The Ravens have fallen far short of their goals thus far in 2027, hence rookie head coach Jesse Minter, looking largely overmatched thus far, vowing to take corrective measures with his defense ahead of Monday night’s game.

They have not met their overarching goals on offense or defense or special teams. They are the worst second-half team in the NFL, where coaching staffs are measures, resulting in poor results across the board. They prizes generating explosive plays and not surrendering them almost above all else, and rank 25th on passes allowed over 25 yards and have a -3 explosive play differential. They have allowed four more touchdowns than they have scored.

General manager Eric DeCosta built a failure offensive line that played no small role in three quarterbacks getting hurt and Lamar Jackson has suffered two critical injuries already. As we have been pointing out, the player-development fails are pretty sweeping as well (again, the Orioles and Ravens are so stubborn and similar it’s galling), with very few breakout players and the bulk of the team not performing to the level of how they are being paid, and or where they were draft, part of why they should be sellers at Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Minter and his novice staff were supposed to relate better to players and help develop a draft class that all made the team (except for the final pick) plus two undrafted free agent rookies. The inability to not choke away leads – Minter has made it worse – and get more from the roster were the underlying reasons John Harbaugh was cast aside; he looks like the NFL Coach of the Year with the Giants.

And there is one other way to measure this failed campaign. DeCosta has just three blue-chip players, not on their rookie contracts, signed beyond 2027 – Nnamdi Madubuike, Zay Flowers and Kyle Hamilton. After letting a host of impact youngsters depart as free agents last year, it’s also a terrible sign how few players are making the case for contract extensions this offseason. Yeah, it really is that bleak.

There appear to be only three potential candidates, and there’s only one that I’d be actively trying to approach now, with some of the savings from Madubuike’s contract restructure, to invest in right now:

Trenton Simpson

He is the breakthrough player, and he’s the only breakthrough player.

Especially among those who will have three or more accrued seasons come 2027, making them eligible for a new deal. Mike Green shows some flashes but DeCosta’s horrid record with edge players draws natural skepticism. Devontez Walker has gone backwards and injuries have also hurt others and Nate Wiggins has yet to flash even a modicum of ball-skills at corner and might not fit this scheme (Marvin Lewis pointed some things out) and even buying low on him, at that position, ain’t cheap.

Simpson should get a chance to replace Roquan Smith as this becomes more of a lost season and wear the green dot. They need to find out as much about everything he can do. The athleticism has always been there, there’s more pass rush to explore and he brings energy and thump. He should be the priority and seeing how he and Teddye Buchanan fit together the best has to become an overarching goal for Minter.

Other Options

DeCosta loves to keep throwing money at his first-round picks hoping they eventually make him look good, so beware Wiggins after year three. Might make more sense to finally bench Marlon Humphrey or relegate him to slot-only and see if TJ Tampa can stay healthy and play outside and try to pay him sooner rather than later.

Roger Rosengarten has become more erratic and vulnerable and the overall quality of the offensive line has sunk dramatically since he entered the league. The Ravens have a long history of letting offensive linemen walk in free agency – just happened again with Tyler Linderbaum in March – and if he wants to take a team-friendly, league average deal, great, but starting tackles rarely want to do that because they can get vastly overpaid on the open market.

I would be more inclined to make the rest of this group play it out and prove it. But Simpson would be a priority, now.