Ravens OLB Matthew Judon officially signs franchise tender
For the first time in two years, the Baltimore Ravens will have their sack leader from the previous season returning for at least another year now that outside linebacker Matthew Judon has officially signed his franchise tender, according to sources of NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The Ravens placed the linebacker tag on the 27-year-old edge defender on March 13th just before he was slated to hit the unrestricted free-agent market when the new league year opened up. Pelissero also reported that Judon and the team agreed to split the salary between that of a linebacker and defensive end which means that he’ll be making around $16.8 million in 2020.
It is a rare compromise that a team makes since outside linebackers franchise tag salaries are the same as middle linebackers even if they play in a 4-3 or hybrid scheme where they predominantly play on the edge with their hand in the dirt or standing up in a two-point stance and rare are asked to drop into coverage. Many of the league’s best pass rushers fall into this category even though they are de facto defensive ends.
This doesn’t mean that the two parties will not be continuing to work towards a long-term deal to keep in the fold for the foreseeable future. They still have until the July 15th deadline to work out an extension and who knows maybe that number could be the baseline in terms of average annual salary for a potential long-term deal.
After the departure of Zadarius Smith and Terrell Suggs in free agency last March, the Ravens lost their top two leaders in sacks—Judon and Suggs tied for second on the team in sacks with seven each—and the burden to pick up the slack fell on the shoulders of the fifth-round pick from Grand Valley State in 2016.
The former small-school product answered the call and rose to the occasion in the final year of his rookie deal by having the best season of his career. He earned his first Pro Bowl nod by recording career-highs in sacks (9.5), forced fumbles (four), and quarterback hits (33-fourth most in the league).
Judon is one of the most complete edge defenders in the league that stuffs the run just as well as he crashes off the edge to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Even before he officially broke out last year, he’d been one of the Ravens’ most consistent and dependable defenders. He’s only missed two games in his career and has played full 16 game slates in each of the last three seasons. He’s recorded no less than four sacks dating back to his rookie season and has tallied 28.5 in his career overall despite starting just 36 of a possible 62 games.
He is one of just four players on a list that includes his new teammate Calais Campbell and fellow Pro Bowlers Chandler Jones of the Arizona Cardinals and Cameron Jordan of the New Orleans Saints that have recorded at least 150 tackles, 70 quarterback hits, 40 tackles for loss and 20 sacks since 2017.
Officially locking up Judon for this season just ensures that the monstrous defensive line that second-year general manager Eric DeCosta has put together this offseason with additions of Campbell, Wolfe, rookies Justin Madubuike and Broderick Washington, as well as bringing back Jihad Ward and Justin Ellis, will be at full strength and ready to wreak havoc off the edge and up the middle come this fall.
