The hints were there.
Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey last month tweeted that Odell Beckham Jr. “looks like a Raven to me.” John Harbaugh said at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix two weeks ago — three days after signing free agent receiver Nelson Agholor — that Baltimore wasn’t done when it came to adding to that group. Then, incredibly, Beckham showed up the next day at the meetings to meet with multiple teams, including the Ravens, about his services.
Still, in the NFL offseason smoke often doesn’t mean fire, and the odds didn’t seem to be in Baltimore’s favor. The Ravens have little salary cap space and little history of splashy free agent receiver signings. Plus, Beckham was reportedly scheduled to meet with the New York Jets beginning Sunday night about the possibility of teaming up with Aaron Rodgers.
There also was the uncertainty surrounding the Ravens’ disgruntled quarterback Lamar Jackson, who last month told the organization that he wants to be traded, with Baltimore responding five days later by placing the nonexclusive franchise tag on him. Fast forward 38 days from that demand, though, and there was Jackson joyously FaceTiming with Beckham, whose one-year deal, reportedly worth $15 million with $3 million more in incentives, with Baltimore notably makes him the highest paid free agent receiver this offseason, a fact that can’t be discounted in this process. Beckham reportedly celebrated the new deal at Prime 112 in Miami Beach, where he was joined at the steakhouse by Jackson, according to TMZ Sports.
The impact of Beckham in Baltimore is myriad.
Immediate upgrade to WR group
The Ravens haven’t had a wideout of Beckham’s pedigree since three-time All-Pro Steve Smith, who spent the final three years of his career in Baltimore after coming over from the Carolina Panthers as a free agent in 2014. But as notable a signing as Beckham, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, is, there are major questions surrounding what kind of impact he can have as a player who will turn 31 on Nov. 5 and missed all of last season after suffering a second torn ACL to his left knee in Super Bowl 56 with the Los Angeles Rams in February 2022.
When healthy, Beckham has been one of the better receivers in the NFL. Five times in his eight-season career he has topped the 1,000-yard mark, something no other receiver on the Ravens’ roster has done even once. But the last of those 1,000-yard seasons came in 2019 — when Baltimore’s new offensive coordinator Todd Monken held the same role with the Cleveland Browns. That year, Beckham had 74 catches on 130 targets for 1,035 yards and four touchdowns. In Beckham’s last season, in 2021 with the Cleveland Browns and then the Rams, his 75.0 Pro Football Focus grade would rank as the best by a Baltimore receiver (with more than 20 targets) since Smith’s 75.4 in 2016.
By comparison, Devin Duvernay in his third season with Baltimore last year, got the highest grade from PFF among Ravens’ receivers with a grade of 66.2 after putting up 407 yards on 37 catches with three touchdowns. Second-year receiver Rashod Bateman, who had 15 catches for 285 yards and two scores through the first six games before undergoing season-ending foot surgery, was next among the group with a 61.6 grade.
One other perhaps valuable element that Beckham, who had seven touchdowns over his final 11 games with the Rams, brings to the wide receiver room: experience. Excluding Beckham and fellow 30-year-old free agent signee Nelson Agholor, the average age of the Ravens’ others receivers is a shade over 26 years old.
How the Ravens were able to afford Beckham
Going into Sunday, the Ravens had just over $6 million in salary cap space. General manager Eric DeCosta earlier this offseason talked about the need to get creative, and that’s what they did when it came to giving the big money that Beckham was seeking. Of his $15 million deal, $13.835 million came via signing bonus, with just $1.165 million in base salary, according to multiple reports. Beckham could reportedly also make up to $3 million more in incentives. But for 2023, just $3.932 million of Beckham’s deal will count toward this year’s cap, according to Over The Cap, with the four years after that counting as void years.
It’s a tactic that many teams have used but is rare for the Ravens, though they did use them in restructuring the contracts of Michael Pierce, Kevin Zeitler and Gus Edwards this offseason. In Beckham’s case, it could also be costly. If Beckham’s one-year deal isn’t extended before next season, Baltimore will take an $11.1 million dead money hit in 2024.
As for how Beckham’s deal compares to others, only 21 other wideouts have contracts with an average annual value of $15 million. Beckham checks in alongside the Rams’ Allen Robinson and the Denver Broncos’ Courtland Sutton.
Draft impact
Harbaugh said two weeks ago that the team will draft a wide receiver. That still might be the case, but the addition of Beckham could mean the Ravens will turn their attention to their other glaring need and spend their first-round pick (No. 22 overall) on a cornerback — assuming they don’t trade down to acquire more picks because they only have five in all and no second-round pick.
Still, it’s possible Baltimore could select a receiver. TCU’s Quentin Johnston is a big body receiver with a wide catch radius who can run a wide variety of routes, ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid told The Baltimore Sun. Southern California’s Jordan Addison is a great route-runner and possession threat and Boston College’s Zay Flowers an explosive deep threat, ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller told The Baltimore Sun. Any of them would figure to fit well alongside Beckham and within the Ravens’ needs at a position that has ranked last in the NFL in receiving yards in three of the last four years.
If the Ravens instead turn to cornerback in the first round, Maryland’s Deonte Banks, Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. and Georgia’s Kelee Ringo are among the possibilities.
Lamar Jackson’s contract situation
How quickly things can change. One minute before Harbaugh met with the media during the NFL owners meetings, Jackson tweeted out his trade request. Two weeks later, friends Jackson and Beckham were partying in South Beach.
While Jackson has still yet to sign his $32.4 million nonexclusive franchise tag with the Ravens, no team has also emerged with an offer for the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player. It seems even less likely now with the likelihood that Beckham wasn’t joining the Ravens unless there was some guarantee that he knew who his quarterback would be and that quarterback would be Jackson.
There are still questions — about Jackson’s long-term future in Baltimore and Beckham’s abilities off a second torn ACL — but things look a lot brighter in Baltimore than they did just 14 days ago.
The Ravens, who went 10-7 and lost in the first round of the playoffs last season, and whose offense ranked in the middle of the pack in 2022 with 338 yards and 20.6 points per game, now at least have the potential to be much more explosive. That’s Harbaugh’s and Monken’s goal, and it’s made easier with Jackson at quarterback, J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards anchoring a solid backfield, Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely at tight end and Beckham and Bateman leading a receiving unit that includes promising young players Duvernay and James Proche II, along with one of the league’s best offensive lines. Baltimore also figures to have a more up-tempo and creative scheme under Monken.
At least one future Ravens opponent already had a thought on the potential dynamic duo of Beckham and Jackson, with Browns defensive end Obo Okoronkwo, a teammate of Beckham’s on the Rams, tweeting, “I hope the Ravens fumble Lamar cause him and Odell together is OD.”
Questions remain but things potentially came clearer on Sunday night. Beckham tweeted shortly after the news of his signing broke: “We gon seee…”
