The Baltimore Ravens were the talk of the town just a month ago after they backed out of the trade to acquire Maxx Crosby from the Las Vegas Raiders. Since then, general manager Eric DeCosta has been looked at differently by a few people, but the criticism may be long gone now.
The Ravens had 11 picks in this year’s draft, and they wanted to make sure they built the depth around the team, which is something they didn’t have much of last season. When the Ravens initially traded for Crosby, they threw in the No. 14 pick in return, and they had another chance to trade it as well. According to DeCosta, he was in talks with a team to trade out of the first round to get more fourth-round picks, but once they were on the clock, the unnamed team changed their mind.
“We had something on the table, but inexplicably they told us they’d changed their mind,” DeCosta said via Michael Silver of The Athletic. “They changed the deal (and made another offer that wasn’t as good), and we passed.”
With the No. 14 pick, the Ravens selected offensive guard Olaivavega Ioane in hopes of improving the trenches and giving Lamar Jackson more protection.
Even with 11 draft picks, there was one position that the Ravens didn’t address, and it was center. With Tyler Linderbaum leaving in free agency, there is a hole that needs to be filled there. For DeCosta, it seems like he knows what he’s doing, and they still have some time to address the position.
“As the Hall of Fame general manager [Ozzie Newsome] once said, ‘You don’t play games until September,’ and I think we’ll have a great offensive line at that point,” DeCosta said. “We have a plan.”
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