Baltimore Beatdown
The Ravens will have to make some crucial decisions before the Week 9 trade deadline. If they lose one of their next two games, general manager Eric DeCosta will have to consider selling players on expiring contracts.
One name that came up last week is Keaton Mitchell, who was mentioned by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler as an under-the-radar player who could get traded before the deadline. That does not necessarily mean that the Ravens are shopping the third-year running back; this time of year, articles about trade targets are often lists of players on losing teams with expiring contracts.
At first glance, trading Mitchell seems like a ludicrous idea. he averaged 8.5 yards per touch in his 2023 rookie season before tearing his ACL and appeared to be back to full strength in the preseason. However, he was a healthy scratch in four of the Ravens’ first six games this season, and in his two appearances, he only had three carries on six offensive snaps.
That approach has been somewhat baffling. Baltimore’s offense has struggled throughout the season and could have used a spark from Mitchell in their last two games without Lamar Jackson. He has already proved himself against regular-season competition and looked ready to go this summer.
John Harbaugh has explained Mitchell’s absence from the game plan as a result of the numbers game. With Derrick Henry and Justice Hill accounting for all of the Ravens’ RB snaps, the Ravens prefer to have Rasheen Ali active for core special teams duties. He contributes to every unit, while Mitchell is only a kick returner and hasn’t impressed in the role this year.
There are ways to get Mitchell active and on the field one game days. The Ravens could deactivate Ali or avoid their usual special teams practice squad elevation and fill the snaps with players who are regularly active. Mitchell could then take on Justice Hill’s change-of-pace carries and even pick up some of his receiving snaps. The Ravens have long used the veteran in pass protection, but he has not been as effective in that regard this year. Mitchell may still be too small for that role, but he could certainly be a threat out of the backfield on designed routes. On the ground, Hill has just 17 yards on 14 carries this season; surely Mitchell could do better. Mitchell could also feature alongside Derrick Henry in two-back ‘pony’ formations that Todd Monken has used in the past.
If the Ravens have no plans to implement any of these adjustments to actually use Mitchell, they may consider trading him. He will be a restricted free agent after the season, making him eligible for an RFA tag . He certainly is not worth a first-round tender, projected by OverTheCap to be $7.89 million. The $5.66 million second-round tender seems too pricey as well, and it is very unlikely that a team would give up that much draft capital to sign him.
That leaves the Ravens with the $3.45 million...
