Ravens' Mark Andrews Faces Make-Or-Break Year

The Baltimore Ravens have nearly a dozen projected starters, key role players and quality depth pieces who are either heading into the final year of their respective contracts or are playing on one-year deals in 2025.

One of the most notable and accomplished among them is three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews. He has been one of Lamar Jackson's closest friends and most trusted targets in the passing game for the past seven years and became the franchise's all-time leader in touchdowns last season.

Following months of being rumored to be on the chopping or trading block, the Ravens ultimately decided to let Andrews play out the final year of his current deal key not moving on from at the junctures when it would've made the most sense. He is one of 17 prominent players who NFL.com's Nick Shook believes is heading into a 'make-or-break' year in 2025.

"With Andrews entering the final year of his contract after surviving an offseason of uncertainty, now is the time for the 29-year-old to give the team overwhelming evidence that it should retain him beyond 2025," Shook wrote.

All three of the Ravens' tight ends and five-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard are slated to be unrestricted free agents next offseason. The prudent business move would be to prioritize retaining fourth-year pro Isaiah Likely who is the younger option of the two at 25 years old and possesses All Pro potential according to head coach John Harbaugh.

Recency bias stemming from his costly mistakes in the Ravens' 2024 playoff exit has cast Andrews in an unfavorable light in the eyes of an outspoken contingent of fans and made him seem expendable, according to many pundits. However, he is a core leader on and off the field and can still be a difference-maker when healthy. Returning as close to his former All Pro form and level of production would almost ensure he finishes his career as a Raven.

"A monster season — capped, perhaps, by some clutch postseason plays a year after his meltdown contributed to the team’s playoff exit — would help his cause," Shook wrote. "A strong campaign will fetch quality offers elsewhere, too, but if Andrews wants to spend his entire career in Baltimore, he could make that a reality by crushing it in 2025."

Last season Andrews appeared in all 17 games and after a slow start, finished with the team lead in touchdown receptions (11), second in receptions (55) and was third in receiving yards (673) and targets (69). Another year in which he reaches double-digit touchdowns and encroaches or even eclipses 1,000 receiving yards would definitely give the Ravens a lot to consider. Still, just another solid campaign might not be enough to convince them to bring him back over Likely.