There are a lot of people to blame for the Baltimore Ravens’ strange contract stalemate with Lamar Jackson. But someone that has somewhat gone under the radar for his work is GM Eric DeCosta.
DeCosta has been in this position with the Ravens since 2019 — when Jackson became a unanimous MVP Award winner. In the ensuing years, Baltimore experienced a precipitous decline, while Jackson was sidelined to finish the 2022 season.
During a press conference at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, DeCosta was asked about a problem for the Ravens: drafting quality receivers. Seeing as how this WR issue is something many believe is part of why Jackson has fallen off from an MVP level, DeCosta had an intriguing answer.
He called the Ravens’ failures there “disappointing” while seemingly confused about why they continue to fall short at the position:
Eric DeCosta on problems drafting WRs: "If I had an answer, that would probably mean I would have some better receivers. … We're gonna keep swinging.
"There have been some guys that have been successful players for us that were draft picks. We've never really hit on that… https://t.co/rjDzD0ak6u
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) March 1, 2023
DeCosta lamenting over what’s gone wrong for the Ravens at receiver doesn’t ring entirely true. This is the same man who traded former 2019 first-rounder Marquise “Hollywood” Brown — one of Jackson’s best friends on the team. If your quarterback needs weapons … why would you trade a legitimate deep threat?
That said, DeCosta likely felt comfortable parting with Brown because the Ravens expected 2021 first-rounder Rashod Bateman to blossom last year. Instead, Bateman recorded just 15 catches for 285 yards and two touchdowns in five starts before a foot injury robbed him of most of last season.
With DeCosta seemingly casting blame on receivers like Bateman, Devin Duvernay, and Brown — all playmakers he’s drafted in his time as GM — Bateman didn’t take kindly to reading his summary.
In a now-deleted tweet, the WR blasted DeCosta for what he thought was the GM pointing the finger at his players instead of taking more responsibility:
Uh, yeah, I’m starting to believe the organization has more significant issues than Lamar Jackson’s contract negotiations alone.
For what it’s worth, former Ravens players Quincy Adeboyejo and Carl Davis Jr. commented on a 2021-2022 NFLPA survey about the quality of team working conditions. Baltimore received an F- for its strength coaches and a C for its training room.
Much of that grade concerns recently departed head strength coach Steve Saunders — probably the main reason Adeboyejo and Davis. Jr. hopped on the NFLPA report discussing past injuries. (Bateman initially retweeted Adeboyejo and has left up a retweet of a fan commenting on Adeboyejo’s sentiments.)
Woof. While Saunders may have been painted as the main culprit, much of that pervasive strength/training problem happened under DeCosta’s watch as GM and an executive.
From that perspective, Bateman might have had a point in his critique. DeCosta and Ravens brass should probably look more inward when diagnosing their organizational problems. That applies to far more than receivers failing to live up to expectations for their franchise QB.
