Ravens Receivers Looking to 'Flip That Narrative' After Key Veteran Signing

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jack Gorman | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 1:04 PM ET

The Baltimore Ravens are the fifth NFL team for DeAndre Hopkins. At 33, the future NFL Hall of Famer is nearing the end his career, and is still seeking that ever-elusive football prize: A Super Bowl ring.

Meanwhile, the Ravens themselves are looking to end a string of underachieving in the NFL playoffs. Despite having a two-time league MVP at quarterback, the team has not been to a Super Bowl since Joe Flacco led the team to a win in 2013.

The team's Achilles heel has often been the wide receiver position, where its most notable player was a long-time Tennessee Titan, Steve Smith, Jr. Now, the Ravens are hoping that adding Hopkins, himself formerly of Tennessee, will have the same kind of juice.

Ravens receiver Rashod Bateman seems to think it will.

"You could just definitely tell that he's been in the game a while and done a lot of great things," Bateman said of Hopkins. "He's been a very good veteran for us, giving all of us advice -- not even just myself -- he's been very vocal about that. All of us are much younger so [our] ears are open and we're taking all the advice we can get from him. He's done great things, so hopefully we can take that, add it to our game, add it to our personalities to go help this team."

Bateman - who signed a three-year, $36.75 million extension two weeks ago, had a career-best season in 2024. He believes that the addition of Hopkins will be the missing piece to rebuild the reputations of Ravens receivers.

"I wanted to flip that narrative of receivers here and I definitely think we're on the right track of doing that, said Bateman to the NFL Network. Not really looking for nobody else's validation but it feels good, somewhat, to be in the midst now headed down that right track."

Bateman and Hopkins - along with 2023 first-round pick Zay Flowers - could be the strongest trio of receivers the Ravens have seen since they moved to Baltimore in 1996. Time will tell if that's enough to bring Baltimore its third Suepr Bowl title in three decades.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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