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Jamison Hensley
OWINGS MILS , Md. — Offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley stood in a nearly empty locker room after the Baltimore Ravens‘ 27-25 divisional playoff loss against the Buffalo Bills on Jan. 19 when he was asked about his future with the team.
“Who knows?” Stanley said. “This one is going to hurt for a while. This is probably the toughest loss of my career so far. I’m going to just take it day by day and whatever happens, happens.”
As tough as that postseason loss was a month ago, the Ravens’ decision on who will protect Lamar Jackson‘s blind side is the team’s most difficult in recent memory. Stanley, drafted nine years ago with the No. 6 pick, is a two-time Pro Bowl player and has been Baltimore’s starting left tackle since 2016. And, for the first time in his career, he is set to hit the free agent market.
There’s no question that the Ravens would like to retain Stanley after he delivered his best season since a career-altering left ankle injury in 2020. He ranked 12th in pass block win rate among tackles (92.5%), played in every game in a single season for the first time and continued to be a respected leader.
Stanley also turns 31 next month and has missed 36 games over the past five years. His 24 penalties since 2022 are the most on the Ravens.
“I think our goal is to always have the best offensive line that we can have,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said at the team’s end of season news conference.
Stanley is considered among the top five free agents in the league, including the top available left tackle. His projected market value is $20.7 million per season, according to Spotrac.
Last offseason, Stanley took a 50% pay cut to remain with the Ravens after a season in which he struggled. He called Baltimore “a second home” and made the point that he would only want to leave on a positive note.
Now, the Ravens have to figure out how aggressively they will look to keep Stanley this offseason and Stanley has to determine whether he will take less to stay. The Ravens are projected to rank in the bottom 10 in the NFL in least amount of salary cap space.
There has been talk over the years about how much the Ravens need to invest at left tackle considering Jackson’s elusiveness and ability to escape pressure. Since 2020, in games where Jackson started but Stanley was sidelined, Baltimore was 20-10 (.667).
If the Ravens lose Stanley in free agency, there’s a possibility they could move right tackle Roger Rosengarten to fill the void on the left side. Rosengarten, who started 14 games at right tackle, grew up playing left tackle and said he was comfortable playing both spots when Baltimore drafted him in the second round last year.
When asked if Rosengarten could switch to left tackle, DeCosta acknowledged Rosengarten has played left and right tackle before praising how he improved throughout last season.
“He’s a mature guy beyond his years,” DeCosta said. “I think a year in the weight room is going to really serve him well. It’s a very tough position to play as a young player. I think his future is very bright — as with all the other guys that he played with on the offensive line this year — and we’re excited to see what he looks like next year.”
In addition to Stanley, starting left guard Patrick Mekari will be a free agent. That means both starters on the left side of the line could be gone, which is not something new to Baltimore.
The Ravens have shown they are not afraid to get younger on the offensive line. A year ago, Baltimore replaced its starting left side of guard Kevin Zeitler and tackle Morgan Moses — two blockers who are 33 and older — with two linemen who are 25 and younger: Rosengarten and guard Daniel Faalele.
With this retooled line, the Ravens finished No. 1 in offense for the first time in franchise history. In what was a credit to the offensive line, Baltimore led the NFL in average rushing yards before first contact (3.72) and finished with the third-fewest sacks (24).
“We made a tough call last year to go younger and have some younger guys play, and we knew we’d have a few growing pains,” DeCosta said. “I think we had a few, but looking back on it, I think it was absolutely the right thing to do. We saw our guys improve and get better and really mesh as a unit and jell.”
DeCosta added, “We are aware that we have some guys whose contracts are up, and we’ll look at that and certainly have some discussions with players. We’ll look at potentially bringing back our guys; we’ll look at the draft; we’ll look at free agency; we’ll overturn every rock to find as many good offensive linemen as we can.”