Baltimore

Ravens

Gwynn is following his former offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford to Baltimore. He spent the first three years of his career in Atlanta. Gwynn only took the field for 11 offensive snaps in 2025, but he was active for all 17 games and saw some run on special teams. He will be a depth option for the Ravens.

Mitchell became an unrestricted free agent after the Ravens chose not to tender him. It’s hard to imagine much of a better landing spot for the speedster. Chargers OC Mike McDaniel turned De’Von Achane into a home run machine in Miami, and Mitchell is one of the few players who can match Achane’s top-end speed. Mitchell will be parked behind Omarion Hampton in LA, but he should hold some fantasy value if he can secure the RB2 gig. Mitchell ran for 341 yards at 5.8 yards per carry last year. His career average is over six YPC. Even as strictly a backup, Mitchell will be an intriguing fantasy bet in 2026.

He added that the team started contract talks with Hendrickson after the team lost center Tyler Linderbaum in free agency. For those out of the loop: Baltimore agreed to trade two first-round picks for Crosby earlier this week, only to back out of the deal at the last minute, citing a failed physical. They then inked Hendrickson to a four-year deal just over 12 hours later. Multiple reports have suggested NFL staffers around the league found the series of moves detestable. Given that Crosby underwent offseason meniscus surgery, DeCosta does have a reasonable alibi for calling off the trade. Now Baltimore will move forward with Hendrickson and their full allotment of first-round selections over the next two drafts.

Getting Lamar Jackson to actually sign a contract extension feels like a big ask given they’ve been trying to do it since last offseason, but DeCosta said the restructuring of his deal “doesn’t change his optimism or the difficulty around Lamar signing long term.” We’re in “believe it when we see it” mode with this extension, but the Ravens (of course) will continue to be overwhelmingly optimistic publicly.

Ravens OC Declan Doyle has brought over his own personal blocking tight end from Chicago. Smythe will replace Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar in the offensive system. He played 293 snaps in 2025 and was targeted six times.

Hawkins signed with the Pats as a backup two years ago. He was elevated to a starting role in 2025 and put some of his best play on tape. Hawkins totaled six pass breakups, four interceptions, and 1.5 sacks across 15 games. He will likely serve as Jesse Minter’s third safety in Baltimore’s new defense.

The Ravens rarely started him after the first month of the season, but Awuzie had a bounceback year in PFF’s metrics, finishing with a 76.1 PFF coverage grade. Entering his age-31 season, Awuzie would be a risky bet as a full-time starter for Baltimore, but a reasonable depth piece.

Baltimore now has Maxx Crosby’s replacement roughly 12 hours after his trade fell through. Hendrickson had been holding out for a better deal to start free agency and the Crosby debacle created an opening for him. At just $28 million per year, Hendrickson isn’t quite paid like the top-tier EDGE-rushers, but he should still crack the top-10. He was injured for much of 2025 and totaled just four sacks, but his 2024 and 2023 seasons were enough to get him paid. Hendrickson tallied 17.5 sacks in both of those seasons. That was enough to lead the league two years ago. He will now be the centerpiece of first-year head coach Jesse Minter’s defense.

Kinkhabwala didn’t say the deal was restructured, but she did note the move was done for cap purposes yesterday to clear space for the Maxx Crosby trade. We will assume it was a simple restructure—converting base salary into a signing bonus—unless someone corrects the record. Jackson currently has two years left on his deal, but both sides should be working toward an extension this offseason.

The Ravens “believed the risk was too high given the compensation it was giving up” and therefore backed out of a deal that would have sent Crosby from the Raiders to Baltimore. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Tuesday night that “several” teams have already reached out to the Raiders about Crosby, one of the league’s premiere pass rushers, who has 32 sacks over the past three seasons in Vegas. Crosby has said he would refuse to suit up for the Raiders, meaning this saga is likely to drag on for weeks, if not months, ahead of the 2026 regular season. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said the Raiders are not “going to trade Crosby on a discount” this offseason.