Ravens Have No Excuse After Jaire Alexander Signing

The Baltimore Ravens made the most recent splash of the offseason on Wednesday, signing two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander to a very team-friendly deal.

Alexander has injury concerns, having only played 14 games over the past two seasons, but is still one of the league's better cornerbacks when healthy. He fills a major need for the Ravens at cornerback, and adding him makes star quarterback and former Louisville teammate Lamar Jackson very happy. If he can stay healthy, this is a home-run signing late in the offseason.

However, the signing only reinforces something that has been very apparent throughout the offseason: the Ravens are firmly in championship-or-bust mode. They honestly have been for at least the past couple of years, but with their moves this offseason, they've made it clear that anything less than a Super Bowl is a failure.

Most of the starters from last year's record-setting offense returns this year, including a Jackson playing the best football of his career, a 1,900-yard rusher in Derrick Henry, and a strong receiving corps featuring Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman out wide and Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely at tight end. With DeAndre Hopkins now in the fold, there may even be more firepower now than there was last year.

Additionally, the defense that ended last season as one of the league's best has seemingly only improved. Malaki Starks and Mike Green should have strong rookie seasons at safety and edge rusher respectively, and Alexander solves the depth issues at cornerback.

Altogether, the Ravens have a top-three roster in the league at worst, and they have a very good argument for having the absolute best.

They've also managed to have remarkable continuity on their coaching staff. Todd Monken returns to lead the offense despite some head-coaching interest, while Zach Orr returns to run the defense after showing tremendous growth last season.

Barring horrific injury luck, which, to be fair, wouldn't be a first for the Ravens, there's absolutely no excuse for not at least making it to the big game. If they can't get it done with this team, then one simply has to ask: when will they?