Ravens trading tackle Moses
LT Stanley reworks deal; OLB Bowser cut
The Ravens’ offensive line rebuilding effort will include a new starting right tackle.
Baltimore is trading Morgan Moses to the New York Jets, a source with direct knowledge of the deal confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. The Ravens will swap fourthround draft picks with the Jets, going from No. 135 overall to No. 113, and also get New York’s sixth-round compensatory pick (No. 218 overall), according to ESPN, which first reported the deal.
The move gives Baltimore additional draft capital while clearing $5.5 million in salary cap space.
It also means that the Ravens’ offensive line, which helped clear the way for the NFL’s top rushing attack and helped quarterback Lamar Jackson to a career-high 3,678 passing yards in earning his second NFL Most Valuable Player Award, will look significantly different next season, with center Tyler Linderbaum and left tackle Ronnie Stanley the only returning starters as of now.
Earlier this week, free agent guard John Simpson agreed to sign with the Jets, while Baltimore’s other starting guard, Kevin Zeitler, remains a free agent.
The trade clears the way for Patrick Mekari, Daniel Faalele or a newcomer to take over at right tackle.
“The offensive line is where it starts,” coach John Harbaugh said at the NFL scouting combine two weeks ago. “We talked about that in 2008. It’s been true forever. You win in the trenches first. So we think we’re offensive-line-centric in our philosophy. And we’ve got some question marks in our offensive line, so there’s going to be some rebuilding that’s going to have to be done in there, and we’re getting to it already.
“It’s going to be really probably the most important thing we do on offense.”
Moses, 33, struggled with injuries during the second half of last season but has been one of the game’s best pass blockers the past two seasons, a strong run blocker and a leader in the locker room. In joining the Jets, he reunites with Simpson and the team he played
for in 2021 after seven seasons in Washington.
Meanwhile, the Ravens will have nine picks in next month’s NFL draft, including the 30th overall selection and six more in the top 218. It’s widely projected to be a deep class of offensive linemen, with as many as nine potentially being picked in the first round.
LT Stanley reportedly reworks deal; OLB Bowser cut
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley will return for a ninth season with the Ravens, but outside linebacker Tyus Bowser will not be back for a seventh.
Stanley, who will turn 30 next week, has reportedly agreed to a reworked contract, per ESPN.
While the details have yet to be disclosed, Stanley was due to count $26.2 million against the salary cap — the team’s second-highest cap hit behind quarterback Lamar Jackson — and previously slated to make $15 million for the 2024 season after signing an extension in 2020. Instead, he’ll receive less in base pay but could reach or surpass that number, according to the report.
The reworked contract helps Baltimore get under the salary cap as well as open space for its myriad needs.
In another move made to create more cap space, the Ravens are releasing veteran outside linebacker Tyus Bowser, the team announced Wednesday. That will create about $5.5 million of cap space and $2 million in dead money.
Bowser, 28, who had a career-high seven sacks in 2021, did not play in 2023 because of a knee injury and played only nine games the previous year as he worked his way back from a torn Achilles tendon. In 89 career games, the 2017 second-round draft pick recorded 152 tackles, 19 ½ sacks, four interceptions and four forced fumbles.
As Bowser remained sidelined with a mysterious knee injury last year, the Ravens signed Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, and both veterans enjoyed standout seasons for the league’s top defense. After combining for 18 ½ sacks, they are both free agents, leaving Odafe Oweh, David Ojabo and recently re-signed Malik Harrison as the Ravens’ primary outside linebackers.
“Thank you Charm City,” Bowser wrote Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter. “Forever grateful for your love and support over the past 7 years.”
The Ravens, who began the day in the red on the league’s new $255.4 million salary
cap after agreeing to a two-year deal with former Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry that will pay him a reported $9 million this coming season, have to be cap compliant when the new league year opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Stanley’s reworked contract and Bowser’s release are just two of several moves that are expected to be made. The Ravens also traded right tackle Morgan Moses to the New York Jets on Wednesday, clearing $5.5 million in cap space.
Retaining Stanley helps keep at least some of the Ravens’ offensive line intact, with guards Kevin Zeitler a free agent and John Simpson agreeing to a two-year deal with the Jets. Stanley and center Tyler Linderbaum are the only remaining starters, with Patrick Mekari, Daniel Faalele, Tykeem Doss, Ben Cleveland, Tashawn Manning, Andrew Vorhees and Sala Aumavae-Laulu the other offensive linemen under contract.
Stanley, who has been the Ravens’ starting left tackle since 2016, struggled at times last season, missing four games with a knee injury and rotating in and out of the lineup toward the end of the campaign. He has never played a full season, though he was an All-Pro and a Pro Bowl selection in 2019 and has been a key member of a line that helped clear the way for the NFL’s leading rushing attack.