State of the 2020 Ravens Running Backs Corps

The 2019 season ended in the most anticlimactic fashion for the Baltimore Ravens. A potential Super Bowl run fell apart in the blink of an eye. Although disappointment still permeates, Ravens fans should be optimistic about the future. Now that the offseason has begun, it’s time to take a look at the individual positional groups and assess their future. Here are the running backs currently on the 2020 roster.

Mark Ingram II
- 2020 Age: 30
- Experience: 10th year
- 2020 Free Agent Status: Under contract
- Contract Remaining: $11,666,667/2 years
- 2020 Cap Hit: $5,333,333
- 2020 Dead Cap Penalty: $3,166,667
- 2020 Cut Savings: $2,166,666
- Probability of Being Cut/Traded: Low
Gus Edwards
- 2020 Age: 25
- Experience: 3rd year
- 2020 Free Agent Status: ERFA
- Contract Remaining: None
- Potential 2020 Cap Hit: 660,000 (2020 league minimum)
- 2020 Dead Cap Penalty: $0
- 2020 Cut Savings: Not yet under contract.
- Probability of Leaving Baltimore: Low
Justice Hill
- 2020 Age: 22
- Experience: 2nd year
- 2020 Free Agent Status: Under contract
- Contract Remaining: 2,581,242/3 years
- 2020 Cap Hit: $770,414
- 2020 Dead Cap Penalty: $556,242
- 2020 Cut Savings: $214,172
- Probability of Being Cut/Traded: Low

Potential Moves Baltimore Could Make:

Cut Mark Ingram to save over $2 million.
Let Gus Edwards leave Baltimore without offering him a league-minimum deal.
Replace Justice Hill.

What Moves Should the Ravens Make to the Roster?

The Baltimore Ravens have some easy decisions ahead of them in regards to the running backs group. Baltimore has no reason to part ways with either Mark Ingram or Justice Hill. Baltimore’s frugal investment into the former New Orleans Saints running back has yielded a higher return than most expected. Ingram rushed for 1018 yards in 2020, the third-most in a season of his career. Ingram was voted to the Pro Bowl in his first year as a Baltimore Raven. Baltimore should also be happy with Justice Hill as he enters his second year. The first-year speedster accumulated 225 yards on the ground and scored 2 touchdowns to begin his career. The Ravens are expected to expand his role in 2020, and it would be foolish to abandon the fourth-round pick before the start of his second year.

Baltimore’s second-string running back, Gus Edwards, who averaged 5.3 yards per attempt in his first two years, must be re-signed. The Ravens can either offer Edwards the league minimum, which would keep him in Baltimore because of his status as an exclusive rights free agent, or the Ravens can offer Edwards a longer-term contract with a higher payout. Whatever direction Eric DeCosta decides to take, the only important outcome is that Edwards is kept in the purple and black, regardless of the price and term DeCosta decides to offer.

Which Free Agents Should the Ravens Target?

There’s been a lot of talk amongst Ravens fans about the prospect of adding Tennessee Titans running back and former Heisman Trophy winner, Derrick Henry to the 2020 roster. Henry is one of the most dominant running backs in the game, so I get the appeal. The north-south bruiser of a running back fits the Ravens’ offensive scheme well, and the move would benefit the Ravens in terms of x’s and o’s. But the move would not benefit the Ravens in terms of dollars and cents. According to Spotrac.com, Derrick Henry’s market value is around $13.8 million per year. A four year, $55 million, while lucrative for Henry, would be absurd for the Ravens. The 2020 Ravens are already set to spend just over $6 million on running backs, and that number would get much closer to $7 million if the Ravens re-sign Gus Edwards. Assuming the Ravens signed Henry for the market price, and let Gus Edwards walk to open the roster spot, Baltimore would increase its positional spending by 226%, and Henry’s contract would take up an astounding 47.11% of the Ravens’ $29,293,537 of open cap space.

Needless to say, signing Derrick Henry would give the Ravens an exorbitant amount of financial strain, which is especially reckless when one considers the fact that the Ravens already have a Pro Bowl starting running back in place, with two promising young backs behind him. There is only one free agency move that the Baltimore Ravens must make in 2020, re-signing Gus Edwards.

Do the Ravens Need to Draft a Running Back?

The Ravens are already comfortable with the three running backs that played in 2019, and as long as Gus Edwards is re-signed, the Ravens will keep the same group in 2020. The Ravens rarely carry four or more running backs on the active roster during the season, so drafting one seems unlikely. Abstention from drafting a running back would be the correct move, as the Ravens would essentially be wasting a pick.