OTL: Another Year, Another Star WR Rumor to Deal With

As we prepare for our first AFC North matchup of the season with the Bengals, the Ravens are continuing to get healthy. However, one member of the secondary has taken a bit of a step back.

The Ravens had every member of their 53-man roster on the practice field again today. However, CB Arthur Maulet, whose practice window started this week, was not practicing. A hamstring designation, along with knee, was added to injury report for Maulet yesterday.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) October 3, 2024

Arthur Maulet not practicing doesn’t bode well for him making his debut this week, but that was a long shot anyway. I’d expect him back in two weeks. Fortunately, the secondary has played better these last couple of weeks now that the players are starting to get used to Zach Orr’s calls and vice versa.

Maulet, at this point, is a luxury, not a need, and there’s no reason to push him.

Now it is time to address some rumors about a particular star receiver.

Yes, it is true that Davante Adams has requested a trade from the Raiders. The team seems willing to move on from the disgruntled wideout.

It seems like every year, we have another conversation about a star WR joining the Ravens. It is a conversation that I just don’t want to get involved in because of the debates it brings up. This mainly goes into the team-building aspect because some fans still think Lamar Jackson doesn’t have enough weapons and the organization failed him. I even saw one comment by a fan that made me roll my eyes so hard into the back of my skull that said something like, “well, the Ravens gave up a second for a Linebacker, but they won’t give up a second for a star receiver.”

It’s like having a conversation with your parents when you were younger about something you did—just nothing but screaming and yelling without anything of value being talked about.

However, with rumors like this floating around, the chatter isn’t about to quiet down.

According to @RapSheet, the Ravens have either inquired about trading for WR Davante Adams or he has expressed interest in playing in Baltimore. pic.twitter.com/IStVEoQLeF

— Ravens Nation ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) October 3, 2024

So it seems the Ravens called the Raiders or Tae wants to play here, per Ian Rapoport. It is unknown which at this moment in time.

I don’t think Adams fits the Ravens. First, let’s look at the fit from a player’s perspective. The reason he wants to leave is because he wants more production. Do you know where he won’t get that production and the ball his way? It’s an offense that is running the ball better than any other team in the league right now and is already trying to get other pass-catchers involved. They love Zay Flowers and just extended Rashod Bateman as well. I guess this would get rid of Nelson Agholor? Is that the most significant need right now? Replacing option three in the WR corps?

Now, Adams did go on a podcast and say that if it was the right team, he wouldn’t care about production. This means that as long as he wins, he will be satisfied. Cool, so what happens if the Ravens struggle? What happens when the team wants to get back to the running game, and Adams wants the ball?

Adams also has $30+ million in cap hits in the next two years, so he needs to get extended as well. Mind you, we already have try to find room to pay guys in the ’22 class coming up, like Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, Travis Jones, and others.

If they want to badly enough, they can find a way, but this would require 2 things – Raiders would have to eat some of his $13.5M remaining salary & the Ravens would need to extend his deal (he’s due $36M & $37M in 2025 & 2026). Those #’s are untenable. He’ll be 32 then too. 1/ https://t.co/1aFALMZHXC

— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) October 1, 2024

Now, Adams would be a fun addition on merit alone, but when you consider it logically, it doesn’t really make sense.

To end this off, I want to shout out a couple veteran players who have been flying under the radar, Ronnie Stanley and Kyle Van Noy:

Offensive coordinator Todd Monken on Ronnie Stanley: “it’s great to see him playing at a really high level.” pic.twitter.com/k3jkIE6svf

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) October 3, 2024

Ravens OLB Kyle Van Noy named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September. He had six sacks, seven tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits and one forced fumble this month.
It’s the first player of the month honor in Van Noy’s career.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) October 3, 2024

Seeing Stanley play so well is heartwarming. This guy has been through the wringer mentally and physically and is finally back. This team doesn’t sorely need the 2019 version of him here; we just needed a solid tackle, and he has given the team that.

As for Van Noy, his story is something I haven’t seen in a long time. This guy was on his couch last year, yet here he is, being the best Edge rusher the Ravens have had over the past year.

These two have endured a lot in their careers, and it is cool to see both of them succeed.

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