Realistic Ravens free agent targets: Wide Receiver (2024)

With the new league year quickly approaching and an increased salary cap for all 32 teams, some fan bases hope their team will be very active in unrestricted free agency taking at least one or multiple big swings to put them over the top.

However, fans of the Baltimore Ravens shouldn’t get their hopes up in that regard simply because the team has limited resources in terms of cap space to work with after placing the franchise tag on Pro Bowl defensive tackle Justin Madubuike. General Manager Eric DeCosta almost certainly won’t try to land a big-ticket free agent, barring the contract restructuring or release of several veteran players.

Nevertheless, there will still be veteran players at the team’s top positions of need who can be had for affordable-to-moderate annual salaries and will be able to come in and fill holes or at least contribute on a rotational basis.

The first position that will have its realistic options broken down is wide receiver. The Ravens have already brought back veteran Nelson Agholor and have a nice young duo in former first-rounders Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman but they are slated to lose three-time Pro Bowler Odell Beckham Jr. and two-time Pro Bowler Devin Duvernay. Here are some wideouts that could be in the Ravens price range in the first, second, and third waves of free agency.

Kendrick Bourne

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The seven-year veteran most recently played for the New England Patriots where spent the past three seasons of his career. He is a big-bodied possession receiver who can line up inside and out, make contested catches, generate yards after the catch, and takes pride in being a punishing run blocker both downfield as well as in motion. Bourne was on pace for a career year with 37 receptions on 55 targets for 406 receiving yards and four touchdowns through the first eight games before a torn ACL landed him on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

According to Spotrac, the 28-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Eastern Washington is projected to garner a three-year contract worth $14.6 million, which averages out to $4.8 million per year. However, given that he’ll be 29 by the time the 2024 season starts and the fact that he is coming off a major injury, DeCosta might be able to get him to on a one-year prove-it deal with incentive escalators and maybe even void years so that he can show the Ravens and other teams around the league that he is the same dynamic player post-injury.

Josh Reynolds

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The six-year veteran most recently played for the Detroit Lions where he spent the last two and half seasons of his career. He thrived as the third pass-catching option in one of the most explosive and well-balanced offenses in the league last year, resulting in the second-most productive season of his career in which he recorded 40 receptions on 64 targets for 608 receiving yards and five touchdowns and averaged 15.2 yards per catch. In addition to being a strong possession receiver who can make a lot of plays over the middle of the field, Reynolds uses his 6-foot-3 and nearly 200-pound frame to be a dangerous red-zone target as well.

According to Spotrac, the 29-year-old former fourth-round pick out of Texas A&M is projected to garner a two-year contract worth $14 million which averages out to $7 million per year. Reynolds played the past two seasons on a two-year deal worth less than half of his projected average annual salary. The Ravens could likely afford the higher estimated figure on a three-year deal that they could use to spread the cap hits. However, they might be able to get him to sign for less than that given how deep this incoming rookie class of wideouts is, which could leave fewer landing spots for players of his caliber at the position who want to seek bigger paydays.

K.J. Osborn

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The four-year veteran most recently played for the Minnesota Vikings where he was originally drafted in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Miami. He also had success in a supplemental role last season and for the past three years of his career playing behind Pro Bowlers and an All-Pro. The arrival of standout rookie Jordan Addison in 2023 resulted in Osborn’s least productive season since his first year in the league with 48 receptions on 75 targets for 540 receiving yards and three touchdowns after recording 650-plus receiving yards and five-plus touchdowns in back-to-back years. Even though he’s only 5-11, he has shown that he can play above the rim and go up over defenders to make a play.

According to Spotrac, the 26-year-old first-time free agent is projected to garner a two-year contract worth $15.1 million which averages out to $7.5 million per year. The Ravens historically prefer doing either one-year incentive-laden deals or at least three-year deals that can allow them to backload or evenly spread the salary cap hits. While $7.5 million over three years might be a little too rich for their blood at this juncture. However, given that Bateman might have his fifth-year option declined following the draft, having a young yet experienced player at the position under contract beyond 2024 would make sense at a slightly lower figure.

Noah Brown

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The seven-year veteran most recently played for the Houston Texans and has spent his entire career playing for a Lone Star state franchise after originally being drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. He initially made a name for himself in the league as one of the best run-blocking receivers but has improved his production as a pass catcher each year. In 2023, he recorded 33 receptions on 55 targets for a career-high 567 receiving yards and two touchdowns and averaged a career-high 17.2 yards per catch. He possesses good size at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds that he uses to outmuscle corners of all sizes but especially in the slot where he showed an ability to stretch the seams of opposing defenses last year.

According to Spotrac, the 28-year-old is projected to garner a three-year contract worth $16.8 million which averages out to $5.6 million per year. Brown signed a one-year deal with the Texans last offseason worth just $2.6 million and while finished with 12 more receiving yards in 2023 than he did in 2022, that’s not worth a pay raise of $3 million although signing him for a little over $3-plus million could be feasible for the Ravens. There’s a chance that he could end up back in Houston at his projected salary because he is familiar with their system and their front office has plenty of cap space to spare, but they could also want to continue building through the draft with younger talent.

D.J. Chark

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The six-year veteran most recently played for the Carolina Panthers where he spent the second straight year playing for a different team trying to recapture the Pro Bowl form he reached in his second season back in 2019. He continued to occasionally flash his big play potential on what was an otherwise lackluster offense and his 15 games played were the most since his breakout second year. Chark finished with similar modest production as he did in Detroit the year before with 35 receptions on 66 targets for 525 receiving yards, five touchdowns and averaged 15 yards per catch. He can do a lot of damage on the boundary but at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, can make plays over the middle and would give the Ravens a natural ‘X’ receiver presence.

According to Spotrac, the 27-year-old former second-round pick out of LSU in the 2018 NFL Draft is projected to garner a one-year contract worth $10.9 million but this estimation may very well wind up being the most off-base of them all. Chark signed for less than half of that to join the Panthers last year on a one-year deal worth just $5 million and nearly had all of his production doubled by a 33-year-old Adam Thielen in 2023. The Ravens would likely be able to land him for around the same amount as he signed for last year given how depressed the lower tier of free agent receiver market could end up being in the end because of the 2024 draft class.

Michael Thomas

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The eight-year veteran most recently played for the New Orleans Saints whom he was originally drafted by in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. Thomas was once among the league’s elite at his position who was voted to three straight Pro Bowls, voted First-Team All-Pro in back-to-back years, and was the 2019 Offensive Player of the Year after leading the NFL in receptions (149), receiving yards (1,725), and receiving yards per game (107.8). Ankle injuries have severely hampered him since 2020 including causing him to miss the entire 2021 season. He was having a decent somewhat resurgent season in 2023 before a knee injury he suffered in Week 10 cut his season short after he had recorded 39 receptions on 64 targets for 448 receiving yards and one touchdown in seven starts.

According to Spotrac, the 31-year-old who will be hitting the open market for the first time in his career and is projected to garner a one-year contract worth $9.2 million but given his age and lack of durability, he’ll be lucky to get half of that and will hardly get any guaranteed money on any contract he signs. Thomas will likely receive a heavy playing time incentive-laden contract in the same $5 million ballpark as Chark which could be worth a third wave or post-draft flier depending on what happens in late April. At 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, he could still be a solid outside and red zone threat when healthy.