Ravens will ‘look at’ adding another safety so Kyle Hamilton can return to versatile role

Freeing up their most dynamic and disruptive weapon on defense should be a priority this offseason.

Heading into the 2024 season, the Baltimore Ravens boasted arguably the most loaded secondary in the entire NFL on paper. They were expected to be among the league’s stingiest pass defenses with safety Kyle Hamilton as the dynamic centerpiece fresh off a First Team All Pro season but were anything put through the first 10 games.

The injury to veteran nickel corner Arthur Maulet coupled with the underperformance of veteran safeties Marcus Williams and Eddie caused them to spend more than half of the season ranked dead last in pass defense. While they faced a gauntlet of multi-time Pro Bowl quarterbacks and elite wide receivers during that span, they were consistently giving up big plays through the air to stars and scrubs alike.

To stop the bleeding and stabilize their coverage, the Ravens released Jackson, benched Williams, inserted fourth-year pro Ar’Darius Washington into the starting lineup and deployed Hamilton into a more traditional safety role. The transition for the 2022 first-rounder meant he spent more time roaming the backend to limit big plays by the opposing offense and less time up near the line of scrimmage creating big plays for his defense.

From Week 11 through their premature playoff exit, the Ravens pass defense lived up to its preseason hype and was the stingiest unit in the league, allowing an average of just 175.3 passing yards a game after giving up nearly 294.9 yards through the air per game prior to making the personnel change.

Hamilton proved he could be just as impactful as a stabilizing force in a traditional role as he was a disruptive playmaker in the hybrid nickel role that made him a household name during his first two years in the league.

“I think we definitely saw a different type of performance from Kyle this year, but if you look at overall how our defense blossomed with him back there, I think it was worthwhile,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said. “Did he make as many splash plays? Probably not, but I’d take the improvement in the defense rather than Kyle making splash plays and us not being very good on defense.”

After letting former late-round gem Geno Stone walk in free agency last offseason after he led the team and AFC with a career-high seven interceptions, the Ravens failed to properly replace him with a natural free safety type. His absence and inability of Jackson to fill that void limited their defense to a degree in terms of how diverse they could be when it comes to creative and deceptive coverages and blitz packages that were commonplace under Mike Macdonald from 2022-2023 because Hamilton was able to be used in a multitude of ways and wasn’t absolutely needed in the backend most of the time.

Even though he wasn’t able to do what he does more often down the stretch, Hamilton still had a great season. He was voted to his second straight Pro Bowl and named First Team All Pro by Pro Football Writers of America and Second Team All Pro by the Associated Press. In 17 games, he recorded a career-high 107 total tackles including four for a loss, two sacks, an interception, nine pass breakups, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and six quarterback hits.

DeCosta was transparent in stating the Ravens’ interest in wanting to bring another safety this offseason not necessarily for the sole purpose of freeing up Hamilton to play predominantly in the box again. But to give their defense the unpredictable “multiplicity” that comes with having what Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay called the “ultimate chess piece” last summer in an interview on The Athletic Football Show.

“If we can add another safety, obviously, it would be really good for us,” DeCosta said. “It gives us that multiplicity on defense and the ability to do a lot of different things. Kyle becomes that sort of [Swiss Army] knife again, but listen, we’re blessed to have Kyle and Ar’Darius back there.”

Despite playing a major role in the pass defense’s amazing turnaround, Washington didn’t earn any lofty individual accolades but was another player who DeCosta was effusive in showering with praise for his contributions this season.

“Ar’Darius is a great example of a guy who got a chance and ran with it,” DeCosta said. “He went undrafted because he was a step slow [and] he’s a couple inches smaller. And we got him, and we were excited when we got him as an undrafted free agent, because he was a great football player. Then the question really becomes, ‘Can he do the same thing at our level that he did at the college level?’ He got hurt a couple years, unfortunate injuries, a lot like Rashod [Bateman] in that way.

“His first couple of years got held back a little bit. This year, he stayed healthy, and he became that guy that we saw in college. [He’s] tough, physical, a playmaker, instinctive, smart, a leader. [He’s a] great story. Just another one of these undrafted guys over the years that we’ve had that has developed into being a really good football player. We’re proud of him. He’s going to be a restricted free agent this year for us, and we’re fortunate that we have him back again next year.”

DeCosta also takes comfort in the fact that the Ravens have some “good, young” cornerbacks they brought in last year in first-rounder Nate Wiggins and fourth-rounder T.J. Tampa to play along veteran Marlon Humphrey who is fresh off his second career First Team All Pro season in which he played inside and out.

“I would anticipate our secondary is going to play like they did over the last eight, nine [or] 10 games of the season next year,” DeCosta said.

This year’s projected crop of free agent veteran safeties isn’t filled with experienced players who not only fit the profile of the type they’re looking for at the position. Still, it would also be willing to take a lesser albeit regular role in the Ravens’ defense. This means their most likely avenue to bring in the reinforcements they desire is through the 2025 NFL Draft. Just before he headed downstairs for the end-of-season press conference, DeCosta shared that he was looking at film of a safety prospect in this incoming class.

While he declined to share who exactly it was after Harbaugh jokingly asked him if he wanted to reveal the name, it’s clear that adding another safety is at the forefront of their minds and is likely high on the list of priorities this offseason.

“We’ll go through it, and we’ll get all the players, and we’ll rank the board like we always do, and if the best guy is a free safety at that pick, then we’ll take him and be very happy with it,” DeCosta said.

Some safety prospects to monitor for the Ravens during the pre-draft process include Georgia’s Malaki Starks, South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori, Texas’ Andrew Mukuba, and Oklahoma’s Billy Bowman Jr. The latter two will attend the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl this week, which is a talent pool this front office historically loves to pull from every year.