A report last month indicated that Ravens defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike plans to play this season after missing most of last year with a neck injury, but he has not been taking part in any of the team’s practices this spring.
During a Wednesday press conference, Ravens head coach Jesse Minter was asked about Madubuike’s status and said that he has been with the team during the offseason program. Minter did not provide any specifics about when Madubuike might be ready to make a full return to action.
“I think Nnamdi is here a lot,” Minter said, via a transcript from the team. “He’s working. He’s doing some certain parts of our program. I’ll probably, again, leave that up to him of when it’s really to the point where he may be out there, but he’s definitely getting a lot of work in. He’s trending in a great direction, I would say.”
Madubuike’s return would be a significant development for Minter’s defense, but any plans for him will be written in pencil until there are some surer signs that he’ll be playing this fall.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s first media session since the end of the 2025 season included questions about his contract situation.
The Ravens restructured Jackson’s contract in March in order to slash his cap number for 2026 by nearly $40 million, but he’s now set to have a cap hit of nearly $85 million in 2027 as a result. That’s led to a lot of talk on both sides about an extension, but no agreement has been reached at this point.
Jackson said he’s going “keep those conversations private” when asked about his communication with the team and that “we’ll go from there” after the restructure. Jackson asked for a fully guaranteed contract before signing his current deal, but wasn’t interested in revisiting that request when discussing the current state of affairs.
“What year was that? 2022? That conversation is in 2022,” Jackson said, via a transcript from the team. “This is 2026. We [are] going to leave that conversation in 2022. We’re going to leave it in 2022.”
Jackson said he “absolutely” still envisions himself staying with the Ravens, but questions about the future will linger as long as Jackson’s current deal remains in place.
The Giants have made another veteran addition to their defensive line.
They announced the signing of defensive tackle Josh Tupou on Wednesday. They waived offensive tackle Reid Holskey in a corresponding move.
Tupou played in six games for the Ravens over the last two seasons and he posted eight tackles and a sack for Baltimore. Tupou spent his first six seasons with the Bengals and had 86 tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble in 65 appearances.
Defensive linemen D.J. Reader, Shelby Harris, Leki Fotu, Sam Roberts, and Zacch Pickens have also joined the Giants this offseason, but a need for more reinforcement arose when Roy Robertson-Harris tore his Achilles in a recent workout.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said on Wednesday that he was “shocked” to learn that John Harbaugh was fired as the team’s head coach earlier this year, but he’s embracing the arrival of the new coaching staff.
Jackson said that the “atmosphere is smooth” with head coach Jesse Minter, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and the rest of the new arrivals in Baltimore. He also said it’s been energizing to go back to square one with new voices in the room.
“Everything is just new basically besides upstairs,” Jackson said. “Coaching staff is just new and I can say it’s a breath of fresh air because everything is just new.”
Jackson missed a couple of days of voluntary work last week, but he’s been in attendance for more of the offseason program than in previous years and said that all of the changes led him to take a different approach this time around. The Ravens hope that will help the team reach the Super Bowl for the first time since Jackson joined the team.
Safety Malaki Starks jumped right into a leading role for the Ravens during his rookie season, but the 2025 first-round pick wasn’t thrilled with his overall body of work in 2026.
Starks played the most snaps of anyone on the Baltimore defense and finished the year with 84 tackles and two interceptions, but said last week that he doesn’t “think enough is said about entire draft process and how much of a toll that takes on you coming into the league.” Starks said he’s more comfortable with the process of preparing for the season this time around and has added muscle he believes will help him have “a breakout season or whatever you want to call it.”
“How I played last season was okay, but it’s not the standard I set for myself,” Starks said, via the team’s website. “I know I can play at a higher level. There were plays I should’ve made and didn’t. This season, I’m expecting to make them.”
Safeties were key to new Ravens head coach Jesse Minter’s defense with the Chargers and they’ve also been vital to Baltimore’s defensive success over the years. With Kyle Hamilton and Jaylinn Hawkins on hand in addition to Starks, that figures to be the idea for the coming season as well. That would make a leap for Starks a welcome development over the coming months.
