{"id":54997,"date":"2025-06-11T00:41:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T00:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54997"},"modified":"2025-06-11T00:41:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T00:41:23","slug":"ravens-have-strong-case-to-sign-lamar-jacksons-college-teammate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54997","title":{"rendered":"Ravens Have \u2018Strong Case\u2019 To Sign Lamar Jackson\u2019s College Teammate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2182724073-e1749568661336.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2182724073-e1749568661336.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2182724073-e1749568661336.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2182724073-e1749568661336.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Lamar Jackson\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"2557\" data-dom-ready-time=\"2648\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">The Baltimore Ravens have good reason to sign Lamar Jackson&#8217;s former college teammate in free agency.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Atwo-time Pro Bowler who also happens to be a former college teammate of franchise quarterback\u00a0Lamar Jackson, has just become available in 2025 NFL free agency, and the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0have a \u201cstrong case\u201d for taking a look and considering a deal.<\/p>\n<p>Brittle but brilliant cornerback\u00a0Jaire Alexander\u00a0could solve a not-so small problem for the Ravens. Namely, the lack of a proven veteran cover man behind All-Pro\u00a0Marlon Humphrey\u00a0and injury-prone new arrival\u00a0Chidobe Awuzie.<\/p>\n<p>The latter \u201chas played just eight games in two of his last three seasons,\u201d\u00a0per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, who also pointed out \u201cAlexander played just seven games in 2023 and 2024. When you take into account his injury-plagued 2021 campaign, Alexander has missed 34 games over the past four seasons. So the Ravens and every other team contemplating signing Alexander are going to first have to be comfortable with where he is health-wise, because he hasn\u2019t played much football in the last two years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the lack of playing time in recent years, Zrebiec still believes there\u2019s merit to signing Alexander for the right terms. The only drawback is what the arrival of the 28-year-old, who played alongside Jackson at Louisville, would mean for a young cornerback group headlined by\u00a0a potential star, second-year pro\u00a0Nate Wiggins.<\/p>\n<h2>Ravens Can Justify Jaire Alexander Risk<\/h2>\n<p>Alexander\u2019s inability to stay healthy in recent years makes him a risk, but he\u2019s a risk the Ravens can justify. Mostly thanks to a long-held team-building policy.<\/p>\n<p>As\u00a0Zrebiec put it, Ravens \u201cdecision-makers abide by the philosophy that you can never have enough corners.\u201d He quoted former general manager and Super Bowl architect Ozzie Newsome, who said, \u201cWhen you think you have enough, add one more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Ravens aren\u2019t lacking for numbers on the depth chart, but they are short of a proven commodity or two. Wiggins and Humphrey will be the primary starters, while the latter kicks inside in nickel sets, according to Zrebiec, leaving Owuzie to play on the perimeter.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the theory, but one injury would leave Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr and secondary boss Chuck Pagano relying on a quartet of unproven players. Signing Alexander would mitigate this problem if he was able to recreate the form that made him a lockdown corner for the\u00a0Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n<p>His best chance to do that would involve taking less chances in space, according to\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Benjamin Solak. He\u2019s \u201cconfident the days of consistent CB1 man coverage are gone, but the ball skills and eyes in zone remain good (if he plays disciplined\/doesn\u2019t freestyle) Can see a solid second arc to his career as a CB2.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Solak also mentioned interest from the\u00a0Buffalo Bills, slayers of the Ravens in last season\u2019s playoffs. Beating a fellow contender for AFC supremacy to a gifted defensive back would be fine work from general manager Eric DeCosta, but he must act fast because the Bills aren\u2019t the only interested party.<\/p>\n<p>As many as \u201c<span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\">6 teams made immediate inquiries about CB Jaire Alexander\u2019s upon his release from the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"r-18u37iz\">#Packers<\/span><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\">\u00a0Monday, per league source,\u201d according to NFL Insider\u00a0Josina Anderson.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"6b7abc687132c729a3aba1ce06ea6de5\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container\">\n<article class=\"tweet-container_article\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container_header \">\n<p>The Ravens have enough incentive to join a crowded field because of the suspect depth among a key position group.<\/p>\n<h2>Ravens Need Boost to Cornerback Depth<\/h2>\n<p>They\u00a0are counting on\u00a0Wiggins becoming a dominant force, but the Ravens could use another infusion of talent at cornerback. Especially when the alternatives to Wiggins, Humphrey and Awuzie are two former fourth-round draft picks,\u00a0T.J. Tampa\u00a0and\u00a0Jalyn Armour-Davis, along with this year\u2019s sixth-rounders,\u00a0Bilhal Kone\u00a0and\u00a0Robert Longerbeam.<\/p>\n<p>Avoiding injury and simply getting onto the field will be the primary challenges facing this group, but their collective youth does at least provide the Ravens some insurance for the future. It would be a different story if DeCosta signed Alexander, with\u00a0Zrebiec pointing out\u00a0\u201cthe Ravens would head into the offseason with Alexander and Awuzie presumably free agents and Humphrey entering his age-30 season and the final year of his deal. Baltimore would have no real knowledge of what it has with its young corners beyond Wiggins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blocking the development of young corners is a valid concern, particularly when Longerbeam is a potential late-round\u00a0steal thanks to disruptive skills. Yet, the greater risk would surely be entering the new season with a paucity of marquee talent at a vital spot on the roster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty The Baltimore Ravens have good reason to sign Lamar Jackson&#8217;s former college teammate in free agency. Atwo-time Pro Bowler who also happens to be a former&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ravens Have \u2018Strong Case\u2019 To Sign Lamar Jackson\u2019s College Teammate - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54997\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ravens Have \u2018Strong Case\u2019 To Sign Lamar Jackson\u2019s College Teammate - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty The Baltimore Ravens have good reason to sign Lamar Jackson&#8217;s former college teammate in free agency. 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