Ravens reuniting with veteran DB Brandon Carr makes too much sense not to happen

The Baltimore Ravens still boast the strongest and deepest secondary in the league despite the recent losses of second-year corner Iman Marshall for the season because of a torn ACL and seven-time Pro Bowl and future Hall of Fame safety Earl Thomas due to a terminated contract. While the team is confident in third-year safety DeShon Elliott’s ability to replace Thomas and they still have quite a few options at cornerback, their depth at both positions has still gone down.

If only there were a player on the open market that is not only familiar with their scheme and personnel and has experience playing both positions at a high level. Oh, wait…there is, and he was just on the team last season.

The Ravens decided not to pick the contract option of 12-year veteran defensive back Brandon Carr earlier this offseason, freeing up $6 million in cap space in the process which enabled them to make a few notable additions and few key retentions. While he thrived in a hybrid corner/safety role in 2019, they liked their depth at both positions heading into the summer.

Fast forward to now and the kickoff of the season is less than three weeks away and they now find themselves down a key starter from last season and will be without another player at a position a team can never have enough quality players at.

Despite having never missed a game and has started every game of his career, Carr the NFL’s defensive ironman hasn’t garnered any serious interest from any other team this offseason. While some of that can likely be attributed to the global pandemic, he has only been recently tied to the Ravens in rumors and speculation due to their recent subtractions from their 2020 defensive back depth chart.

While he was really a starter in name only since the team wanted to do him the courtesy of extending his consecutive starts streak, Carr was still a productive member of the secondary. He recorded 49 total tackles including four for loss, seven quarterback hits, six pass deflections, and a pair of sacks. Not too shabby for a converted corner on the wrong side of 30.

He’s likely on the Ravens radar of possible free-agent targets to bring in case another subtraction was to occur or if they just want an experienced insurance policy in the backend. At this stage of the unorthodox preseason that’s really just an extended offseason with practices since there aren’t any exhibition games being played, Carr won’t command anywhere near a market value contract and could likely even be had for the veteran minimum.

That’s a small price to pay for a proven player who has been an established and well-respected leader within the organization, locker room, and Baltimore community through his foundation and other philanthropic efforts for the past three years.

The veteran free agent safety pool is unusually saturated for this time of year with players with extensive starting experience but with the exception of Logan Ryan, no notable candidates began their careers or spent any time at cornerback like Carr. Former Ravens safety Tony Jefferson who, like Carr, was jettisoned this offseason is also on the open market and would welcome a return to the team.

“If the situation is right, then that’s where I’ll be,” Jefferson told 105.7 the Fan’s “Inside Access”. “At the end of the day, I just want to play football. Whether I’m in a different role or whatever anybody decides to put me at, I’m just going to go out there and play football and the cards are going to land where they land.”

While Jefferson would help fill the void left by Thomas, especially when it comes to helping out as a box safety, he doesn’t offer the same positional flexibility to play corner as Carr. The team has also talked all summer about experimenting and utilizing veteran corner Jimmy Smith in the similar hybrid safety role that they used Carr in last season in addition to being the primary backup at outside corner. However, unlike Carr, the former first-round pick has no experience at playing in the slot.

I’m sure Baltimore’s front office and Carr’s representatives haven’t completely closed the door on a possible reunion. Even if a signing isn’t imminent and the team opts to wait until final cutdown day or the regular season gets underway, bring back Carr makes too much sense from both a leadership, versatility and schematic standpoint not to happen sometime in the near or not too distance future.