As the April 25th NFL draft nears, most teams have gained and lost some key role players and playmakers as they work to bolster, retool, or even rebuild their rosters. This offseason consisted of a number of key trades, some surprising signings where players took more money from a lower tier team, and players jumping to their former team’s biggest rival.
While one can’t really tell how a team’s offseason moves worked until the season begins, you can clearly see which teams have gained or lost the most. Our two local teams – the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders – have made some interesting moves this offseason to each their own
Let’s start with the Ravens and what they lost. The Ravens lost some major players, including starting linebacker Patrick Queen, who went to the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers on a 41 million dollar contract. Queen was a major part of the defense so this move definitely takes a toll on the whole team. The Ravens also lost a few more key assets to free agency including two key members of the backfield with both Gus Edwards and J.K Dobbins taking their talents to the Los Angeles Chargers. Dobbins, who was lost for the season to injury early on put all the pressure on Edwards to perform highly the rest of the season and, perhaps even more importantly, the playoffs – and I think we all know how that went. Lastly, the Ravens lost another key defensive player as Jadaveon Clowney, an outside linebacker, signed with a bad Panthers team just for a significant pay increase.
The Commanders saw some minor changes during the off-season but nothing too significant that could hurt their franchise. First off the Commanders lost Curtis Samuel, a solid second wide receiver who was dominant in their offensive scheme. Samuel is taking his talents to the Buffalo Bills, a team in need of a lot of help after losing their top two guys. The Commanders also lost veteran quarterback Jacoby Brisett, who gave them a couple of decent games in 2023. With the trade of Sam Howell to the Seattle Seahawks and no long-term QB option in mind, most NFL insiders believe Washington will draft LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick in this year’s draft to try and fill a void they have had for years.
Getting back to the Ravens, while they lost quite a bit, they did also add some players. After the season this year a lot of the talk was what Derrick Henry was going to do after saying goodbye to the Tennessee Titans. That talk was silenced when the Ravens signed Henry to a two-year, 16 million dollar contract. A big problem for the Ravens during the 2023-2024 AFC championship game was the run game and with the addition of Henry that run game became a little scarier for NFL defenders around the league.
