The rush to sign a free agent guard saw plenty of solid starters end up with fat pay-offs on the first day of free agency.
One player who did not get paid though was Pro Bowler Kevin Zeitler.
And that's great news for the Baltimore Ravens.
The longer Baltimore's best interior offensive lineman from 2023 continues to be on the open market, the better the chance he ends up returning to the team he reached the Pro Bowl for the first time with.
Baltimore has already lost offensive lineman John Simpson to free agency when he signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the New York Jets. Zeitler could still walk for a good price, but if he's getting anywhere close to Simpson's money, the Ravens could be legitimate players.
The market hasn't exactly helped general manager Eric DeCosta, though.
Whether it was Robert Hunt, Mike Onwenu, or Damien Lewis, the guard market received massive contracts worth over $15 million annually. That could certainly keep Zeitler looking for long-term money. It also doesn't help that many of the available tackles on the market have not received major contract offers.
Players like Tyron Smith and David Bakhtiari have yet to sign free-agent deals and their age and injury history is a big reason why. Zeitler doesn't have the kind of injury concerns that some of the tackles have, but the fact that he is 34 years old could bring some teams to be patient.
That's quite all right for the Ravens, though. They have major needs along the offensive line, and the longer Zeitler is available, the better the chance he stays in Baltimore.
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