Do Ravens need Jadeveon Clowney? It depends on how they view their young edge rushers

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The Baltimore Ravens have done well signing productive veterans late in the offseason, so it was hardly surprising that the sudden availability of one of their past success stories prompted talk that they’re ready to make another move.

After drafting two edge rushers, the Carolina Panthers released veteran outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney last week. The Ravens were immediately cited as a potential suitor, and it’s easy to see why.

Clowney had one of the best seasons of his career with the Ravens in 2023, registering 9 1/2 sacks while playing a disruptive brand of football and flourishing in a winning environment. Baltimore is always looking to augment its pass rush, and it’s been able to in the recent past by signing veterans such as Clowney, Kyle Van Noy, Justin Houston and Pernell McPhee on modest deals.

Clowney’s availability, however, comes at a time when the Ravens are deeper at outside linebacker. Van Noy and 2021 first-round pick Odafe Oweh combined for 22 1/2 sacks last year. Tavius Robinson, a 2023 fourth-round selection who had 3 1/2 sacks, 12 quarterback hits and played 43 percent of the defensive snaps last season, is viewed by the organization as an ascending player.

A third-round pick last year, Adisa Isaac is healthy again after injuries marred his rookie season. The Ravens still haven’t given up on David Ojabo, a 2022 second-round pick who has struggled to overcome injuries and make an impact. They also used another second-rounder last month on Mike Green, who was widely considered one of the top pass rushers in the draft but fell because he was twice accused of sexual assault.

David Ojabo, a second-round pick in 2022, is one of a handful of young pass rushers on Baltimore’s roster. (Rob Carr / Getty Images)

Clowney is a proven NFL commodity, which is more than you can say about Isaac, Ojabo and Green. Clowney is a three-time Pro Bowler and has 58 career sacks. For a Ravens team desperately trying to get over the hump in the playoffs, there’s certainly something to be said for knowing what you are going to get from a proven veteran rather than hoping for a breakout from a young player.

Ultimately, though, general manager Eric DeCosta’s decision on whether to pursue Clowney will come down to the Ravens’ evaluation of the young edge rushers on the roster. Does the team believe one or two are primed for breakout years? Is there concern that adding Clowney, or even another ex-Raven free agent like Za’Darius Smith or Matthew Judon, would take snaps away from some combination of Green, Isaac and Ojabo, and to a lesser extent Robinson, who can move inside? Are the Ravens determined to get more out of the draft capital they’ve used on the position?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then it’s easy to see why the Ravens would have reservations about pursuing Clowney. As it is, even without Clowney, there probably is not room for more than five edge rushers on the regular-season roster. There’s certainly not room to dress more than five on game days. That would mean unless there’s an injury, it could be Isaac and Ojabo competing for one spot. If Clowney is added to the mix, that would make the roster situation even tighter. Keeping six outside linebackers would leave the Ravens light in other areas.

And even if you’ve already written off Ojabo, who has four sacks in three NFL seasons, Clowney’s presence would surely impact the snaps allotted to Green, Isaac and maybe even Robinson. They’d essentially be competing for fourth and fifth edge rusher snaps. Would the team’s decision-makers view that as a good problem to have or a legitimate issue in trying to develop young pass rushers?

The Ravens are a draft-and-develop team, and they typically lean toward rewarding their own with opportunities before going outside for help. In other words, how they approach Clowney’s availability will tell us more about their evaluations of their own young edge rushers than it will about their feelings about Clowney.

News, notes and opinions

1. NFL schedules will be released Wednesday and, as usual, the prevailing question for the Ravens will be just how often the league has them in prime time. How about as often as possible? Quarterback Lamar Jackson remains one of the faces of the league, and the Ravens are again expected to be good. Throw in a schedule that includes games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams, along with the always compelling divisional matchups with the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers, and figure on Baltimore playing the full allotment of 2025 prime-time games.

2. Would the Ravens have drafted a kicker if Justin Tucker wasn’t the subject of serious sexual misconduct allegations and an NFL investigation that could result in a suspension? Probably not. Would the Ravens have released Tucker before the NFL concluded its investigation if he were still at the top of his game and not coming off the worst year of his career? Again, probably not. Regardless of how the team termed the release — and avoiding a grievance probably factored into their approach — this wasn’t exclusively a “football decision.”

But you also can’t dismiss the football elements, like Tucker’s poor 2024, his high salary and concern about how the off-the-field issues and increased scrutiny would impact his performance. I don’t get the sense that the Ravens learned anything new about the league’s investigation to prompt last week’s release. It seemed more a result of the Ravens considering all of the factors, starting with the allegations, and coming to the conclusion that having Tucker and his potential successor, sixth-round pick Tyler Loop, in the building at the same time and headed for a summer kicking competition wasn’t a good situation for the organization.

3. The Ravens have 86 players on their roster, which leaves room for four more additions. A few of those were expected to come with the signing of tryout guys at Baltimore’s rookie minicamp. But nearly a week since the conclusion of the minicamp, there’s been no movement on that front. And one of the minicamp participants who was billed as a potential roster addition, Nebraska nose tackle Nash Hutmacher, has since signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Wyoming kicker John Hoyland remains in the mix for a roster spot.

The Louisiana-Lafayette football program also said on its X account that cornerback Keyon Martin, who was at Baltimore’s minicamp, signed with the team. Yet, there has been no word from the Ravens about roster additions since they announced their undrafted free agent class on May 4.

4. In his media availability following the conclusion of the draft, DeCosta didn’t sugarcoat the need for an interior run stuffer to replace the retired Michael Pierce. However, the list of interior defensive linemen available in free agency is neither long nor impressive. Some of the more notable names are John Jenkins, Linval Joseph, Raekwon Davis and Montravius Adams.

If the Ravens are just looking to get a rotational nose tackle who will only play a handful of snaps per game, there’s enough available where they should be fine. If they want a higher-impact guy and starting-caliber player, a trade may have to be the solution unless a quality vet gets let go in the coming weeks.

5. The Ravens don’t traditionally announce coaching departures, but I’ve confirmed that former assistant special teams coach Sam Koch is no longer on John Harbaugh’s staff. Koch, who punted 16 seasons for the Ravens and then went into coaching following his retirement in 2022, had been working primarily with young punter Jordan Stout.

However, the Ravens brought in another former player, Anthony Levine Sr., in an assistant special teams coach role. Senior special teams coach Randy Brown works primarily with the kickers and punters. Koch was extremely close with Tucker, but Koch’s departure was finalized earlier this offseason, long before Tucker was released.

6. Former Ravens outside linebacker Tyus Bowser last week withdrew his $4.5 million grievance against the team that stemmed from the diagnosis and treatment of the knee injury he sustained in 2023. Bowser spent that season on the non-football injury list and was not paid by Baltimore. With him withdrawing the grievance, the Ravens got an immediate $1.8 million salary-cap credit.

7. As of the end of last week, the NFL Players Association Public Salary Cap Report had the Ravens with just under $11 million of cap room. That number, though, will grow in the weeks ahead. The Ravens designated both Tucker and safety Marcus Williams as post-June 1 releases. That means they’ll get the cap savings from those cuts — $4.2 million for Tucker and $2.1 million for Williams — after June 1. It’s not exactly a windfall, but every bit counts, and the Ravens needed more cap breathing room heading into the season.

8. Baltimore’s organized team activities start the week of May 26. The sessions are voluntary, and the Ravens are not a 100 percent OTA attendance team. Select vets annually stay away from the building until the mid-June mandatory minicamp. Harbaugh would prefer everybody to be on hand, although there are situations where team officials concede that it’s more beneficial to have young players get the reps.

This year’s attendance bears watching. The Ravens have many key players entering the final year of their deals. Running back Derrick Henry, center Tyler Linderbaum, tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, Oweh, Van Noy and safety Ar’Darius Washington are part of that group. They also have some players (Van Noy, Rashod Bateman) who have outperformed their current contracts. Every player has their reason for attending or not attending voluntary workouts, but this is the time of year when contract dissatisfaction rises to the forefront.

9. DeCosta confirmed that the Ravens had trade-back options when they were on the clock at No. 27 on Day 1 of the draft. It’s since been revealed that the Philadelphia Eagles, who were trying to move up to land Alabama inside linebacker Jihaad Campbell, were one of those options. As long as Georgia safety Malaki Starks was available, though, the Ravens weren’t interested in moving back unless they were overwhelmed by an offer.

.@StarksMalaki was made for this 😤 pic.twitter.com/bNhHsof3la

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) May 4, 2025

They knew if they traded back to No. 32, there was a decent chance Starks would be gone. They also knew that picking behind the Chiefs would almost certainly eliminate offensive tackle Josh Simmons, whom the Ravens had high grades on, as an option. It was well documented that the Chiefs wanted a tackle. The Ravens liked South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, too, and he might have been in a trade-back scenario, but they liked Starks more.

10. Running back Keaton Mitchell took to his X account last week to post the number 22.4, which presumably refers to his GPS miles per hour readings during his workouts. It is also the latest indication that Mitchell is returning to his pre-knee injury form. Mitchell was clocked at 22.6 miles per hour in college.

Harbaugh mentioned earlier this offseason that he expects Mitchell to be on a “whole other level” as he’s now another offseason removed from the career-altering knee injury he sustained late in the 2023 season. Mitchell has kind of become the forgotten man on this Ravens offense. If he’s anywhere close to pre-injury form, he adds another dimension to an already potent offense. He should help the team’s return game, too.

(Top photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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