Ravens Earn Praise For Massive Offseason Signing

The Baltimore Ravens have had a very direct offseason. While they have made very few big moves, the signings they have made have been purposeful. Baltimore signed free agent wide receiver and former All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins to a one-year deal, but the even greater deal was signing left tackle Ronnie Stanley to a three-year extension at the 11th hour.

While the Ravens have earned deserved recognition for the Stanley deal over the last two weeks, Ben Solak of ESPN continued to give Baltimore their flowers on the move, labeling the move as one of the signings he's loved the most this offseason.

"It was a very quiet free agency period overall for not a lot of money to spend, not a lot of starters with contracts expiring," Solak writes. "The most important item on the agenda was retaining Stanley, who bounced back from worrisome 2023 play with an excellent 2024 season. The Ravens signed Stanley before the legal tampering period began, securing his services for $20 million per year before a cash-rich team such as the Patriots could offer 125% of that. So long as Stanley stays healthy, he's a set-it-and-forget-it blindside protector."

When healthy, Stanley is one of the top left tackles in the NFL. He was named a Pro Bowler for the second time in his career in 2024 and allowed just two sacks and four hits on the quarterback, per PFF. That has been a large "if" in Stanley's career, though. 2024 was the first time he's played a full season in his nine-year career. From 2020-23, he missed 36 games, and he played in just seven games across the 2020 and 2021 seasons. However, he seems to have found a way to avoid the extreme injury bug over the last two seasons.