The sting of the Ravens’ divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills — and tight end Mark Andrews’ agonizing role in it — was still fresh when head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta met with the media a few days later and went to bat for the All-Pro tight end.
“I love Mark Andrews,” Harbaugh said. “Eric loves Mark. All of our players love Mark. Mark is a huge part of our future.”
DeCosta added, “We’re blessed to have, in my opinion, the best tight ends room in the league.”
The simmering question, though, is for how long?
In Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar, the Ravens have a trio that collectively led the league by far in touchdown catches by tight ends (18) and ranked fourth in receiving yardage (1,281). But all three are set to become free agents in 2026, and DeCosta acknowledged that transformational change could be coming at the position.
Will the Ravens look to extend Andrews again? And would that cost them Likely? Or will they try to lock in Likely with a long-term deal? And would that cost them Andrews? Could Andrews, a franchise cornerstone, be cut or traded? It’s happened before with another Ravens record-setting tight end.
“We’ll have some decisions to make moving forward,” DeCosta said.
All Eyes On Andrews
Andrews is the most compelling, most timely and most expensive factor in DeCosta’s calculations. Andrews is entering the final season of a four-year, $56 million extension signed in 2021. His $16.9 million cap hit for 2025 is the fourth-highest on the Ravens and fifth-highest among tight ends, according to Spotrac.com, which tracks player contracts.
He’s also coming off perhaps the worst game of his career. Andrews dropped a potential game-tying, two-point conversion pass with 1:33 left in the divisional round loss to the Bills, and that came after he lost a fumble earlier in the fourth quarter with the Ravens driving for a potential go-ahead score.
The Ravens would create $11 million in cap space by releasing or trading Andrews, but they would eat nearly $6 million in dead money. And the move would come with seismic ramifications.
Most notably, a team in the midst of a Super Bowl-contending window would be jettisoning one of its top offensive weapons. It’s also fair to wonder how quarterback Lamar Jackson would take Andrews’ departure, given that Andrews has been Jackson’s top target since the two came to Baltimore together as rookies in 2018.
Such a move this spring could also make for bad optics if, after all the support showered on Andrews publicly by team officials, fans perceived that Andrews was made the organizational fall guy for their playoff loss.
Andrews, who turns 30 in September, has already set the franchise record for touchdown catches overall (51) and receiving yards by a tight end (5,530). He needs 248 yards to break Derrick Mason’s franchise record for receiving yards.
After an uncharacteristically slow start in 2024 — Andrews was held without a catch in back-to-back games for the first time in his career in Weeks 3 and 4 — he finished with 55 catches for 673 yards and 11 touchdowns. He set a team record by catching a touchdown pass in six straight games.
Cutting Andrews would send shock waves through Baltimore, but it has happened before with a record-setting tight end.
Ring of Honor member Todd Heap was cut in July 2011 in a cap-savings move as he was entering the final year of his contract. At the time, Heap was 31 and had just finished his 10th season with the Ravens, with 40 catches for 599 yards and five touchdowns in 13 games. Heap ultimately played two more seasons for his hometown Arizona Cardinals with pedestrian results.
If Andrews does return — whether on the last year of his deal, or on a reworked or extended contract — the Ravens will have a highly motivated player. Breaking his own silence via Instagram days after the loss to the Bills, the uber-competitive Andrews wrote, “I’m absolutely gutted by what happened [vs. Buffalo]. … I promise that this adversity will only make me stronger and fuel us as we move forward.”
A Likely Extension?
Any question about Andrews’ future is inextricably linked to Likely. The fourth-year, former fourth-round pick from Coastal Carolina has blossomed into the type of homegrown, “ascending player” that owner Steve Bisciotti has said he prioritizes. If the Ravens work to extend Likely, does that essentially close the door on Andrews?
| Mark Andrews | |||
| Year | Rec | Yds | TD |
| 2018 | 34 | 552 | 3 |
| 2019 | 64 | 852 | 10 |
| 2020 | 58 | 701 | 7 |
| TOTAL | 156 | 2,105 | 20 |
| Isaiah Likely | |||
| Year | Rec | Yds | TD |
| 2022 | 36 | 373 | 3 |
| 2023 | 30 | 411 | 5 |
| 2024 | 42 | 477 | 6 |
| TOTAL | 108 | 1,261 | 14 |
When the Ravens opened the wallet for inside linebacker Roquan Smith, the consensus was that Patrick Queen would be gone. Similarly, with other major salary concerns on the horizon — safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum are eligible for extensions now, and receiver Zay Flowers will be a year from now — it seems cost-prohibitive for the Ravens to sign two tight ends to lucrative extensions.
Likely, who turns 25 in April, finished this season with 42 catches for 477 yards and six touchdowns and added a touchdown in the playoff loss to Buffalo. He’s a dependable, physical player who has proved to be a menace after the catch.
With a Proven Performance Escalator — a CBA-mandated fourth-year bonus for non-first-round picks based on snap counts during their first three seasons — Likely will get a raise to about $3.3 million in 2025, according to overthecap.com.
An extension for Likely this year should lower his 2025 cap hit of roughly $3.4 million and come more cheaply than next spring, especially if he has another good year.
Andrews, incidentally, was signed to his contract extension just before his fourth season, though in his first three seasons he produced more catches, yards and touchdowns than Likely. Then again, by 2019, Andrews was the team’s clear No. 1 tight end, a role Likely has never had. Are the Ravens ready for Likely to be that guy?
Pick A Pair?
If the Ravens do decide to punt any decision-making until next spring — they signed offensive coordinator Todd Monken to a contract extension, which means the framework of the offense will remain in place — history suggests they will draft two tight ends in 2026.
Keep an eye on the second one.
Four times since 2010, the Ravens have taken two tight ends in the same draft. In all four cases, the second pick has had a more productive tenure with the team. In 2010, the Ravens took Ed Dickson in the third round and then Dennis Pitta in the fourth. In 2015, they selected Maxx Williams in the second round and Nick Boyle in the fifth. In 2018, the Ravens used their first pick on tight end Hayden Hurst — seven spots before drafting Lamar Jackson — and then selected Andrews in the third round. And in 2022, the Ravens took Kolar in the fourth round and then Likely 11 picks later.
Kolar’s future as a No. 3 tight end is probably secure this year, and any extension for him would be modest given his role. But Kolar, who finished this season with nine catches for 131 yards and one touchdown in 13 games, might prefer to hit the open market next year and find a team where he could have a more expansive offensive role.
Andrews is due a $4 million roster bonus on March 16, the fifth day of the new league year, so by then, DeCosta might show his 2025 strategy with “the best tight ends room in the league.”
Photo Credits: Kenya Allen/PressBox
Issue 291: February / March 2025
Originally published Feb. 19, 2025