Free agency and trades

Given their glaring need at the position, the Ravens will be linked to many wide receivers who hit free agency this month. According to NBC Sports, they have already shown interest in Allen Lazard, who is coming off a careerbest season in which he caught 60 passes for 788 yards and six touchdowns for the Green Bay Packers.

According to PFF’s projections — which correctly predicted the three-year, $105 million deal Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith received Monday — Lazard is expected to earn a three-year, $30 million deal with $18.5 million guaranteed. Other free-agent wideouts commonly linked to the Ravens, such as JuJu Smith-Schuster, Odell Beckham Jr. and D.J. Chark Jr., are also projected to earn somewhere around $35 million, with roughly $23 million guaranteed. With Jackson’s contract terms in limbo, that would likely prove too steep for the Ravens.

There’s also the possibility Baltimore trades for a wide receiver, such as the Arizona Cardinals’ DeAndre Hopkins, the Houston Texans’ Brandin Cooks or the New York Jets’ Elijah Moore. Hopkins carries a $30.7 million salary cap charge in 2023, while Cooks’ is a slightly more palatable $24.6 million. Moore is the most reasonable option of the bunch, since he stands to earn $2.8 million as part of the final year of his rookie deal.

The Ravens have traditionally been more interested in signing players cut from other teams, since it won’t cost them a compensatory draft pick. Wide receiver Robert Woods has already been released while wideouts Michael Thomas and Adam Thielen are likely to be released and could sign more modest one-year deals.