Plenty has been written about Mark Andrews’ future with the Baltimore Ravens following their most recent painful playoff exit, with speculation around a potential trade of the tight end only heightening during a drama-less draft season.
Entertaining debates between potential franchise-saving quarterbacks at the top of NFL drafts and the hectic trades that teams swing with one another in constantly tweaking their positioning are part of what give the yearly tradition its flavor, with this year completely lacking in both. Ravens fans, partially out of discomfort about that heartbreaking elimination, wondered if an Andrews move was on the table.
The team is always in need of receivers in an ongoing odyssey to improve Lamar Jackson’s chance at winning through the air as well as on the ground, and the Ravens got some of their best out of he and end zone target Andrews this past season. The tight end wrangled in a career-high 11 touchdowns, shrugging off a sluggish start in leading the team in scoring receptions.
Even with his impressive numbers and lengthy history in Baltimore, many fans wondered if the relationship was tenable after his slip-up in the playoffs and the franchise’s non-committal comments regarding their future with Andrews as a key piece in their scoring scheme.
Many braced for the potential of a shocking trade, but Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta opted to stay pat during Day One of the draft and drafted for long-term need over the kind of move that a jumpy executive would make to fix a problem that doesn’t necessarily require a splashy move.
They settled on Malaki Starks at #27, getting their support on defense with who they labeled as “the best” safety in his class. The move makes their secondary that much scarier in giving Kyle Hamilton a running mate with the potential of playing multiple positions as a defender, capping off several weeks of guesses that they were linked to the former Georgia Bulldog.
Press conferences that followed last last night depict a team that picked the best player at their spot in the draft, a fair philosophy to take on in the first round. There are still needs to fill, ideally on the defensive edge, but there are still 10 picks to be spent by Baltimore.
Andrews, for his part, can breathe a little easier after acknowledging that whatever comes next is up to DeCosta and friends. For now, it would appear that they’re looking to make the conservative choice and avoid an unnecessary shake-up, which lines up with this rational regime.
