How to build a team that's never good enough.

TL;DR

The Ravens' roster-churn philosophy of drafting, developing, and releasing players creates a self-defeating treadmill that caps their ceiling despite short-term competitiveness.

Key Points

• 1.The Crosby trade attempt was a symptom, not the disease. Baltimore tried trading two first-round picks for an aging, injured Max Crosby because they've failed for a decade to draft and develop their own edge rushers.
• 2.The Ravens' comp-pick strategy is largely a failure. Since 2020, their comp picks produced players like Tyreek Phillips and Ben Cleveland — only Charlie Kolar and Brandon Stevens were notable, and both left after one contract.
• 3.The edge rusher problem spans over a decade. After hitting on Zadarius Smith and Judon in mid-rounds, Baltimore let both walk; each set career-high sacks immediately after leaving, while Ravens ranked 31st of 32 in edge pressure rate in 2024.
• 4.The linebacker cycle illustrates the treadmill perfectly. Over 7 years, Baltimore spent two first-rounders on CJ Mosley and Patrick Queen — neither got a second contract there — then paid $32M/year for Roquan Smith to patch the same hole.
• 5.2023 was the one exception where aggression worked. Baltimore retained and signed free agents, drafted aggressively, and had elite coaching (Mike McDonald, Todd Monken), nearly winning it all — then lost those coaches and reverted to the same flawed philosophy.