The Baltimore Ravens have had quite an eventful offseason. They started the offseason by losing their best offensive lineman but trading for a star pass rusher in his stead. However, after a chaotic turn of events, the deal was called off by the Ravens. Still, Baltimore was able to pivot and sign the best pass rusher available in this year's class.
Still, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done for the Ravens to get back into title contention status. Aside from their offensive line, there are several key areas of the defense that need attention. Let's analyze the Ravens' offseason activity and judge what their biggest need is entering the 2026 NFL draft.
Ravens' chaotic offseason
The Ravens' offseason got off to a fantastic start at first. While they lost center Tyler Linderbaum to free agency early on, Baltimore struck gold by trading for Las Vegas Raiders pass-rusher Maxx Crosby. Their pass-rush was severely lacking last season, and Crosby gave them that and more. With Crosby coming onto the team, the Ravens had decided to let many of their free agents go, as they were unable to sign them to new deals.
Unfortunately, disaster struck for the Ravens. Two days after they agreed on a deal, the Ravens backed out on their agreement with the Raiders. The reason? Crosby apparently failed his physical with Las Vegas. There are a lot of theories about the real reason why Baltimore backed out, but nonetheless, the deal was off.
That was to the Ravens' detriment. Baltimore could have easily retained some of their key players, but chose not to due to the financial commitment to Crosby. Instead, the Ravens were left hanging without a star pass-rusher AND without their veterans.
The Ravens were able to pivot well, signing ex-Cincinnati Bengals pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson to a new deal. That being said, there's still a ton of work that needs to be done in the 2026 NFL draft for this team.
Ravens need to figure out their interior offensive line in the 2026 NFL Draft
Truth be told, there's a lot of ways the Ravens can go about the rest of their offseason. While Hendrickson is already in the fold, Baltimore could use a pass-rusher or two to bolster their defense. With Justin Madubuike possibly retiring soon, the Ravens might need to address that.
The cornerback room is also a potential area that needs to be fixed. While their safety position is set with Kyle Hamilton and Jaylinn Hawkins, their cornerbacks have been an issue. The Ravens did bring back Chidobe Awuzie, one of their standout veterans from last season. Still, one cornerback is not enough to stop the many elite wideouts in the league.
Despite everything we've covered, though, one area stands out as something that needs to be fixed. The Ravens' interior offensive line was already one of the worst units last season. Daniel Faalele stood out as the biggest culprit, but his counterpart on the left side Andrew Vorhees was also not good.
Now, the Ravens lost the best player of that unit in Linderbaum. Linderbaum is an excellent center, an All-Pro worthy lineman even. However, even he was unable to cover for the struggles of the two guards beside him. Now, he's out of the team after signing with the Raiders. Suddenly, their already poor offensive line got even worse.
The Ravens did move on from Faalele this offseason, but Vorhees remains on the roster. Even more concerning is the fact that the Ravens do not have a proper option at center. Their starting center would be FA signing Danny Pinter, who has played in 77 games but only started in 10. That simply won't do if Baltimore wants to compete for the Super Bowl.
Drafting an interior offensive lineman in the first round is certainly not a bad choice for the Ravens. If someone like Mansoor Delane or Jermod McCoy falls that low, they could take them, but otherwise, they should be focused on building up their offensive line. Lamar Jackson struggled with that unit last season.
