There were other players that we liked, and those guys were taken. Malaki was fortunately the last guy standing for us before what we considered to be a little bit of a drop off in the draft. So, we're blessed that those two guys were available. I certainly don't expect to take a safety this year at [No.] 14. I wouldn't expect that. It's kind of what we talked about [with] need versus best available player, but I think in the case of [Kyle Hamilton and Malaki Starks], I think we knocked those two picks out of the park."
On how likely they are to address the guard position in free agency (Jamison Hensley): "It depends on the player. It depends on the contract, it depends on the player, and it depends on the fit. And so, one of the things we have to do now is kind of get a sense for [offensive line coach & run game coordinator Dwayne] Ledford and the kind of players he's looking for. Is it going to look different? Is it going to be a different scheme? There can be value in different things, so I think that's going to factor in. Does that change the pool of players that we're looking at? In some cases, it may end up [with us] bringing some different players into the mix that, maybe in past years, we might not have been as interested in. On the flip side of that, there may be some guys who, maybe as scouts or as coaching staffs, might've liked two years ago, and now we look at them and go, 'You know what? They don't really fit what we want to be on offense.'"
On the possibility of signing a pass rusher in free agency (Brian Wacker): "Again, I think it depends on a lot of factors. Who's available? What's that contract going to look like? We certainly know that we have to augment the pass rush and improve there, and when we look at the best defenses, we see a ferocious pass rush, and that was lacking this year for different reasons. It's something that we feel strongly that we can attack this year in the offseason, whether it's through free agency or the draft. In fact, I was just in my room at the hotel looking at a pass rusher. We like this draft class in terms of pass rush, edge [rush] ability and [the] ability to get up the field and impact the passing game. So, I'm excited about that. It's something that we feel good about, and I feel certain that we'll have a chance to add a couple draft picks this year who can help us on third downs."
