Mark Andrews Drama Could Factor Into Ravens Draft Plans

There'll always be someone involved with a team who'll attract the most pointed fingers, justified or not. While those annual witch hunts occasionally take time to materialize, fans of the Baltimore Ravens had no problem locating someone to take their vitriol out on after the team's most recent torturously premature playoff exit.

It would be hard to be a more obvious fall guy than Mark Andrews, even if he only has himself to blame for dropping that potential game-tying two-point conversion in Baltimore's 27-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills in a season-ending divisional round defeat.

That one clumsy play effectively wasted yet another season of contention for the Ravens and another First Team All-Pro appearance from 2x MVP Lamar Jackson, and this Baltimore offseason has been murky between franchise cornerstone Andrews' questionable future and how that influences the looming NFL Draft. With the franchise non-committal about the longtime tight end's future with the team, Andrews may occupy significant space in the draft room's brain trust later this week.

The quiet trade front has only fed Andrews-related trade rumors, which the veteran finally addressed to ESPN in stating that he's at the mercy of Baltimore ownership and the business of football while "looking forward for redemption."

Could the Ravens spend a higher draft pick on a new receiver, or better yet, use Andrews as a trade chip for a similar need? The football world is certainly considering that as a possibility, with various mock drafts accounting for the Ravens potentially spending a valuable pick on a pass catcher once they've addressed their more obvious edge needs.

A lot would have to go into replacing someone as reliable as Andrews, who shook off a slow start in 2024 to catch a career-high 11 touchdowns as one of Jackson's favorite end zone targets. The only Ravens to exceed the All-Pro tight end's 673 receiving yards this past season were the lone 1,000+ yard accumulator in Flowers and regular deep threat Rashon Bateman with 756.

Only the Ravens front office knows what's coming, as entering draft day without a plan here would make this coming season even more strenuous than your average Ravens campaign. To deal Andrews would seriously shake up this team's already-thin aerial attack, while an announcement of Baltimore's commitment to Andrews would arrive as a shock in its own way after months of swirling rumors.

Ravens fans, accustomed to the tension that comes with expectations, will have to keep waiting to see how team management will look to navigate this most recent sticky situation.