Some NFL teams’ unfortunate situations can lead to diamonds in the rough or potential steals for other teams looking to cash in on a bargain. The Baltimore Ravens could look to bring in a premier pass rusher with the bizarre situation occurring with pass rusher Randy Gregory this offseason.
Gregory signed a 1-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier in the offseason but has not reported for any camps or practices as of yet. Last Word on Sports’ David Latham listed the Ravens as one of two teams (the New Orleans Saints being the other) to be a potential trade partner in this situation.
Latham wrote, “The Randy Gregory drama continues in Tampa Bay as the team gets closer and closer to cutting their losses with a trade.”
He goes on to point that there is no clear answer as to why Gregory has not shown up to camp. Gregory could be unhappy with the contract he signed earlier in the offseason but until he says otherwise nobody knows.
For the Ravens, Gregory could help keep their defense as one of the best in the league and help sustain a consistent pass-rush. Latham explained, “The Baltimore Ravens boast one of the most complete rosters in the league, but they’ll need to find a few diamonds in the rough if they want to match the highs of 2023.”
Assuming a Gregory contract would not need to be reworked, he could fit in with the limited cap space that general manager Eric DeCosta has to work with. ” Seeing as they only have $5.4 million in available cap space, a Randy Gregory trade would be a smart, low-cost way to solidify a position of weakness,” Latham wrote.
Randy Gregory Had Resurgent 2023 Season
Gregory has had an up and down career to this point as he joins the fourth team of his career. Coming out of college there were concerns, which led to him sliding into the second round of the 2015 draft to the Dallas Cowboys.
Gregory struggled out of the gate with the Cowboys putting up 0 sacks in his 2015 rookie season and only 1.0 sack in 2016. Gregory only played in 2 games during his 2016 season due to a suspension.
The defender’s problems continued as he missed the whole of 2017 for a further suspension and again in 2019. It was unfortunate as Gregory looked to be putting the pieces together in 2018 as he had his best statistical season in the NFL to that point with 6.0 sacks and 25 combined tackles.
His comeback began in 2020 when he returned to the Cowboys and had two successful seasons for Dallas where he put up 9.5 sacks and 40 combined tackles in the two seasons.
He was able to parlay those seasons into a massive 5-year, $70 million contract with the Denver Broncos. Gregory’s 2022 was maligned with a knee injury, which forced him to miss all but 6 games in the season, and he was only able to put up 2.0 sacks.
2023 was another serviceable season for the rusher as he started with the Broncos but was later traded to the San Francisco 49ers and was able to help them on a Super Bowl run.
Ravens Relying on Unknown Talent on the Line
Part of the reasoning for the trade recommendation is the Ravens lost some key pass rushers and are relying on some young pieces for the 2024 season.
Latham wrote, “The biggest loss was pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney, the former first-overall pick who recorded 9.5 sacks during his lone season with the Ravens.”
Clowney was the second leading rusher for the Ravens but left for the Carolina Panthers in the offseason leaving a hole in the rush. The Ravens are hoping for Odafe Oweh to take his growth to the next level and for David Ojabo to show why the Ravens are so confident in the LB.
They also invested in Adisa Isaac in the third round of this year’s draft but with Super Bowl aspirations in their view they may need to look to add a veteran presence.
It would not be the first time DeCosta has added a key piece during or at the end of training camp as both key pass rushers Clowney and Kyle Van Noy were added right before the start of the 2023 season.
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