March 31, 2025 • 37 mins
Team insiders Garrett Downing and Clifton Brown break down what they learned from John Harbaugh's coaches breakfast at the NFL owners meetings, including Harbs' contract extension, Lamar Jackson's contract, Mark Andrews' status, the outlook on the offensive line and secondary, and much more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome into the Lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Garrett Downing
and I'm joined today by Clifton Brown. We are here
at the NFL Owners meetings in West Palm Beach, Florida.
We just wrapped up the coaches breakfast here for the
AFC coaches had a chance to talk with head coach
Sean Harball for about a half hour this morning on
a wide arranging number of topics here and Clifton and
(00:26):
I are going to break it all down and share
what our takeaways are from that conversation and also what
we're hearing from down here at the breakers in Florida. So, Cliff,
just to start the conversation, what stood out to you
in the conversation with Harball this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, I just love how relaxed guys. Our coaches are
way more in this atmosphere than they are during the
regular season, where it's just coming off maybe a loss
and trying to think about what's the next we following it. John,
I think really I liked how much how good he
feels about this team. They've made a lot of offseason moves,
the Ravens ad and he told them how they could
(01:00):
play a game today. I really feel that way too,
that they have one of the best rosters in the
NFL right now. I talked about how obviously with Roddy
Stanley bringing him back and the other moves that they've made,
that they have the foundation for Super Bowl contender going
into the draft, and so they're in a great spot.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
You look at coaches around the room. You know, Mike
Tomlin's right beside him. They're asking him who's going to
be their quarterback next year? We kind of know that
answer with the Raven say yeah, so yeah. I thought,
you know, it was a good getting good insight about
the positive vibes of John rball Fields right now.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well, you talk about just the kind of relaxed atmosphere,
and that's certainly nice weather and palm trees and being
here in March. I think all that helps kind of
the relaxed nature of these meetings, and these meetings just
to set the stage here for listeners and viewers back home,
like they are really important. You have you're basically all
thirty two owners, head coaches, general managers, other key league personnel.
(01:56):
They're all here in one place, and so these meetings,
but there's a lot of behind the scenes conversation. You know,
we're only privy to a portion of what actually happens
here during these meetings, So there's a lot that goes
on behind closed doors. But you're having rules conversations, You're
having conversations about the future.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Of the league.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Like, there's a lot of those types of discussions and
decisions that are made here at these meetings. And so
it's a pretty like the draft, of course, is a
huge offseason events. The Combine gets a ton of attention,
but in terms of league business, this event is really
one of the most significant on the calendar.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, and you know, it's also fascinating to me the
insatiable appetite that people have for the NFL. I mean
we're in March, you know, and now you're an end
of March, going into April draft still a few weeks away.
I remember coming here a long time ago. You know,
it'd be five or six reporters around a head coach. Now,
you better get there early. I'm not going to have
a seat. You know, you've got John Only answering the
(02:55):
questions from the Baltimore media. There's people coming in popping
about you know, the twus pus rule change, it might
come and you know, he never knows what kind of
question are you're going to get now, But yeah, NFL
is a twelve month along, never stop cycle and this
has become a big part of it now that you
know these meetings, as you mentioned, everyone's here. They've already
(03:16):
been a lot of fascinating trades this offseason. But you
know the draft is coming up. There'll be some talks
here and that lead to something happening, you know, on
Draft night or close to it, involving you know, several
teams and you know the Ravens, we know Eric, the
consta likes to make a lot of moves. So you know,
anyone you want to talk to. You all had to
pick up the phone this week to talk to another
general manager, another owner, another coach. They're all right here.
(03:38):
So that always creates some things that are going to
happen down the road. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So in terms of coach Harball, in the conversation with him,
the big news on that front was right before the
owners meeting started, we announced that the team and Harball
have agreed to a contract extension, a three year extension
through the twenty twenty eighth season. So that is is
big news obviously for both sides. Previously he was going
into the final year of his contract. Everyone thought that
(04:01):
a deal would get done at some point. It was
a matter of when, not if, And so the deal
gets done, and he talked about that today and of
course feeling like the Ravens are an organs, a great organization. Obviously,
there's been seventeen years, great years so far, with more
on the horizon. And he made the point that he
felt like he was five for five, and that came
(04:22):
out of a conversation with his agent, and he explained
that in saying that I've had when you look at it,
I've had the two best presidents in the National Football League,
and in Dick cast and Sashi Brown, the two best general
managers in the National Football League, and Ozzieknewsom and Eric Cossa,
and the best owner and Steve Bashati. And feels like
he's really fortunate to have been in this place as
(04:43):
long as he has, and the Ravens are fortunate that
Harvball's been their coach for as.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Long as he has.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So I think it's it's exciting for these two sides
to be able to continue of really fruitful relationship up
to this point.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, I mean, you know, we talk about John Harball,
the length of his ten you know, you may never
see this again in Raven's history, moving forward to a
coach being here for that law And to me, one
of the fascinating things about coach Arball is the juice
he brings to the job. The energy it seems to
be growing, not diminishing. I mean, he loves you talking
(05:16):
about people loving their job. He loves his job. The
enthusiasm he brings despite all these success he's had, the
passion never seems to weigh. And people now asking him
about how long he's going to coach, He didn't he
didn't want to hear any of that. Oh no, I mean,
you know, and to me, I think it's a natural
question that asks after you've done this so long, some
(05:37):
guys do get burned out. But he seems like the
love for his job, you know, is never ending. So
you know, having him under contract obviously before entering that
last year, that's something the Ravens always have done. They've
done it again. It's something that's behind him now. And yeah,
I don't think he was worried about it all because
(05:58):
both sides know disagreat. I mean it's a great fit. All.
He loves being the Ravens head coach. Steven Schatty on
down they love John being the head coach, and I
think it definitely adds to the stability of the Ravens
Franchise's one of the reasons why they always have been
so successful, because that continuity starts at the top and
(06:18):
certainly at the coaching spot. It has been there now
for long times.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
The other thing too, I'd say is that like he's
not stagnant at all, Like he's always looking for ways
to evolve the scheme, to evolve the roster. And you
sell that in the conversation today, he's talking about the
three point zero version of the offense and making the
offense even better and more efficient despite being the best offense,
one of the best offenses in NFL history last year.
Talk about coaching changes and some of the defensive changes
(06:45):
that they've made, especially in the secondary, and so like
all of these things are examples of how he's just
constantly looking for ways to evolve as a coach and
as a staff. And I think that that is why
I think he's been able to to last as long
as he has and be as successful as he has
is because like a macho that he's had. I think
(07:06):
this is probably his whole life, probably instilled in him
from his parents, is like you're getting better, you're getting worse.
And he brings that type of mindset every single day
and so he's always looking for ways to evolve. And
we see that and I think and fancy it, of course,
and so I think that's part of the reason he's
been as good as he has.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, you can't stay the same else you are getting worse.
And this league is so competitive. I think that you know,
that's something that you can never lose sight of. Then
you know, even though you may be coming off a
good year, that teams are always looking to get better
and that if you have to keep the pace of
the Ravens have had successful years, but there's no complacency
(07:44):
set in. And of course you know in the Lamar
era chasing that cabin of the Super Bowl has always
been there and continues to be there. But you know,
I feel confident it's going to happen. As John mentioned today,
even after Lamar wins the super Bowl, it's not going
to stop. It's going to try and get too, can
we get three? That's how this league is that. You know,
(08:04):
a team like the Chief we saw what happened to
them in the Super Bowl this year. You know they
were able to have a great run, but at some
point the team's gonna catch you. Now the Eagles are
the team to compat and the Ravens are now one
of those seas. I think that when you see the
Ravens on your schedule, they get everyone's a game and
it gets harder and harder to stay. You know, they're
(08:25):
trying to win their third division championship in a row.
But that's the league. That's the nature of the league.
You have to keep getting better. But with Lamar, with John,
with so many competitive Eric, everyone in the Ravens organization
is so competitive they welcome that challenge. And you know
we saw that reflected the day in John's comment.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Well, one thing you talked about, and this is probably
the big picture theme in a lot of ways for
the Ravens this offseason going into the next year, is
is the question of how you get over the hamp
The Ravens have been knocking on the door. They've been
in the playoffs every year but one since Lamar Jackson's
been the quarterback, and so they've been right there going
to the ANC Championship. What's the division around of course
last year, and so how do you get to that
(09:05):
next step, get to the super Bowl and win it?
And so he was asked that with the context of
something that Ronnie Stanley said after signing his contract, where Ronnie,
obviously a veteran player, made the point that the Ravens
just have to get out of their own way at times.
And so here's what Harbaugh said in response to that question.
And in terms of building a team and an approach
(09:26):
in order to get out of their own way and
take that next step.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
That's a theme that we've had here, we've had for
seventeen years is get out of our own way. Beyond
the same page. You know, we really want to be
as in sync as we possibly can, and everything we do,
we try to chase every detail in terms of things
that are important winning football. We call it the winning
football intangibles. The impactful is the importance to winning. Those
(09:51):
are the things you want to be great at and
you're not going to be great. You're not going to
necessarily be perfect in all those things in every game.
But you want to chase perfection in every area. Get
into a game and things don't go your way, you
get you get unlucky, the ball doesn't mount your way,
you make mistakes, but the calls don't go your way.
Whatever it might be, you're still so good in all
the other areas that you're able to overcome those things
(10:13):
and find a way to win the game. Irregardless. We've
been able to do that a lot because we've won
a lot of games, and every one of these games
is really important and impactful. In the playoffs, we haven't
been able to put it together for you know, four games,
three or four games to win the Super Bowl Championship.
And that's that's the hard thing. That's why only one
team does it. So we understand that that's that's the
way it's set up. But we want to be that
(10:33):
team and we're good enough to do it, so we
want to find a.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Way to do it.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
So the the the challenge there is, uh, the not
simple part of it is is setting everything up in
a way that uh makes those things intent that that
we're so that we're intentional about those things every single day,
so when those moments happen in the biggest moments, it's
something that we've been doing all along and that's normal
(10:58):
for us, and then we have the best chance, that's
to have it go our way in those games. And
that's that's what we're really talking about right now as
a coaching staff, is the best way to intentionalize all
those things so that you know, in those big moments
that we we can follow through and get to the end.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So obviously he said it's kind of built into everything
that they're doing, and I thought it was interesting because
sometimes coaches dismiss this notion, like you you can hear
that it's all just talk getting over the hump is
is more of a a it's a mental thing, not
an actual thing, and it's but he didn't like run
from that notion, like he kind of embraced it and
(11:36):
talking about how the Ravens need to build everything that
they do around this idea of like being in position
to take that next step, to be in a tough
situation that you respond well when it's a playoff game
in Buffalo and it's cold and it's snowy and all
that stuff, and so like everything it sounds like from
a like practical standpoint and from a mental standpoint, they're
(11:56):
building their team and their structure to be in position
to handle thats.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
What did you think of that answer?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, I thought it was interesting. And they're still They're
always going to be thinking about it. Because the Ravens
know that they are good enough to win a super Bowl.
It's just a question of going out and doing it.
Playing your best football in the playoffs, that's really what
you want to do. If the Ravens accomplish that, then
they will win a super Bowl. They've been the best
team in the NFL, certainly, I believe in both twenty nineteen,
(12:25):
both twenty and twenty two, twenty three, And I believe
that they were certainly good enough to win a super
Bowl last year, but didn't play their best football in
the playoffs. That's the key to unlocking where they want
to go. And you have to be mentally tough enough
to handle the disappointment of not winning a super Bowl,
and you have to continue to be good enough to
(12:46):
be a team that can win the Super Bowl. So
the Ravens are both to me, I think that they've
shown mental toughness already in that every year during lamar Era,
despite them not reaching their ultimate goal. They came back
to file year with even more drive to accomplish it.
Their disappointments have not broken them. There's determinists ever to
(13:08):
win a super Bowl. I think that they feel that
they're getting closer to figuring it out and so now
its just a question of doing it. And I think
it's important. Next season all of last season, I think
mentally will be a race because every season is new.
Just because they went to the playoffs last year, they
have gone you know often in John Harball's tenure doesn't
(13:29):
guarantee anything. Next year's team will be different and they'll
have to prove it again. But I think the Ravens,
under coach alive Ball and certainly Lamar Jackson leading the
way in the locker room, with the talent they have,
there's not going to be a hangover off of last year.
I think they'll be ready to go all right.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
So I want to hit some of the news items
from the coach's breakfast this morning, and we can break
those down in more detail. A couple of them. One
of the Mark Andrews. There's been conversation around Mark and
is he back. Definitely, he's going in splash of his
contract what's the status. And John Harball was very clear
in saying that he expects Mark Andrews to be on
this team this year.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
He's just too good of a player and so.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
That I think a lot of people felt that way,
But there was just kind of this lingering question of
what's going to happen on that front. So that's that's
I think really big and look, you and I with
big Mark Andrews fans.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And I know the last season didn't end the way
that the Ravens or Mark would have wanted. And he's
like his own toughest critic, but Mark Andrews has been
He's been, He's a he's a Ring of Honor type player,
and him and Lamar Jackson have been in this thing
together since day one, and I think that it's fitting
for them to try to try to get over that hunt.
(14:43):
Like we're talking about, he spent all this time just
talking about taking that next step. I think the two
of those guys doing it together is really significant, right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
I mean, Mark Andrews still one of the best tight
ends in football, no question. I think that how how
determined will he be after what happened to come back
and have his best best year. If you know Mark
at all, you know that that is not going to
be something that you know, breaks him, defeats him mental league,
and that's going to linger. I think he'll be so
(15:11):
eager and is so eager to get back next year.
And the Ravens with him have, in my opinion, the
best tight end group in football. That's not something that,
to me, you want to break up easily, because if
something were to happen unfortunately to want those to be
tight ends, they still have the talent with that room
to continue as long as Mark and likely and Charlie
(15:32):
kohl A, they're all three of them leading the way.
You know, Lamar and Mark Andrews have a special relationship.
That's also something you don't want to break up easily
before you think about doing it. And he's such a
great player. Mark is in the red zone. So for
many many reasons, I'm not surprised that John, you know,
really kind of you know, took Mark as far as saying,
(15:55):
stop worrying about him not being here. He is going
to be here. He's such a talented player. You know, hopefully,
you know, Ravens fans, you know, we'll go see Mark
be helping hosting a Lombardi Trophy one year. But certainly
I think that, yeah, it's not a surprise that he
that he is back.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah, I think A good point you make too, is
it's not just like this is a legacy thing, like, oh,
he's been a really good player and he's accomplished so
much so you want him here, Like he's still a
really good player. But he had eleven touchdowns last year,
and so he led the team in touchdowns last season,
such a good red zone threat, trusted target for Lamar.
And he started the season slow, like he came out
of the gate slow last year. He had the car accident,
(16:33):
he's kind of banged up early in the year and
then got rolling and then at once he once once
you know, the balls rolling downhill. There was no stop
in it. And he was so productive over the course
of the season. And so yeah, he's still a highly
productive player and an important piece of this offense. The
Ravens offense, as we just talked about, is was the
best in the league last year, one of the best
(16:54):
we've ever seen. And so like you want to keep
that going, you want to keep and removing Mark from
that as a that'd.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Be really tough.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
It'd be really tough to keep the offense at the
level of productivity, especially from a scoring standpoint in the
red zone.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
He's so good in that area.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So I think there's probably a lot of Ravens fans
are excited to hear that news.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I mean, I think again, Mark still is at
a point of his career. He might have his best
year next year. I mean, to me, you mentioned a
good point that he was playing some of his best
football late in the season, and that anchorage we had
a couple of years ago was really serious, and I
thought that that, combined with the car accident, was part
of the reason why he did get off to a
(17:34):
slow start. And I thought, I think he felt better
in December and January physically that he did earlier last season.
So now he has a full off season to be healthy.
You know what a workout worry he is. I think
he's gonna come back, you know, for trained a gay
I can imagine what he's gonna look like.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
He's gonna be so motivated too, by the way to
the end. He's gonna be so motivated by that Buffalo
game and be driven to erase that memory up. So
that was a big point of coming out of this
press conference today. Another one Lamar Jackson. So, of course
Lamar Jackson is under contract here for several more seasons,
signed a five year deal, but that cap hit really
balloons next year. And Harball was asked about the possibility
(18:13):
of are you going to going to adjust that contract?
Eric Costa reference that possibility at the Combine, you know,
last month, and he Harbaugh said that they've had internal
discussions and conversations around working at a contract extension with
Lamar Jackson, and when that time comes, then he'll just
become the highest paid player in football, just like he
(18:34):
was the last time he signed the contract. And that's
how it works for quarterbacks. Whoever gets the new deal,
who's a premier quarterback, ends up being the highest paid
player until the next guy gets a deal. And so
when he was, there's been a few more players that
have gotten those those contracts signed, justin Herbert, I can't
even remember all of them, but there's been number of
several players who have signed contracts since Lamar signed his
deal two years ago. And so the time is it's
(18:57):
only a matter of time until they get that done.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
And I think that.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I think that speaks to what we've been discussing in
a lot of ways, like the core and the continuity
that's in place with Lamar's the quarterback, with John as
the head coach, with Steven, with Eric, like this is
the core and they are working towards this Super Bowl together.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Right, and maneuvering the salary cap is always going to
be It's part of it, yeah, part of the cause
of doing business. When you have a great quarterback where
like Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow Patrick Mahomes, you know
you're going to have to manipu move around the salary
cap to make sure that you can continue to improve
and build a team around them that can help them
win the Super Bowl. The Ravens, I think have been
(19:41):
very good at that. But since Lamar just signed this
most recent contract that is now from now to the
rest of his career, that's going to be part of
the equation of building the Ravens maneuvering around Lamar's contract.
So the Ravens I think so far have done a
very good job. Look at all the moves they've made
this offseason, and even though Lamar is under this contract,
(20:03):
when they move forward, They're going to have to continue
to make adjustments, but you know, Lamar's open to that.
Both sides know that's part of the deal. And Lamar
always has been open about wanting to bring guys into
the Ravens fold. He loved it when they got Derek Henley,
he loves it they have DeAndre Hopkins. If you're going
to get players like that, you have to have room
(20:26):
to make those moves. And Lamar and the Ravens are
going to be a partnership moving forward, making sure that
in spite of the fact that he's going to have always
have a huge bag, that other guys can also come
in to win help him win games.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Well in Hardwell reference this like he made the point,
like Lamar, it's a matter of it's a matter of when,
not if, for Lamar winning a Super Bowl, And he
said that today. Now he's been he's been Lamar's you know,
biggest fan of supporter of course as he came into
the league. But there's a real belief internally and externally
(21:02):
I think too. But like the Ravens have this belief
that they're gonna win Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson's quarterback.
He's just too good of a player, and like when you,
I mean you've been covering sports like the bet for
a long time. You the best players. Oftentimes it can
take some time, but then they break through. And when
you look at like iconic players of generations, they typically
win that championship. There's a handful that don't, but typically speaking,
(21:24):
they win that championship. And the Ravens believe that that's
gonna happen with Lamar and that's part of the reason
that they want him in Baltimore for as long as possible.
And he is at the height of his game, but
the Ravens think he can even take another step. And
I'm not gonna bet against that because a year ago
when we were having this conversation, I was like, he
was just an MVP again, I don't know how much
better you can get. And then he took it to
(21:45):
another level, So could he get even better? Like, I'm
not betting against that. I'm just not gonna do that.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, Well, a lot of people who are younger than me,
and there are a lot of them, uh don't even realize.
Don't know what it took Michael Jordan leave his eighth
year to win his first championship. He won seven years
the great Michael jord without winning an NBA championship. More recently,
Peyton Manning the great career he had, he was getting
a lot of the same you know questions that Lamar
(22:11):
was getting early in his career. Peyton Mann, I believe
maybe lost his first three playoff games. He wasn't getting
far in the playoffs at all when he've literally got
in there. It's a question of again being mentally strong enough,
believing in yourself, knowing what's gonna happen. And think about
Lamar's career, I mean, the last player taken in the
first round. I mean, he's always had things to prove.
(22:35):
Now that seems outrageous that thirty one players could have
been taken ahead of him. He's already done things that
a lot of people didn't think he could do. He
is taking his game every year. To me, he's gotten
better and better. I don't think that that trend is
gonna stop anytime soon. So yeah, I mean it's you
don't you can't say it's a guarantee he's going to
(22:56):
win a super Bowl, but I guarantee you that he's
going to get you to Chase and Chase and Chase
and that he believes he's going to win multiple super
Bowls and the people who play with him believe he's
gonna win win multiple super Bowls. As long as that's true,
then really the outside noise doesn't matter.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
And the people who employ him.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Absolutely he's got a whatich he does? You have to
block all that out. He's had to deal with that
his whole life, questions about can he do this? Yeah,
he's a great athlete, but can he do this? I
think that's gonna help him. I think it's helping him now.
That's been his life story. So the fact that he
hasn't won a super Bowl yet is not gonna affect
Lamar Jackson. And yeah, if mine better putting my thoughts
(23:40):
and beliefs on whether he's gonna win a super Bowl
or not, Yes, I definitely feel that way and more
than one. So hopefully for Ravens fans it's gonna happen
this year. But Lamar I believe is gonna be a
guy that with his career is said and done, he
is gonna be viewed like a Peyton Manning, like, ain't
Michael Jordan. He's not gonna be you know, Dan Marino.
(24:01):
The first when you comes to mind a great quarterback
who didn't win one. You know, Charles Barkley, a great
player who didn't win one. Lamar I believe is not
going to be in that club, and more importantly, he
believes that as well.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
All Right, so we'll take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
When we come back, we'll dive into some of the
other news items from head coach John Harbaugh. You're listening
to the Lounge podcast when the Sea Gheek Studio Sigeek
Studios on the road this week. We're down here in
Florida at in West Palm Beach at the annual owners meetings.
We also want to mention our partners at Draft Kings Sportsbook.
They are an official sports betting partner of the Baltimore
Ravens Draft Kings Sportsbook.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
So this is the first time we've had a chance
to talk with John Harvell since some of the off
season moves have been made. Ronnie Stanley extension, bringing in
DeAndre Hopkins, bringing in chio O Wooziet cornerback. And you
could tell in listening to him like he is excited
about the state of this team. Here's what he had
to say in talking about the offseason moves as a whole.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Your best way to describe it. I love the fact
that we can line up and play right now. You know,
I've heard I've heard it said before, and it's a
good philosophy. You know, we don't play any games still September,
so when you have issues or holes, if you want
to call it that, you do have time to get better.
But we could play a game right now with our roster.
We have a really good roster right now. I love
our players, I love our depth, even not that we
(25:19):
can't get better. So what our mission right now is
to try to improve, is to try to take next
take to the next level. And the way the roster
is set up, it gives us an opportunity to really
to go after the best player we can get, you know,
whatever the position might be, to improve our team and
make the whole better. So looking forward to the draft,
(25:40):
we still have some options in free agency.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Keep improving.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
So clearly, in hearing from him, he just feels like Ravens, goog,
go out there and play, And I agree with that,
Like you look through this team and the Ravens, there's
a couple of questions, roster spots up for grabs in
terms of starting left guard and what's the week's linebackers
spot gonna look like, and what exactly is gonna the
secondary is going to look like. But like for the
(26:06):
most part, the twenty two starting jobs on offense and defense,
you at least have someone penciled in there, and like,
there's competitions, but the Ravens are in a really good
spot and in a lot of those positions you have
good depth too. Like, I just think the Ravens are
in a really good position roster wise going into the
rest of this offseason.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, I thought he was candid about the Ronnie Stanley
resigning how important it was, you know that that had
not happened. Left tackle was something they were definitely going
to have to address in a big way. So to me,
that kind of set the first That was the first
domino that kind of fell the Ravens' way in the
off season. And then you add on some of the
other moves they've made. They've really i think, you know,
(26:44):
strengthened themselves despite the losses they've had. You know, so
there are only a few areas now you're wondering who's
going to be the starter. I thought his comments about
Trenton Simpson were interesting. You know, Trenton Simpson, he still
views him as a starter, and he talked about how
hard Trenton is working in this offseason to improve on
his play last year. And then yeah, he feels he's
(27:06):
going to have a better year and that he's driven
to really secure that spot. And then Patrick Queen made
a huge jump his third year. He expects to save
from Trenton Simptons. So it'll be interesting. Obviously the draft
coming up that's going to reset the roster and strengthen
their depth. But the Ravens, I think they're kind of
(27:26):
running it back and we've talked about this offseason since
it ended that they feel that they are good enough
to win a Super Bowl. They didn't have to tear
it down or make major changes. They need to just
augment what they already had to get to that next level.
And that's what they're doing. That's what they're continuing to do.
But I think, considering your salary cap situation, you have
(27:49):
to be really pleased with the Ravens have been able
to do so far this offseason.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Well, he brought up the addition of cornerback Chidoh Woozie,
and I thought it was pretty interesting because this was
a move that doesn't get a ton of fanfare, but
he brought it up pretty quickly and with excitement and
talking about how this is a guy you look at
the advanced metrics on him, his cover skills are great.
The issue with him, especially last year was injuries, and
(28:15):
he's had a couple of injuries in the last few
seasons that have hurt his ability to stay on the
field and be as productive as he had earlier in
his career. But he made the point that the Ravens
feel like they can get him in the building, work
with the team's athletic training staff, medical staff, maybe clean
up some of those soft tissue issues, and he can
play at a really high level. And I'll tell you,
(28:36):
like I had a chance to meet Cheetoh when he
was in the building last week. Really impressive, really impressive,
just seemed super smart, passionate, driven, felt like he had
something to prove. All those things really stood out to me.
Also talked about the fact that John Harbor was big
in recruiting him and that was one of the deciding
factors for him in coming here. The conversations that they
(28:59):
had during the process. So I think the Ravens are
pretty feel pretty good about him and what he'll bring
to the secondary. And you have him and Nate Wiggins
who can start. You of course have Marlon Humphrey who
can start outside or inside. But when you look at
the secondary overall, Harball also made the point that they
really like Marlon inside. They like him sliding into that
(29:20):
slot position where he can be closer to the ball,
he can play with like the physical style that he has.
And so I think that if you're like lining it
up right now, your two outside corners are going to
be Nate Wiggins and Cheeto, and then you're going to
have Marlon Humphrey played the slot position, and then it's safety.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
That's the kind of the great unknown.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Right now, You're gonna have Kyle Hamilton and our Darius Washington.
But the Ravens still want to add a third safety.
But they have just this versatility where they can slide
Kyle Hamilton down, they put another safety on the field.
Marlon can play inside or outside. So there's so many
options in this secondary. But I just think that overall,
I think that fans are probably sleeping a little bit
on the significance of the edition of Cheetoh who's in.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, well, I've been told that Cheeto he loves playing chess.
He's a big time chess player. Maybe he brings that
into life, but certainly he's another chess piece that the
Ravens have in that secondary and we all know the
Ravens history. They love corners the way I love chocolate
ice cream. I mean, they just always want to have
deep cornerback depth. He gives them more audition to that.
(30:25):
Nate Wiggins had an excellent rookie season. I expect him
to be even better next year. You mentioned about Kyle
Hamilton being a chess piece that they want to move
over the field. Kyle's such a unique player that, yes,
I definitely do feel that one of their priorities at
this point is to get another safety who can be
more traditional, to allow Kyle to use all the skills
(30:47):
that he's blessed with. And then you talk about you
have two players like Marlon Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton who
are unique players, not just Pro Bowl players. Unique that
gives you, know, the quarterbacks at the face. You know,
Joe Burrow twice a year when he comes to line
of scrimmage, he never knows where he may see Kyle
Hamilton or Marlin Humphrey or some of the other line up.
(31:10):
And then you have guys like ro Kwan Smith helping
to orchestrate the whole thing. That's the kind of defense
of Ravens. What And I asked John all the day
about is he encouraged by the way the defense played
down the stretch compared to the struggles they had early
last season, And obviously he said yes, but yeah, that
gives him the belief that they can start from where
(31:32):
they left off last year, that there won't be the
growing page, you know, Zach's first year, you know, personnel,
you know a little bit different and having to make
some start moves in the lineup. I think they have
a better grasp on where the defense is now than
they did at this time last year, and that there's
a much better chance they'll start the season being one
(31:52):
of the top defenses in the league. And if the
Ravens have a top defense combined with what they can
do offensively, great formula for.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Winning, yeah, then they could be the best team in
the league.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yes, I mean that that's I think that that's where
that's we talked about, Like what's the ceiling for this team?
Like if if the defense picks up where they left
off and they play really well and the offense continues
to build on what they've been, it's hard to see
this team, you know, not being one of, if not
the best team in the league. The other point on
two in the secondary, he brought up some of the
(32:23):
depth players who the Ravens are excited about. They're excited
about TJ. Tampa going into his second season. Uh, they're excited.
They're excited about Jalen armor Davis and his potential as
a as a player who's look good but just hasn't
been able to stay on the field. Like, I'm still
to your point about wanting corners, Like I'm not at
all ruling out the potential of drafts in a corner
(32:44):
high like with it, if they take a first round
corner would not surprise me one bit, not one bit.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
But if they don't go that route, I think they
have the pieces in place to go out there and
play and not really be in a bad spot. Like
I think that they stay healthy in the secondary, the
group that they have at the cornerback spot will be
in a really good place regardless of what they add
in the draft, So I think they're in a really
good position. A couple other notes here news wise, on
(33:10):
the offensive side of the ball, running back two points.
When we talked about a Lamar Jackson extension, he was
also asked about a Derek Henry extension possibility. This has
been something that Da Costa has talked about this offseason
as well. Sounds like that's still on the table and
that the Ravens are optimistic about the possibility of getting
that done too.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, and obviously we know what Derrick Henry did last year.
The way he just came in, it's.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Pretty good year. Pretty good first year of Baltimore, I'll
take it.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
And he talked a lot about how much he loved
playing with the Ravens. And that's another thing coming back
to the Ravens culture, that when they bring in veteran
players who have played their entire career sometimes elsewhere, they
immediately feel comfortable and enjoy playing with the Ravens. So yeah,
I expect at some point the extension for Derrick Emry
(33:59):
to get done, because he said he wants to finish
his career here. So if Derek Henry wants to finish
his career for my football team. That's going to happen.
So yeah, and then I thought also Keithon Mitchell asked
about him guy coming off a major injury last year.
We didn't see the best of Keaton because just recovering
(34:20):
from that devastating injury was a real grind. I think
he's a guy who this year will be much healthier
from the start. Justice Hill coming off his best season.
I talked about the Ravens, in my opinion, have the
best tight end group in the league. I also feel
they have the best.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Yeah, it's hard to see a better running back group,
like when you obviously with Derek leading the way and
then the guys they have backing him up. Justice Hill
had a great season last year, earned himself a contract extension,
and I Keithon Mitchell, like Harbam, made the point super
serious knee injury going back two years. So the fact
that he played in all last year, the Ravens felt
(34:55):
like that was almost an accomplishment ended up itself, just
like just getting on the field last year year after
that injury was significant.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Was he at his best? He wasn't.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
He was working his way back and so I think
that there's real optimism around what he can bring. And
like when you talk about Derek, Henry's going to get
the heaviest workload, of course, but you want him to
be fresh all throughout the year. And as we said
many times last year with Keaton Mitchell, he doesn't need
volume necessarily to make an impact. He can have one
(35:27):
carry and take it to the house. He just has
that home run threat. And so I think that that's
like a perfect balance to what Derek gives you as
the bell cow, what Justice gives you as a third
down back and receiver out of the backfield, and then
you have Keaton that you can mix in there with
big play potential.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
And like the Ravens draft of Rashein a Lee last year.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Who showed some flashes and the Ravens like him as
well as a late round pick, so he's not out
of the mix either. So I would agree with you,
I'd be hard pressed to find a better overall running
back group than what the Ravens have right there.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
So I'm really excited about that group.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Yeah. I mean the Ravens they were last year a
team that could hurt you in so many ways offensively
and I definitely feel for young players it's even more
important early in their career. You hope that they stay healthy.
That you know, you dwelt about guys like TJ. Tampa
and Jalen armor Davis that you know injuries have set
them back. You know, Keith Mitchell, another young player, had
(36:20):
a serious injury early. When you're a veteran player and
you've already been there, done that in the league, when
you suffer an injury, you already know, I just need
to get back healthy and I'll be able to do
these things. I think for a younger player it can
be a little more difficult to set their development back
a little bit more if they have a serious injury early.
But Keith and Mitchell, that speed he brings, Yeah, that's
(36:42):
that's a game change. And I mean again, he doesn't
have to be a guy and won't be a guy
who has to carry fifteen twenty times a game. But
the Ravens have so many weapons, and Todd Munkin I
think does a great job of utilizing those weapons week
to week. They become a very difficult team to contain.
And you wanna see some new wrinkles with Todd Monkin.
(37:02):
This year. With the mind he has and the tools
he has to work with, we always know. I mean,
he might be at a playground right somewhere right now.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
I met he's in front of his white war drawing
up players right now. That's if I had a guess,
he's doing that exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
So I think the Ravens, even though he had a
great offense last year, this is this is not the
ceiling that we've seen. They're still ascending in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Yeah, So those are some of the big takeaways that
we had after hearing from head coach John Harwall here
at the Owner's Meetings of West Palm Beach, Florida. As always,
we love to hear from you, so send us your
emails at the lounge at ravenst NFL dot net. We're
gonna be catching up with some folks while we're down here,
some media seo bolts as well as some other folks
who are here.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
So we're excited to bring all of that to you.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
So, as always, thank you so much for listening and
for watching, and we'll be back with you again tomorrow.
Welcome into the Lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Garrett Downing
and I'm joined today by Clifton Brown. We are here
at the NFL Owners meetings in West Palm Beach, Florida.
We just wrapped up the coaches breakfast here for the
AFC coaches had a chance to talk with head coach
Sean Harball for about a half hour this morning on
a wide arranging number of topics here and Clifton and
(00:26):
I are going to break it all down and share
what our takeaways are from that conversation and also what
we're hearing from down here at the breakers in Florida. So, Cliff,
just to start the conversation, what stood out to you
in the conversation with Harball this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, I just love how relaxed guys. Our coaches are
way more in this atmosphere than they are during the
regular season, where it's just coming off maybe a loss
and trying to think about what's the next we following it. John,
I think really I liked how much how good he
feels about this team. They've made a lot of offseason moves,
the Ravens ad and he told them how they could
(01:00):
play a game today. I really feel that way too,
that they have one of the best rosters in the
NFL right now. I talked about how obviously with Roddy
Stanley bringing him back and the other moves that they've made,
that they have the foundation for Super Bowl contender going
into the draft, and so they're in a great spot.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
You look at coaches around the room. You know, Mike
Tomlin's right beside him. They're asking him who's going to
be their quarterback next year? We kind of know that
answer with the Raven say yeah, so yeah. I thought,
you know, it was a good getting good insight about
the positive vibes of John rball Fields right now.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well, you talk about just the kind of relaxed atmosphere,
and that's certainly nice weather and palm trees and being
here in March. I think all that helps kind of
the relaxed nature of these meetings, and these meetings just
to set the stage here for listeners and viewers back home,
like they are really important. You have you're basically all
thirty two owners, head coaches, general managers, other key league personnel.
(01:56):
They're all here in one place, and so these meetings,
but there's a lot of behind the scenes conversation. You know,
we're only privy to a portion of what actually happens
here during these meetings, So there's a lot that goes
on behind closed doors. But you're having rules conversations, You're
having conversations about the future.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Of the league.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Like, there's a lot of those types of discussions and
decisions that are made here at these meetings. And so
it's a pretty like the draft, of course, is a
huge offseason events. The Combine gets a ton of attention,
but in terms of league business, this event is really
one of the most significant on the calendar.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, and you know, it's also fascinating to me the
insatiable appetite that people have for the NFL. I mean
we're in March, you know, and now you're an end
of March, going into April draft still a few weeks away.
I remember coming here a long time ago. You know,
it'd be five or six reporters around a head coach. Now,
you better get there early. I'm not going to have
a seat. You know, you've got John Only answering the
(02:55):
questions from the Baltimore media. There's people coming in popping
about you know, the twus pus rule change, it might
come and you know, he never knows what kind of
question are you're going to get now, But yeah, NFL
is a twelve month along, never stop cycle and this
has become a big part of it now that you
know these meetings, as you mentioned, everyone's here. They've already
(03:16):
been a lot of fascinating trades this offseason. But you
know the draft is coming up. There'll be some talks
here and that lead to something happening, you know, on
Draft night or close to it, involving you know, several
teams and you know the Ravens, we know Eric, the
consta likes to make a lot of moves. So you know,
anyone you want to talk to. You all had to
pick up the phone this week to talk to another
general manager, another owner, another coach. They're all right here.
(03:38):
So that always creates some things that are going to
happen down the road. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So in terms of coach Harball, in the conversation with him,
the big news on that front was right before the
owners meeting started, we announced that the team and Harball
have agreed to a contract extension, a three year extension
through the twenty twenty eighth season. So that is is
big news obviously for both sides. Previously he was going
into the final year of his contract. Everyone thought that
(04:01):
a deal would get done at some point. It was
a matter of when, not if, And so the deal
gets done, and he talked about that today and of
course feeling like the Ravens are an organs, a great organization. Obviously,
there's been seventeen years, great years so far, with more
on the horizon. And he made the point that he
felt like he was five for five, and that came
(04:22):
out of a conversation with his agent, and he explained
that in saying that I've had when you look at it,
I've had the two best presidents in the National Football League,
and in Dick cast and Sashi Brown, the two best general
managers in the National Football League, and Ozzieknewsom and Eric Cossa,
and the best owner and Steve Bashati. And feels like
he's really fortunate to have been in this place as
(04:43):
long as he has, and the Ravens are fortunate that
Harvball's been their coach for as.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Long as he has.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So I think it's it's exciting for these two sides
to be able to continue of really fruitful relationship up
to this point.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, I mean, you know, we talk about John Harball,
the length of his ten you know, you may never
see this again in Raven's history, moving forward to a
coach being here for that law And to me, one
of the fascinating things about coach Arball is the juice
he brings to the job. The energy it seems to
be growing, not diminishing. I mean, he loves you talking
(05:16):
about people loving their job. He loves his job. The
enthusiasm he brings despite all these success he's had, the
passion never seems to weigh. And people now asking him
about how long he's going to coach, He didn't he
didn't want to hear any of that. Oh no, I mean,
you know, and to me, I think it's a natural
question that asks after you've done this so long, some
(05:37):
guys do get burned out. But he seems like the
love for his job, you know, is never ending. So
you know, having him under contract obviously before entering that
last year, that's something the Ravens always have done. They've
done it again. It's something that's behind him now. And yeah,
I don't think he was worried about it all because
(05:58):
both sides know disagreat. I mean it's a great fit. All.
He loves being the Ravens head coach. Steven Schatty on
down they love John being the head coach, and I
think it definitely adds to the stability of the Ravens
Franchise's one of the reasons why they always have been
so successful, because that continuity starts at the top and
(06:18):
certainly at the coaching spot. It has been there now
for long times.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
The other thing too, I'd say is that like he's
not stagnant at all, Like he's always looking for ways
to evolve the scheme, to evolve the roster. And you
sell that in the conversation today, he's talking about the
three point zero version of the offense and making the
offense even better and more efficient despite being the best offense,
one of the best offenses in NFL history last year.
Talk about coaching changes and some of the defensive changes
(06:45):
that they've made, especially in the secondary, and so like
all of these things are examples of how he's just
constantly looking for ways to evolve as a coach and
as a staff. And I think that that is why
I think he's been able to to last as long
as he has and be as successful as he has
is because like a macho that he's had. I think
(07:06):
this is probably his whole life, probably instilled in him
from his parents, is like you're getting better, you're getting worse.
And he brings that type of mindset every single day
and so he's always looking for ways to evolve. And
we see that and I think and fancy it, of course,
and so I think that's part of the reason he's
been as good as he has.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, you can't stay the same else you are getting worse.
And this league is so competitive. I think that you know,
that's something that you can never lose sight of. Then
you know, even though you may be coming off a
good year, that teams are always looking to get better
and that if you have to keep the pace of
the Ravens have had successful years, but there's no complacency
(07:44):
set in. And of course you know in the Lamar
era chasing that cabin of the Super Bowl has always
been there and continues to be there. But you know,
I feel confident it's going to happen. As John mentioned today,
even after Lamar wins the super Bowl, it's not going
to stop. It's going to try and get too, can
we get three? That's how this league is that. You know,
(08:04):
a team like the Chief we saw what happened to
them in the Super Bowl this year. You know they
were able to have a great run, but at some
point the team's gonna catch you. Now the Eagles are
the team to compat and the Ravens are now one
of those seas. I think that when you see the
Ravens on your schedule, they get everyone's a game and
it gets harder and harder to stay. You know, they're
(08:25):
trying to win their third division championship in a row.
But that's the league. That's the nature of the league.
You have to keep getting better. But with Lamar, with John,
with so many competitive Eric, everyone in the Ravens organization
is so competitive they welcome that challenge. And you know
we saw that reflected the day in John's comment.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Well, one thing you talked about, and this is probably
the big picture theme in a lot of ways for
the Ravens this offseason going into the next year, is
is the question of how you get over the hamp
The Ravens have been knocking on the door. They've been
in the playoffs every year but one since Lamar Jackson's
been the quarterback, and so they've been right there going
to the ANC Championship. What's the division around of course
last year, and so how do you get to that
(09:05):
next step, get to the super Bowl and win it?
And so he was asked that with the context of
something that Ronnie Stanley said after signing his contract, where Ronnie,
obviously a veteran player, made the point that the Ravens
just have to get out of their own way at times.
And so here's what Harbaugh said in response to that question.
And in terms of building a team and an approach
(09:26):
in order to get out of their own way and
take that next step.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
That's a theme that we've had here, we've had for
seventeen years is get out of our own way. Beyond
the same page. You know, we really want to be
as in sync as we possibly can, and everything we do,
we try to chase every detail in terms of things
that are important winning football. We call it the winning
football intangibles. The impactful is the importance to winning. Those
(09:51):
are the things you want to be great at and
you're not going to be great. You're not going to
necessarily be perfect in all those things in every game.
But you want to chase perfection in every area. Get
into a game and things don't go your way, you
get you get unlucky, the ball doesn't mount your way,
you make mistakes, but the calls don't go your way.
Whatever it might be, you're still so good in all
the other areas that you're able to overcome those things
(10:13):
and find a way to win the game. Irregardless. We've
been able to do that a lot because we've won
a lot of games, and every one of these games
is really important and impactful. In the playoffs, we haven't
been able to put it together for you know, four games,
three or four games to win the Super Bowl Championship.
And that's that's the hard thing. That's why only one
team does it. So we understand that that's that's the
way it's set up. But we want to be that
(10:33):
team and we're good enough to do it, so we
want to find a.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Way to do it.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
So the the the challenge there is, uh, the not
simple part of it is is setting everything up in
a way that uh makes those things intent that that
we're so that we're intentional about those things every single day,
so when those moments happen in the biggest moments, it's
something that we've been doing all along and that's normal
(10:58):
for us, and then we have the best chance, that's
to have it go our way in those games. And
that's that's what we're really talking about right now as
a coaching staff, is the best way to intentionalize all
those things so that you know, in those big moments
that we we can follow through and get to the end.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So obviously he said it's kind of built into everything
that they're doing, and I thought it was interesting because
sometimes coaches dismiss this notion, like you you can hear
that it's all just talk getting over the hump is
is more of a a it's a mental thing, not
an actual thing, and it's but he didn't like run
from that notion, like he kind of embraced it and
(11:36):
talking about how the Ravens need to build everything that
they do around this idea of like being in position
to take that next step, to be in a tough
situation that you respond well when it's a playoff game
in Buffalo and it's cold and it's snowy and all
that stuff, and so like everything it sounds like from
a like practical standpoint and from a mental standpoint, they're
(11:56):
building their team and their structure to be in position
to handle thats.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
What did you think of that answer?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, I thought it was interesting. And they're still They're
always going to be thinking about it. Because the Ravens
know that they are good enough to win a super Bowl.
It's just a question of going out and doing it.
Playing your best football in the playoffs, that's really what
you want to do. If the Ravens accomplish that, then
they will win a super Bowl. They've been the best
team in the NFL, certainly, I believe in both twenty nineteen,
(12:25):
both twenty and twenty two, twenty three, And I believe
that they were certainly good enough to win a super
Bowl last year, but didn't play their best football in
the playoffs. That's the key to unlocking where they want
to go. And you have to be mentally tough enough
to handle the disappointment of not winning a super Bowl,
and you have to continue to be good enough to
(12:46):
be a team that can win the Super Bowl. So
the Ravens are both to me, I think that they've
shown mental toughness already in that every year during lamar Era,
despite them not reaching their ultimate goal. They came back
to file year with even more drive to accomplish it.
Their disappointments have not broken them. There's determinists ever to
(13:08):
win a super Bowl. I think that they feel that
they're getting closer to figuring it out and so now
its just a question of doing it. And I think
it's important. Next season all of last season, I think
mentally will be a race because every season is new.
Just because they went to the playoffs last year, they
have gone you know often in John Harball's tenure doesn't
(13:29):
guarantee anything. Next year's team will be different and they'll
have to prove it again. But I think the Ravens,
under coach alive Ball and certainly Lamar Jackson leading the
way in the locker room, with the talent they have,
there's not going to be a hangover off of last year.
I think they'll be ready to go all right.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
So I want to hit some of the news items
from the coach's breakfast this morning, and we can break
those down in more detail. A couple of them. One
of the Mark Andrews. There's been conversation around Mark and
is he back. Definitely, he's going in splash of his
contract what's the status. And John Harball was very clear
in saying that he expects Mark Andrews to be on
this team this year.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
He's just too good of a player and so.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
That I think a lot of people felt that way,
But there was just kind of this lingering question of
what's going to happen on that front. So that's that's
I think really big and look, you and I with
big Mark Andrews fans.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And I know the last season didn't end the way
that the Ravens or Mark would have wanted. And he's
like his own toughest critic, but Mark Andrews has been
He's been, He's a he's a Ring of Honor type player,
and him and Lamar Jackson have been in this thing
together since day one, and I think that it's fitting
for them to try to try to get over that hunt.
(14:43):
Like we're talking about, he spent all this time just
talking about taking that next step. I think the two
of those guys doing it together is really significant, right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
I mean, Mark Andrews still one of the best tight
ends in football, no question. I think that how how
determined will he be after what happened to come back
and have his best best year. If you know Mark
at all, you know that that is not going to
be something that you know, breaks him, defeats him mental league,
and that's going to linger. I think he'll be so
(15:11):
eager and is so eager to get back next year.
And the Ravens with him have, in my opinion, the
best tight end group in football. That's not something that,
to me, you want to break up easily, because if
something were to happen unfortunately to want those to be
tight ends, they still have the talent with that room
to continue as long as Mark and likely and Charlie
(15:32):
kohl A, they're all three of them leading the way.
You know, Lamar and Mark Andrews have a special relationship.
That's also something you don't want to break up easily
before you think about doing it. And he's such a
great player. Mark is in the red zone. So for
many many reasons, I'm not surprised that John, you know,
really kind of you know, took Mark as far as saying,
(15:55):
stop worrying about him not being here. He is going
to be here. He's such a talented player. You know, hopefully,
you know, Ravens fans, you know, we'll go see Mark
be helping hosting a Lombardi Trophy one year. But certainly
I think that, yeah, it's not a surprise that he
that he is back.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah, I think A good point you make too, is
it's not just like this is a legacy thing, like, oh,
he's been a really good player and he's accomplished so
much so you want him here, Like he's still a
really good player. But he had eleven touchdowns last year,
and so he led the team in touchdowns last season,
such a good red zone threat, trusted target for Lamar.
And he started the season slow, like he came out
of the gate slow last year. He had the car accident,
(16:33):
he's kind of banged up early in the year and
then got rolling and then at once he once once
you know, the balls rolling downhill. There was no stop
in it. And he was so productive over the course
of the season. And so yeah, he's still a highly
productive player and an important piece of this offense. The
Ravens offense, as we just talked about, is was the
best in the league last year, one of the best
(16:54):
we've ever seen. And so like you want to keep
that going, you want to keep and removing Mark from
that as a that'd.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Be really tough.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
It'd be really tough to keep the offense at the
level of productivity, especially from a scoring standpoint in the
red zone.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
He's so good in that area.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So I think there's probably a lot of Ravens fans
are excited to hear that news.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I mean, I think again, Mark still is at
a point of his career. He might have his best
year next year. I mean, to me, you mentioned a
good point that he was playing some of his best
football late in the season, and that anchorage we had
a couple of years ago was really serious, and I
thought that that, combined with the car accident, was part
of the reason why he did get off to a
(17:34):
slow start. And I thought, I think he felt better
in December and January physically that he did earlier last season.
So now he has a full off season to be healthy.
You know what a workout worry he is. I think
he's gonna come back, you know, for trained a gay
I can imagine what he's gonna look like.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
He's gonna be so motivated too, by the way to
the end. He's gonna be so motivated by that Buffalo
game and be driven to erase that memory up. So
that was a big point of coming out of this
press conference today. Another one Lamar Jackson. So, of course
Lamar Jackson is under contract here for several more seasons,
signed a five year deal, but that cap hit really
balloons next year. And Harball was asked about the possibility
(18:13):
of are you going to going to adjust that contract?
Eric Costa reference that possibility at the Combine, you know,
last month, and he Harbaugh said that they've had internal
discussions and conversations around working at a contract extension with
Lamar Jackson, and when that time comes, then he'll just
become the highest paid player in football, just like he
(18:34):
was the last time he signed the contract. And that's
how it works for quarterbacks. Whoever gets the new deal,
who's a premier quarterback, ends up being the highest paid
player until the next guy gets a deal. And so
when he was, there's been a few more players that
have gotten those those contracts signed, justin Herbert, I can't
even remember all of them, but there's been number of
several players who have signed contracts since Lamar signed his
deal two years ago. And so the time is it's
(18:57):
only a matter of time until they get that done.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
And I think that.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I think that speaks to what we've been discussing in
a lot of ways, like the core and the continuity
that's in place with Lamar's the quarterback, with John as
the head coach, with Steven, with Eric, like this is
the core and they are working towards this Super Bowl together.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Right, and maneuvering the salary cap is always going to
be It's part of it, yeah, part of the cause
of doing business. When you have a great quarterback where
like Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow Patrick Mahomes, you know
you're going to have to manipu move around the salary
cap to make sure that you can continue to improve
and build a team around them that can help them
win the Super Bowl. The Ravens, I think have been
(19:41):
very good at that. But since Lamar just signed this
most recent contract that is now from now to the
rest of his career, that's going to be part of
the equation of building the Ravens maneuvering around Lamar's contract.
So the Ravens I think so far have done a
very good job. Look at all the moves they've made
this offseason, and even though Lamar is under this contract,
(20:03):
when they move forward, They're going to have to continue
to make adjustments, but you know, Lamar's open to that.
Both sides know that's part of the deal. And Lamar
always has been open about wanting to bring guys into
the Ravens fold. He loved it when they got Derek Henley,
he loves it they have DeAndre Hopkins. If you're going
to get players like that, you have to have room
(20:26):
to make those moves. And Lamar and the Ravens are
going to be a partnership moving forward, making sure that
in spite of the fact that he's going to have always
have a huge bag, that other guys can also come
in to win help him win games.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Well in Hardwell reference this like he made the point,
like Lamar, it's a matter of it's a matter of when,
not if, for Lamar winning a Super Bowl, And he
said that today. Now he's been he's been Lamar's you know,
biggest fan of supporter of course as he came into
the league. But there's a real belief internally and externally
(21:02):
I think too. But like the Ravens have this belief
that they're gonna win Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson's quarterback.
He's just too good of a player, and like when you,
I mean you've been covering sports like the bet for
a long time. You the best players. Oftentimes it can
take some time, but then they break through. And when
you look at like iconic players of generations, they typically
win that championship. There's a handful that don't, but typically speaking,
(21:24):
they win that championship. And the Ravens believe that that's
gonna happen with Lamar and that's part of the reason
that they want him in Baltimore for as long as possible.
And he is at the height of his game, but
the Ravens think he can even take another step. And
I'm not gonna bet against that because a year ago
when we were having this conversation, I was like, he
was just an MVP again, I don't know how much
better you can get. And then he took it to
(21:45):
another level, So could he get even better? Like, I'm
not betting against that. I'm just not gonna do that.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, Well, a lot of people who are younger than me,
and there are a lot of them, uh don't even realize.
Don't know what it took Michael Jordan leave his eighth
year to win his first championship. He won seven years
the great Michael jord without winning an NBA championship. More recently,
Peyton Manning the great career he had, he was getting
a lot of the same you know questions that Lamar
(22:11):
was getting early in his career. Peyton Mann, I believe
maybe lost his first three playoff games. He wasn't getting
far in the playoffs at all when he've literally got
in there. It's a question of again being mentally strong enough,
believing in yourself, knowing what's gonna happen. And think about
Lamar's career, I mean, the last player taken in the
first round. I mean, he's always had things to prove.
(22:35):
Now that seems outrageous that thirty one players could have
been taken ahead of him. He's already done things that
a lot of people didn't think he could do. He
is taking his game every year. To me, he's gotten
better and better. I don't think that that trend is
gonna stop anytime soon. So yeah, I mean it's you
don't you can't say it's a guarantee he's going to
(22:56):
win a super Bowl, but I guarantee you that he's
going to get you to Chase and Chase and Chase
and that he believes he's going to win multiple super
Bowls and the people who play with him believe he's
gonna win win multiple super Bowls. As long as that's true,
then really the outside noise doesn't matter.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
And the people who employ him.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Absolutely he's got a whatich he does? You have to
block all that out. He's had to deal with that
his whole life, questions about can he do this? Yeah,
he's a great athlete, but can he do this? I
think that's gonna help him. I think it's helping him now.
That's been his life story. So the fact that he
hasn't won a super Bowl yet is not gonna affect
Lamar Jackson. And yeah, if mine better putting my thoughts
(23:40):
and beliefs on whether he's gonna win a super Bowl
or not, Yes, I definitely feel that way and more
than one. So hopefully for Ravens fans it's gonna happen
this year. But Lamar I believe is gonna be a
guy that with his career is said and done, he
is gonna be viewed like a Peyton Manning, like, ain't
Michael Jordan. He's not gonna be you know, Dan Marino.
(24:01):
The first when you comes to mind a great quarterback
who didn't win one. You know, Charles Barkley, a great
player who didn't win one. Lamar I believe is not
going to be in that club, and more importantly, he
believes that as well.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
All Right, so we'll take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
When we come back, we'll dive into some of the
other news items from head coach John Harbaugh. You're listening
to the Lounge podcast when the Sea Gheek Studio Sigeek
Studios on the road this week. We're down here in
Florida at in West Palm Beach at the annual owners meetings.
We also want to mention our partners at Draft Kings Sportsbook.
They are an official sports betting partner of the Baltimore
Ravens Draft Kings Sportsbook.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
So this is the first time we've had a chance
to talk with John Harvell since some of the off
season moves have been made. Ronnie Stanley extension, bringing in
DeAndre Hopkins, bringing in chio O Wooziet cornerback. And you
could tell in listening to him like he is excited
about the state of this team. Here's what he had
to say in talking about the offseason moves as a whole.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Your best way to describe it. I love the fact
that we can line up and play right now. You know,
I've heard I've heard it said before, and it's a
good philosophy. You know, we don't play any games still September,
so when you have issues or holes, if you want
to call it that, you do have time to get better.
But we could play a game right now with our roster.
We have a really good roster right now. I love
our players, I love our depth, even not that we
(25:19):
can't get better. So what our mission right now is
to try to improve, is to try to take next
take to the next level. And the way the roster
is set up, it gives us an opportunity to really
to go after the best player we can get, you know,
whatever the position might be, to improve our team and
make the whole better. So looking forward to the draft,
(25:40):
we still have some options in free agency.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Keep improving.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
So clearly, in hearing from him, he just feels like Ravens, goog,
go out there and play, And I agree with that,
Like you look through this team and the Ravens, there's
a couple of questions, roster spots up for grabs in
terms of starting left guard and what's the week's linebackers
spot gonna look like, and what exactly is gonna the
secondary is going to look like. But like for the
(26:06):
most part, the twenty two starting jobs on offense and defense,
you at least have someone penciled in there, and like,
there's competitions, but the Ravens are in a really good
spot and in a lot of those positions you have
good depth too. Like, I just think the Ravens are
in a really good position roster wise going into the
rest of this offseason.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, I thought he was candid about the Ronnie Stanley
resigning how important it was, you know that that had
not happened. Left tackle was something they were definitely going
to have to address in a big way. So to me,
that kind of set the first That was the first
domino that kind of fell the Ravens' way in the
off season. And then you add on some of the
other moves they've made. They've really i think, you know,
(26:44):
strengthened themselves despite the losses they've had. You know, so
there are only a few areas now you're wondering who's
going to be the starter. I thought his comments about
Trenton Simpson were interesting. You know, Trenton Simpson, he still
views him as a starter, and he talked about how
hard Trenton is working in this offseason to improve on
his play last year. And then yeah, he feels he's
(27:06):
going to have a better year and that he's driven
to really secure that spot. And then Patrick Queen made
a huge jump his third year. He expects to save
from Trenton Simptons. So it'll be interesting. Obviously the draft
coming up that's going to reset the roster and strengthen
their depth. But the Ravens, I think they're kind of
(27:26):
running it back and we've talked about this offseason since
it ended that they feel that they are good enough
to win a Super Bowl. They didn't have to tear
it down or make major changes. They need to just
augment what they already had to get to that next level.
And that's what they're doing. That's what they're continuing to do.
But I think, considering your salary cap situation, you have
(27:49):
to be really pleased with the Ravens have been able
to do so far this offseason.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Well, he brought up the addition of cornerback Chidoh Woozie,
and I thought it was pretty interesting because this was
a move that doesn't get a ton of fanfare, but
he brought it up pretty quickly and with excitement and
talking about how this is a guy you look at
the advanced metrics on him, his cover skills are great.
The issue with him, especially last year was injuries, and
(28:15):
he's had a couple of injuries in the last few
seasons that have hurt his ability to stay on the
field and be as productive as he had earlier in
his career. But he made the point that the Ravens
feel like they can get him in the building, work
with the team's athletic training staff, medical staff, maybe clean
up some of those soft tissue issues, and he can
play at a really high level. And I'll tell you,
(28:36):
like I had a chance to meet Cheetoh when he
was in the building last week. Really impressive, really impressive,
just seemed super smart, passionate, driven, felt like he had
something to prove. All those things really stood out to me.
Also talked about the fact that John Harbor was big
in recruiting him and that was one of the deciding
factors for him in coming here. The conversations that they
(28:59):
had during the process. So I think the Ravens are
pretty feel pretty good about him and what he'll bring
to the secondary. And you have him and Nate Wiggins
who can start. You of course have Marlon Humphrey who
can start outside or inside. But when you look at
the secondary overall, Harball also made the point that they
really like Marlon inside. They like him sliding into that
(29:20):
slot position where he can be closer to the ball,
he can play with like the physical style that he has.
And so I think that if you're like lining it
up right now, your two outside corners are going to
be Nate Wiggins and Cheeto, and then you're going to
have Marlon Humphrey played the slot position, and then it's safety.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
That's the kind of the great unknown.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Right now, You're gonna have Kyle Hamilton and our Darius Washington.
But the Ravens still want to add a third safety.
But they have just this versatility where they can slide
Kyle Hamilton down, they put another safety on the field.
Marlon can play inside or outside. So there's so many
options in this secondary. But I just think that overall,
I think that fans are probably sleeping a little bit
on the significance of the edition of Cheetoh who's in.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, well, I've been told that Cheeto he loves playing chess.
He's a big time chess player. Maybe he brings that
into life, but certainly he's another chess piece that the
Ravens have in that secondary and we all know the
Ravens history. They love corners the way I love chocolate
ice cream. I mean, they just always want to have
deep cornerback depth. He gives them more audition to that.
(30:25):
Nate Wiggins had an excellent rookie season. I expect him
to be even better next year. You mentioned about Kyle
Hamilton being a chess piece that they want to move
over the field. Kyle's such a unique player that, yes,
I definitely do feel that one of their priorities at
this point is to get another safety who can be
more traditional, to allow Kyle to use all the skills
(30:47):
that he's blessed with. And then you talk about you
have two players like Marlon Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton who
are unique players, not just Pro Bowl players. Unique that
gives you, know, the quarterbacks at the face. You know,
Joe Burrow twice a year when he comes to line
of scrimmage, he never knows where he may see Kyle
Hamilton or Marlin Humphrey or some of the other line up.
(31:10):
And then you have guys like ro Kwan Smith helping
to orchestrate the whole thing. That's the kind of defense
of Ravens. What And I asked John all the day
about is he encouraged by the way the defense played
down the stretch compared to the struggles they had early
last season, And obviously he said yes, but yeah, that
gives him the belief that they can start from where
(31:32):
they left off last year, that there won't be the
growing page, you know, Zach's first year, you know, personnel,
you know a little bit different and having to make
some start moves in the lineup. I think they have
a better grasp on where the defense is now than
they did at this time last year, and that there's
a much better chance they'll start the season being one
(31:52):
of the top defenses in the league. And if the
Ravens have a top defense combined with what they can
do offensively, great formula for.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Winning, yeah, then they could be the best team in
the league.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yes, I mean that that's I think that that's where
that's we talked about, Like what's the ceiling for this team?
Like if if the defense picks up where they left
off and they play really well and the offense continues
to build on what they've been, it's hard to see
this team, you know, not being one of, if not
the best team in the league. The other point on
two in the secondary, he brought up some of the
(32:23):
depth players who the Ravens are excited about. They're excited
about TJ. Tampa going into his second season. Uh, they're excited.
They're excited about Jalen armor Davis and his potential as
a as a player who's look good but just hasn't
been able to stay on the field. Like, I'm still
to your point about wanting corners, Like I'm not at
all ruling out the potential of drafts in a corner
(32:44):
high like with it, if they take a first round
corner would not surprise me one bit, not one bit.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
But if they don't go that route, I think they
have the pieces in place to go out there and
play and not really be in a bad spot. Like
I think that they stay healthy in the secondary, the
group that they have at the cornerback spot will be
in a really good place regardless of what they add
in the draft, So I think they're in a really
good position. A couple other notes here news wise, on
(33:10):
the offensive side of the ball, running back two points.
When we talked about a Lamar Jackson extension, he was
also asked about a Derek Henry extension possibility. This has
been something that Da Costa has talked about this offseason
as well. Sounds like that's still on the table and
that the Ravens are optimistic about the possibility of getting
that done too.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, and obviously we know what Derrick Henry did last year.
The way he just came in, it's.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Pretty good year. Pretty good first year of Baltimore, I'll
take it.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
And he talked a lot about how much he loved
playing with the Ravens. And that's another thing coming back
to the Ravens culture, that when they bring in veteran
players who have played their entire career sometimes elsewhere, they
immediately feel comfortable and enjoy playing with the Ravens. So yeah,
I expect at some point the extension for Derrick Emry
(33:59):
to get done, because he said he wants to finish
his career here. So if Derek Henry wants to finish
his career for my football team. That's going to happen.
So yeah, and then I thought also Keithon Mitchell asked
about him guy coming off a major injury last year.
We didn't see the best of Keaton because just recovering
(34:20):
from that devastating injury was a real grind. I think
he's a guy who this year will be much healthier
from the start. Justice Hill coming off his best season.
I talked about the Ravens, in my opinion, have the
best tight end group in the league. I also feel
they have the best.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Yeah, it's hard to see a better running back group,
like when you obviously with Derek leading the way and
then the guys they have backing him up. Justice Hill
had a great season last year, earned himself a contract extension,
and I Keithon Mitchell, like Harbam, made the point super
serious knee injury going back two years. So the fact
that he played in all last year, the Ravens felt
(34:55):
like that was almost an accomplishment ended up itself, just
like just getting on the field last year year after
that injury was significant.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Was he at his best? He wasn't.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
He was working his way back and so I think
that there's real optimism around what he can bring. And
like when you talk about Derek, Henry's going to get
the heaviest workload, of course, but you want him to
be fresh all throughout the year. And as we said
many times last year with Keaton Mitchell, he doesn't need
volume necessarily to make an impact. He can have one
(35:27):
carry and take it to the house. He just has
that home run threat. And so I think that that's
like a perfect balance to what Derek gives you as
the bell cow, what Justice gives you as a third
down back and receiver out of the backfield, and then
you have Keaton that you can mix in there with
big play potential.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
And like the Ravens draft of Rashein a Lee last year.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Who showed some flashes and the Ravens like him as
well as a late round pick, so he's not out
of the mix either. So I would agree with you,
I'd be hard pressed to find a better overall running
back group than what the Ravens have right there.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
So I'm really excited about that group.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Yeah. I mean the Ravens they were last year a
team that could hurt you in so many ways offensively
and I definitely feel for young players it's even more
important early in their career. You hope that they stay healthy.
That you know, you dwelt about guys like TJ. Tampa
and Jalen armor Davis that you know injuries have set
them back. You know, Keith Mitchell, another young player, had
(36:20):
a serious injury early. When you're a veteran player and
you've already been there, done that in the league, when
you suffer an injury, you already know, I just need
to get back healthy and I'll be able to do
these things. I think for a younger player it can
be a little more difficult to set their development back
a little bit more if they have a serious injury early.
But Keith and Mitchell, that speed he brings, Yeah, that's
(36:42):
that's a game change. And I mean again, he doesn't
have to be a guy and won't be a guy
who has to carry fifteen twenty times a game. But
the Ravens have so many weapons, and Todd Munkin I
think does a great job of utilizing those weapons week
to week. They become a very difficult team to contain.
And you wanna see some new wrinkles with Todd Monkin.
(37:02):
This year. With the mind he has and the tools
he has to work with, we always know. I mean,
he might be at a playground right somewhere right now.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
I met he's in front of his white war drawing
up players right now. That's if I had a guess,
he's doing that exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
So I think the Ravens, even though he had a
great offense last year, this is this is not the
ceiling that we've seen. They're still ascending in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Yeah, So those are some of the big takeaways that
we had after hearing from head coach John Harwall here
at the Owner's Meetings of West Palm Beach, Florida. As always,
we love to hear from you, so send us your
emails at the lounge at ravenst NFL dot net. We're
gonna be catching up with some folks while we're down here,
some media seo bolts as well as some other folks
who are here.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
So we're excited to bring all of that to you.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
So, as always, thank you so much for listening and
for watching, and we'll be back with you again tomorrow.
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