Ravens broke two AFC rivals with one move (just ask Mahomes and Ward)

The Baltimore Ravens’ offseason started with one goal: bring Ronnie Stanley back. Mission accomplished. But as it turns out, re-signing their Pro Bowl left tackle might’ve done more than just stabilize Lamar Jackson’s blindside. It might’ve accidentally broken two other AFC teams in the process.

Stanley’s three-year, $60 million deal kept him in Baltimore despite reported interest from the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, and Washington Commanders. And when he came off the board, the scramble began. The Chiefs, in particular, were hoping to land Stanley as their big free-agent fix after Patrick Mahomes was running for his life in the Super Bowl. The Tennessee Titans, meanwhile, were in desperate need of anyone to man the left side after a disastrous 2024 showing.

Fast forward a few months, and Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport just named both of their fallback plans among the worst decisions of the entire offseason. Coincidence? Sure. But let’s not act like Baltimore’s early move didn’t set the tone.

Ronnie Stanley staying in Baltimore led to chaos elsewhere

Once Stanley re-upped with the Ravens, Kansas City turned around and gave $30 million to Jaylon Moore. The one with 12 total starts in four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. This is the fallback option whose 83% career pass block win rate would’ve ranked 63rd out of 67 offensive tackles last year, per ESPN’s Seth Walder.

Even Chiefs GM Brett Veach sounded like he was talking himself into it. “The only downside was just the lack of starts,” Veach said, “but… he played behind Trent Williams.” Right. But let’s be honest: you don’t give $15 million a year to a backup unless you missed on your real target. And that target was very clearly Stanley.

Mahomes was sacked six times and hit 11 more, with 16 pressures in the Super Bowl. His protection failed him when it mattered most. So what’s the Chiefs’ fix? Gambling on a backup tackle and praying it doesn’t backfire.

Then there’s the Titans. Davenport didn’t pull any punches when he labeled Tennessee’s four-year, $82 million deal for Dan Moore Jr. the worst signing of the offseason. Moore gave up 12 sacks last season, 8 the year before, and somehow got paid like a top-10 tackle. You don’t throw that kind of money at that kind of player unless the market dried up—and Stanley’s re-signing was the domino that triggered it.

And now they’re handing Moore the keys to protect No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. Talk about rolling the dice with your franchise’s future before he’s even taken a snap.

Baltimore, meanwhile, avoided the circus entirely. They got their guy back on a team-friendly deal. The guy who wanted to give Eric DeCosta dibs out of respect. That kept continuity in front of Lamar. And then forced two conference rivals to commit long-term to unproven tackles.

Look, nobody’s saying the Ravens meant to do this. But if locking down Ronnie Stanley quietly helped make two other AFC teams—especially the Chiefs—worse? That’s what you call an unintentional masterclass in team building.

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