Dre'Mont Jones' Successful Ravens Stint Comes to a Close

Jones, who spent last season with the Tennessee Titans before joining the Ravens heading into Week 10, enjoyed something of a career-resurgence along Baltimore's edge. He accumulated 17 tackles and 2.5 sacks over nine outings, a much-needed pressure threat for a Baltimore squad that desperately needed someone to frighten opposing offensive lines.

His energy will be sorely missed, but considering his cross-conference move to join the reigning-AFC Champion Patriots, he'll run into his old team sooner rather than later. And for a third-round pick who was starting to fall into a journeyman role, three years of security and nearly-$40 million awaiting him at his next competitive home is a fitting reward for a strong season.

What Can the Ravens Take Away?

The Ravens are usually keen to stay away from the flashy A-lister when conducting their trades, having escaped the Jones acquisition by giving up a conditional 2026 sixth-round pick for the pass-rusher. That swap was a mighty success despite the group's finishing the season with an 8-9 record and missing the playoffs, a well-handled bit of business buried in an otherwise messy campaign.

Their usual desire to build prospects up through the draft themselves seems to have flipped on its head over the last few days, though, when the Ravens did what they've never done before by flipping two upcoming first-round picks for Crosby. And as fun as Jones' ruthless personality was to add to Baltimore's position group, there's no replicating Crosby's production in the aggregate

Their commitment to outsmarting others in the margin moves had its moments, but there's no room or patience to get cute entering a big potential bounce-back season. New head coach Jesse Minter will attempt to revitalize the Lamar Jackson era behind some of the best defensive toys he could ask for in Crosby and Kyle Hamilton, and as helpful as Jones was as a rental, the squad is right where they want to be on that front.