Ravens HC Expects Pro Bowler to Continue Ascending

"We'll be looking to bolster the depth but also bolster the competition in the O-line," Harbaugh said. "But bringing Ronnie back was a huge part of that. We couldn't say that if Ronnie wasn't coming back. If Ronnie had decided to go elsewhere, we would've had to have addressed that in a big way."

Before the 2024 season, Stanley had been plagued with injuries since a few days after he signed his first big extension with the Ravens during the 2020 season. Last year he not only played in and started every game for the first time in his career but he truly had a resurgent campaign in which he appeared to have regained his former pre-injury form and earned his second career Pro Bowl nod as a first alternate.

Moving forward now that he is signed through the 2027 season when he'll be 33 years old, the expectation of him from his head coach is to take his game to an even higher level now that he is further removed from his injury woes.

"I expect Ronnie to even continue to ascend – not just back to where he was pre-injury, but past that now," Harbaugh said. "And I just love his mindset, his maturity, his work ethic, his determination to be a legacy-type player. I think that's really what he wants to accomplish right now, and that's really important for our team."

While the Ravens were able to bring back Stanley, they lost their starting left guard in free agency for the third year in a row when versatile veteran Patrick Mekari signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nevertheless, Harbaugh remains confident in the team's ability to field another formidable blocking unit in 2025.

"I feel good about the O-line right now, today," Harbaugh said. "We could play with five starters. We have competition even there, but we can use a couple more guys, too."

Their top in-house candidate to replace Mekari is 2023 seventh-rounder Andrew Vohrees who won the starting job in training camp last year but lost it due to injury after the first three weeks of the regular season. General manager Eric DeCosta told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine that they see several starting caliber guard prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft that could be had in the middle rounds who would have a chance to come in and compete.