The Ravens have a two-week deadline to apply the franchise tag on their star interior rusher
On February 20, the two-week window for NFL clubs to designate Franchise or Transition tags on players has opened. This mightily involves the Baltimore Ravens as they expectantly hope to keep interior defensive lineman Justin Madubuike.
According to overthecap.com, the tag price for Madubuike would be $20.2 million, a seismic pay increase from his rookie deal that totaled $5.23 million over four years. But, after his development and production hit incredible heights, it’s appearing as the move is in the best interest of the team if they cannot strike a long-term deal in the next two weeks.
Madubuike’s production in 2023 saw an eruption of production. He went from generating 8.5 sacks in the first three years to 13.0 sacks in Year 4 alone. He earned Pro Bowl honors, was named to AP’s Second-Team All-Pro and tied for ninth in AP Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Along with the gaudy sack numbers, Madubuike in total finished the 2023 season (reg+post) with 64 total pressures (14 sacks, 17 QB hits, 33 hurries). He also accumulated 37 defensive stops (tackles that constitute a “failure for the offense).
A long-term deal would be best to lock in Madubuike and navigate the cap space to bolster the Ravens chances in their Super Bowl window, the tag is a guarantee that Madubuike will be a Raven in 2024. And while it’s highly expected to be used on the interior rusher, General Manager Eric DeCosta did not express it’s a certainty during the Ravens’ End of Season Press Conference.
“I learned a lesson this year and that was as hard as it – not to revisit the Lamar [Jackson] negotiations – but one of the great things about that negotiation was that I learned that it’s beneficial to just not talk about things. There is a value sometimes to not really showing your cards or showing your hand. So, we’ll have all those decisions made at some point coming soon,” DeCosta said. “We’ll know what’s best for us to do. It’s something that we haven’t just started thinking about, obviously. It’s something we’ve been thinking about.”
And though DeCosta won’t be showing his hand, it feels most can see that it includes applying the tag on Madubuike in the short-term as they hope to land a deal in the long-term that can be negotiated during which Madubuike is tagged, rather than seeing free agency in the coming month.