When the Ravens signed former Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley to what amounted to a two-year, $44M deal, and they did so before the player ever officially hit the market, the implications were sweeping.
The rest of the league had major concerns about Stanley’s ankle holding up after two major surgeries. While he never officially hit the market, his representatives, coming off a superb 2024 season in which the Ravens offense accomplished generational things, had ample time to get a feel for what would be out there on the open market at the start of the league year, if they chose to play it out.
The Ravens doctors and medical teams had helped Stanley save a career he thought was going to be over years ago; he trusted them and they trusted him. So the Ravens would secure his services for basically two more seasons (the third year on the contrast includes nothing binding him to the team) without substantial upfront money.
It spoke more to Stanley’s deep medical past than it did his performance at the time. He continued to deliver at a quality level in 2025, but has had trouble stringing sterling seasons together. The Ravens investing big to improve their guard play should help the tackles as well, but this very well could be it for Stanley and Roger Rosengarten as Lamar Jackson’s bookends and this position could require significant new investment in the next nine months.
Key Contracts
Starters:
LT Stanley $22M cash ($10M cap): At age 32, this could be hit. His salary of $16M for 2027 isn’t guaranteed. Might he consider retirement after this season given all his body has already been through? If he plays as he did even last year, that $16M is probably not up to snuff. They’ve gotten more out of him than could have been expected and might regret not investing more in insurance at left tackle in the past few drafts.
RG Rosengarten $1.4M cash ($1.8M cap): Having a starting tackle on a rookie contract selected outside the first round is a cash boon for teams. Rosengarten took a serious step back in his sophomore year and thinking of him as the next left tackle would be silly.
Others To Know
Emery Jones: Can the third-round pick from year ago become a supersub at multiple positions? He’s clearly blocked at guard baring injury.
Carson Vinson: They talk up the fifth-round pick quite a bit, but if either of these guys had to replace Stanely for any real period of time it might just torpedo the season.
Prognosis For 2026 – Too Thin
Man, could this team use a guy like Patrick Mekari now. Having a versatile lineman who is good enough to start at multiple positions at least for a decent chunk of time would be exactly what this line needs. It was only a few years back that Stanley was being rotated in and out games and getting extra rest coming out of a bye. Moving Rosengarten to the blindside in-season would be asking for trouble. Investing a few million in a journeyman who has starting experience in both tackle spots would make a lot of sense to me.
Prognosis Beyond 2026 – Bleak
We are a long way from the 2027 draft, and there will absolutely be other pressing needs, but left tackle will undoubtedly be high among them. And is Rosengarten more of someone who an play in the league and be serviceable if part of a stout overall unit, or is he someone who could anchor a vital spot for multiple contracts? I reported throughout the offseason that the Ravens were super high on Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor and I absolutely believe he would have been the pick at 14 over Vega Ione is he was still available.
The value you get from a starting left tackle on a rookie deal is massive. If I could place a bet on Ravens to use their first pick in 2027 on an OT right now Id place it.
Projections
I have a hard time thinking they get 17 games out of Stanley. Can they have him close to top form for the playoffs? Nursing him through it and sharing some reps is something we know they lean into, but not sure they have enough fully-developed quality behind the starters to pull it off unless they push that payroll higher and address this. Wouldn’t surprise me at all that, a year after the guards were so awful, the Ravens get more consistent performances from their guards than tackles this season.
If the Ravens have in fact waited a year too long to make the necessary adjustments at this position it will become a major storyline to another season that falls short of expectations.
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