Ravens trade proposal adds $14 million guard as Patrick Mekari replacement

4 weeks ago 6

After winning the AFC North with a 12-5 record, knocking the Pittsburgh Steelers retired successful the wild-card circular and falling to the Buffalo Bills the adjacent week, the Baltimore Ravens entered this offseason with respective important decisions connected the docket.

Baltimore entered this offseason with implicit 20 players expected to deed escaped agency, and portion they've retained a fistful of them, others person recovered caller teams to play for successful 2025, including starting near defender Patrick Mekari, who landed a three-year, $37.5 cardinal woody with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While the Ravens kept starting near tackle Ronnie Stanley astir connected a two-year deal, they're inactive looking for idiosyncratic to descent successful astatine defender betwixt Stanley and 2022 first-round prime Tyler Linderbaum. Last Word connected Sports' David Latham precocious identified Baltimore arsenic a apical landing spot for defender Zion Johnson successful a trade.

"The Baltimore Ravens struggled to find 2 starting-caliber guards past year, and that hunt volition beryllium each the much hard successful 2025 with Patrick Mekari successful Jacksonville," Latham wrote. "Johnson would beryllium a wide upgrade connected Andrew Vorhees oregon Daniel Faalele, but would the Chargers ever commercialized a subordinate similar Zion Johnson to 1 of the apical teams successful their conference? Only clip volition tell, but Baltimore would apt request to outbid the contention for the Chargers to adjacent see specified a move."

Johnson, 25, played collegiately astatine Davidson from 2017-18, earning All-PFL honors successful his last play with the Wildcats earlier transferring to Boston College for 3 seasons and earning All-ACC honors each year.

The Los Angeles Chargers selected Johnson successful the archetypal circular (No. 17 overall) successful the 2022 NFL draft, making him the starting close defender arsenic a rookie. After starting each 17 games successful his archetypal year, Johnson flipped to the near broadside for the past 2 years, starting 32 of 34 imaginable games.

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Pro Football Focus gave Johnson a 65.7 wide people for his show successful 2024, ranking him 47th retired of 135 qualified NFL guards. He besides earned a 64.8 run-blocking people (54th) and a 63.6 pass-blocking people (60th).

Los Angeles hasn't made it wide that they're looking to commercialized Johnson astatine this point, truthful Baltimore would person to nonstop implicit an enticing connection to Chargers wide manager Joe Hortiz to get the squad to see moving connected from the erstwhile first-round selection.

However, if the Ravens tin pry him away, they could fastener him up semipermanent and person immoderate stableness astatine at slightest 1 of the defender spots.