State of the 2020 Ravens Tight End Corps

After a brief hiatus in the series, we are back with another State of the Ravens article! Today, we are taking a look at the three tight ends on the roster, and deciding what the Ravens should do in the offseason with them.

Here are all three tight ends currently on the roster, along with important information about them:

Mark Andrews
- 2020 Age: 24
- Experience: 3rd year
- 2020 Free Agent Status: Under contract
- Contract Remaining: $1,930,0330/2 years
- 2020 Cap Hit: $925,165
- 2020 Dead Cap Penalty: $418,330
- 2020 Cut Savings: $506,835
- Probability of Being Cut/Traded: None
Hayden Hurst
- 2020 Age: 27
- Experience: 3rd year
- 2020 Free Agent Status: Under contract
- Contract Remaining: $6,521,289/2 years, with a fifth-year option for 2023
- 2020 Cap Hit: $3,009,825
- 2020 Dead Cap Penalty: $4,536,376
- 2020 Cut Savings: $1,526,551
- Probability of Being Cut/Traded: High
Nick Boyle
- 2020 Age: 27
- Experience: 6th year
- 2020 Free Agent Status: Under contract
- Contract Remaining: $14,666,667/2 years
- 2020 Cap Hit: $6,833,333
- 2020 Dead Cap Penalty: $6,666,667
- 2020 Cut Savings: $166,666
- Probability of Being Cut/Traded: None

Potential Moves Baltimore Could Make:

Trade Hayden Hurst
Add a new tight end in free agency or the draft.

What Moves Should the Ravens Make to the Roster?

It’s time the Ravens finally address the elephant in the room. For two consecutive years, the third-round tight end has outproduced the first-round talent of the same draft class. Mark Andrews is becoming a league sensation while Hayden Hurst is fading into the background. The three-headed monster of Mark Andrews, Hayden Hurst, and Nick Boyle is great for the offense. It provides the Ravens with an extreme level of depth and gives Greg Roman more tools at his disposal. But is Baltimore’s Cerberus better with Hayden Hurst in it? Mark Andrews plays the leading receiver role, Nick Boyle the leading blocker. Hayden Hurst plays a supporting role hardly befitting of a first-round pick that was supposed to dominate at his position. Hurst isn’t getting any younger either – he will be 27 at the start of the 2020 season! 349 yards and two touchdowns last year is not enough to keep Eric DeCosta away from the phone lines, neither are Hurst’s average blocking skills.

Whispers of a potential trade involving Hurst are circulating in the pre-market rumor mill. Among the teams supposedly interested are the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots. If I had Eric DeCosta’s job, (I can dream) I scream yes the moment a second-round pick is mentioned, and strongly consider shipping Thor out for a third-round pick.

I like Hayden Hurst as a player and as a person, but this is a business, and the Ravens need to get better. Trading him for the right value is one way to do that.

Which Free Agents Should the Ravens Target?

Assuming that the Ravens part from Hayden Hurst, Baltimore will be in the market for a new tight end – one that presumably costs less. Players like Eric Ebron and his projected (by Spotrac.com) $7.4M annual salary are obviously off the table. But who is on it? I cannot envision a scenario where the Ravens drop more than $3 million per year on a new tight end especially if the Ravens’ precious salary cap space is half-eaten by Matthew Judon. Looking at the market though, there are not many budget tight ends that entice me – and I imagine Eric DeCosta feels the same way. I like the idea of the Cowboys’ Blake Jarwin, but there are two problems with him: I doubt he would accept a small contract, and the Cowboys plan to place a second-round tender on him.

Yeah, no thanks.

Maybe the Ravens add someone like Seth Devalve or Jacob Hollister, but it seems more likely that Baltimore would turn to the NFL Draft to replace Hayden Hurst. A mid-round draft pick will be cheaper and has more potential to develop than any free agent.

Do the Ravens Need to Draft a Tight End?

If the Ravens move on from Hayden Hurst, the draft is the best marketplace for a replacement. But the question again becomes, who? Missouri’s Albert Okwuegbunam turned heads after he posted a 4.49-second 40-yard dash at the Combine, but is speed something the Ravens necessarily want in a tight end? There’s also Washington’s Hunter Bryant, who Lance Zierlein compares to former Redskins tight end, Jordan Reed. He excelled at the Combine and as a Huskie, but his history of knee injuries is concerning. Maybe Stanford’s Colby Parkinson, who at 6’7″ is almost as tall as the school’s mascot – a tree, is the answer.

There are many options in this class and the Ravens should be excited at the opportunity to evaluate them all, but at the end of the day, it is just too early to prescribe an answer to the who question. The answer to whether or not Baltimore should draft a tight end, however, remains the same. If the Ravens move on from Hayden Hurst, which they SHOULD do if presented with the right compensation plan, then Baltimore must look to the mid-rounds of the draft to replace him.