There’s a reason so many Ravens defensive stars from the past took to social media in the aftermath of Baltimore’s pathetic second half Sunday, allowing 35 unanswered points to the Bengals and looking like quitters in the process.

Guys like Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs seemed appalled by it all, the franchise DeCosta-ed for the 17th time since 2019 (blowing a double-digit lead in the second half in a loss), and the one constant during this entire uninspired brand of Ravens football is the general manager, Eric DeCosta, who curries favor with the billionaire boss and divides the organization and plays favorites in the locker room and creates a culture that continually produces spineless results.

Yet that billionaire chose to empower him even more than ever before when he fired John Harbaugh (needed to fire them both), and with an overmatched novice head coach on board they keep hitting new lows. Rookie coach Jesse Minter is stuck with a legion of bad contracts DeCosta handed out all over that defense, and while there are some schematic changes he is going to have to make (as we discussed with longtime head coach Marvin Lewis here ), he’s also going have a hard time altering the psyche and heart of a football team poisoned by the guy who controls the salaries.

Longtime former Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who has known Minter forever and was invited to Ravens practices this offseason and whom Minter helped create the defensive packages that make the hub of this 2026 Ravens defense, is aghast at what’s going on in Baltimore. He knows the role that DeCosta has played in this mess better than most, and kept it real with me on “The Daily Flock” this week.  

What Does Wink See?

“This isn't good enough,” Martindale said. “This is not the standard. This is not Baltimore defense.  And you know, I was there first, you know, in 2012 when we won the Super Bowl with Ray Lewis. You think Ray Lewis would put up with that [crap]? You think Ed Reed would put up with that [crap)? You think (Terrell) Suggs would put up with that [crap]? You think Haloti Ngata would put up with that [crap]? …

“You can still hold people accountable and you can still say, ‘This guy's better than this guy because of this this and this. And this guy's got to play, not because of what they get paid, you know, (but because they deserve it). They got a left tackle that's been paid a [crap] ton of money who needs to step up and be a leader, you know, with Ronnie (Stanley). And I love Ronnie, and these guys I’m talking about.

“They’re good people, but God damn it, we want to win in Baltimore. And that's where I was at the longest in my career ever in coaching. I was there for 10 years. So, like my kids who were born in Ohio think they're from Maryland because that's the longest we were in place …  And I just think that they need to step up and say, ‘Here's who we're going to be."’ Yeah. And if they don't, they're going to continue to do the [crap] they're doing.”

Martindale believes $19M corner Marlon Humphrey probably needs to move to safety or just play considerably less, though the team is short of corners despite it being one of DeCosta’s primary fetishes. He wouldn’t play overpaid $30M pass rusher Trey Hendrickson on early downs as much as Baltimore is (but DeCosta demands it with that salary!). Wink believes Minter needs to start blitzing more even though it runs counter to some of his core philosophies. (DeCosta better explore some of these cheap trade deadline options, ASAP)

He gives deep explanations for such on the show. The biggest reason for the organizations falloff, he believes is the move from longtime general manager Ozzie Newsome to DeCosta. And like so many around the NFL know, DeCosta built a reputation and career off of Newsome’s accomplishments, used it to get promoted repeatedly and ingratiated himself incredibly well with Steve Bisciotti back when he was still a minority owner in the team.

“I think the biggest impact was when it went from Ozzie to Eric,” Martindale said, noting DeCosta likes to hang on the sidelines and in the locker room and fraternize with certain players in a way Newsome never considered. And I know what (Owner) Mr. Steve Bisciotti wanted to do with Eric, but I also think it's time to for Eric to step up and win a Super Bowl because, you know, Ozzie’s last draft class (2018, when he selected Lamar Jackson) you can look at his last pick – it was (defensive lineman) Zach Sieler, who’s had three contracts down at Miami now.

“And I know their (scouting and evaluation) system and I would do the same system that they have there. But there's also times where you’ve got to come to dinner and say here's what it is, and not just keep patting yourself on the back because you get an A++ in every draft (from the media).”

Truthbombs. The show is loaded with them. Not everybody can stomach frauds.

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