Two-time Super Bowl champ to re-sign with Ravens

The Ravens expressed interest in re-signing Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy after both became surprising contributors despite signing late in the year. After Clowney bolted for a Panthers proposal, Van Noy stayed in Baltimore.

According to ESPN’s Pat McAfee (via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler), Van Noy will sign a two-year deal with the Ravens. After signing in late September last year and ripping off a nine-sack season anyway, Van Noy will be back to help out the defending AFC North champions’ edge-rushing corps.

A productive pass rusher — as more of a hybrid player who has spent plenty of time as a traditional linebacker — Van Noy had never topped seven sacks in a season before 2023. Although he did not suit up for the Ravens until October, the former Patriots cog established a new career high with nine sacks. Van Noy got there in 14 games, teaming with Clowney to form a free agent-driven OLB crew. Clowney totaled 9.5 sacks but had a head-start, having signed with the Ravens during training camp.

This will be Van Noy’s first multiyear deal since a two-year, $12M Patriots pact in 2021. After one season, the Pats bailed on that accord, leading Van Noy to the Chargers. Filling in for the again-injured Joey Bosa in 2022 (as a May signing), Van Noy continued his string of five-plus-sack seasons by registering five.

The versatile veteran now has six seasons with at least five QB drops. While the Ravens will probably keep looking for edge help, the team has one box checked via this re-signing. Clowney was more consistent than Van Noy last season, notching 19 QB hits to Van Noy’s nine. He is now tied to a $10M-per-year deal. However, the 33-year-old vet provided strong supplemental work for a Ravens team that led the NFL in scoring defense.

Certainly benefiting from the Ravens’ offense creating leads for most of the season, Van Noy notched two-sack games in Baltimore blowouts over Detroit and Seattle. He rejoins recent draftees Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo. Neither of the homegrown players has panned out yet, with injuries slowing Ojabo. The Ravens also cut the injury-plagued Tyus Bowser earlier this offseason, which still makes it likely the team will make another move — perhaps early in the draft — for an edge.

At worst, Van Noy profiles as a quality rotational rusher. But he started 13 Ravens games last season. Baltimore relied on mid- or late-offseason signings during Oweh’s tenure, using Justin Houston and Jason Pierre-Paul in prominent roles following Matt Judon‘s 2021 free agency departure. It will be interesting to see if another veteran will be en route or if a homegrown option will join the 2021 first-rounder.