A breakdown of the top five Baltimore Ravens contracts most at risk under Jesse Minter, using cap impact and roster context to explain who could be on the move.
After barely missing the playoffs due to a missed field goal against the Steelers, the Ravens decided it was time to make a change. John Harbaugh was the Ravens head coach for 18 seasons, leading the Ravens to a victory against his brother Jim Harbaugh in Super Bowl 48.
The Ravens have chosen to hire 42-year-old Jesse Minter, now former defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, to be the next head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Minter is only the fourth head coach, and youngest in the Ravens 31 year history. I think this is a great hire by the Ravens—he knows the organization well as his first experience coaching in the NFL with the Ravens as a defensive assistant. He has spent the last 4 years with Jim Harbaugh as his defensive coordinator, 3 of those years were at the University of Michigan. Minter was the defensive coordinator for Michigan when they went undefeated and won the National Championship in 2023. Minter is a great leader, and based on his experience with the Harbaugh family, he will be able to keep the Ravens on a path to success as they are accustomed to.
Below are four key players least likely be on the roster next season, along with one surprise name you may not expect.
Isaiah Likely was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 4th round (139th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. In his rookie season he posted decent numbers for a rookie TE where he played in 16 games and had 60 targets, 36 receptions, 373 yards, and 3 touchdowns. His athleticism and his big play ability is a nice compliment to starting TE Mark Andrews.
In Isaiah Likely’s 2nd season, he had a chance to prove that he could be a starting TE, as Mark Andrews dealt with injury and only played in 10 games. Likely had 40 targets, 30 receptions, 411 yards, 5 touchdowns, and had an impressive 13.4 yards per catch. In 2024, Andrews dealt with injuries and looked like he lost a step. Likely had a career high 6 touchdowns. Heading into 2025 things were trending towards Likely getting a contract extension, and based on the decline in Andrews, it seemed 2025 would be Andrews’ final year in Baltimore. But during the 2025 season, the Ravens decided to extend Mark Andrews, and the outlook for Likely instantly changed.
Regardless of the coaching changes in Baltimore, I believe the Ravens were going to let Likely test the free agency market. Depending on the offensive coordinator that Jesse Minter hires, it could be possible for the Ravens to bring Likely back. Given Likely’s explosiveness and athleticism at the tight end position, he could generate a solid free-agent market and ultimately land as a starter elsewhere next season.
Dre’Mont Jones was acquired by the Baltimore Ravens from the Tennessee Titans for a 2026 5th round pick. Even though the stats may not show it, Dre’Mont Jones provided a nice spark for this defensive line that at times struggled to rush the passer. In 9 games with the Ravens, he had 6 solo tackles, 11 assisted tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery. Jones was only on a 1 year contract with the Titans and is now an unrestricted free agent heading into the 2026 off-season.
At 29 years old, it will be interesting to see if Minter wants to bring Dre’Mont Jones back for depth, especially since the edge rushers for the Ravens under contract are young. I think it’s more likely that the Ravens would bring back Kyle Van Noy, even though he is older, because he could continue to teach and help the young guys develop. Van Noy did an interview on the Pat McAfee Show and said he would love to return to the Ravens for another year if they are willing to bring him back. Van Noy was on the Ravens when Mike McDonald was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, and Minter runs a similar style of defense, as they are both from the Ravens coaching tree. I don’t think Dre’Mont Jones will have that big of a market, which could help the Ravens bring him back on a friendly deal if they so choose.
Trenton Simpson was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 3rd round (86th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft. Trenton Simpson was drafted to take over as the starting linebacker opposite of Roquan Smith in 2024, as the Ravens knew they were going to move on from LB Patrick Queen. But Trenton Simpson struggled in coverage throughout the 2024 season, where he had 40 solo tackles, 33 assisted tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery. This was considered a disappointing season by Baltimore Ravens standards at the linebacker position, as they were accustomed to Patrick Queen consistently amassing over 100 tackles.
Based on Simpson failing to meet the Ravens' expectations as a starting linebacker, his role was put into question after the Ravens drafted Teddye Buchanan in the 4th round in the 2025 NFL Draft. Buchanan ultimately earned the starting spot over Simpson, relegating Simpson to a primarily special teams role. Simpson did get some more chances in the starting lineup towards the end of the season, and played decently. Even so, he has yet to meet the expectations that came with being a 3rd round pick and an intriguing prospect coming out of Clemson.
Trenton Simpson will be 25 by the time the 2026 season starts and is entering the final year of his rookie deal. According to Spotrac, Simpson’s cap hit is scheduled to be $1.7 million in 2026. If Jesse Minter does not like what he sees in Simpson or has another player in mind to start at LB opposite of Roquan Smith, the Ravens could move on from Simpson and save about $1.5 million. Being that Simpson isn’t a player that is tied to Jesse Minter, I could see the Ravens moving on from Simpson and taking the cap savings. Minter is going to want to bring in guys who not only fit his scheme but also the culture that he wants to build. Based on our contract risk meter tool, we list Simpson as a medium risk.
Marlon Humprey has been a stalwart on this Baltimore Ravens defense as he was drafted with the 16th pick in the 1st round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Humphrey has dealt with some injuries throughout his Ravens career, but he has lived up to the 1st round pedigree and is a difference maker for this Ravens defense when he is out there. His best year as a Raven came during the 2024 season, where he had 50 solo tackles, 17 assisted tackles, 0.5 sack, 2 forced fumbles, a career high 6 interceptions, 15 pass deflections, and his only career defensive touchdown across 16 games played.
Marlon Humphrey now enters the final year of his contract that he signed during 2020 season. According to Spotrac, his cap hit for the 2026 season is scheduled to be roughly $26.2 million. If the Ravens were to do a post-June 1st cut on Marlon Humphrey, they could save a whopping $19.2 million in cap space in 2026. Currently, the Ravens are scheduled to have $23.3 miliion in cap space before the expected cap increase goes into effect. Despite the success that Marlon Humphrey has had with the Baltimore Ravens, ultimately I think the Ravens will take the cap savings and release Marlon Humphrey. We see surprise veteran cuts all of the time in the NFL and Humphrey might just be one of those surprise cuts in 2026. Based on our contract risk meter tool, we have Humphrey listed as a medium risk.
Nnamdi Madubuike was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 3rd round (71st overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft. Madubuike was an interesting prospect from Texas A&M, showing off his speed with a 4.83 forty time and his power with 31 bench press reps at the NFL Combine. He had 11 sacks at Texas A&M in his last two years, which is very impressive for a defensive tackle to have that kind of sack production in college.
Like a lot of other defensive tackles, it took Madubuike some time to acclimate to the NFL. By his third year in the league, you could tell he started to figure things out as he had 5.5 sacks. But in his fourth year, he took things a step further finishing with 38 solo tackles, 18 assisted tackles, 13 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. He not only set the Ravens franchise record by a defensive lineman with 13 sacks, but he also led all interior defensive lineman in sacks. He also tied an NFL record recording a sack in 11 straight games. That breakout year earned him a nice pay day with the Ravens, signing a four year $98 million dollar contract, including a $20 million in signing bonus, and $75.5 million in guaranteed money.
But since that breakout year, Madubuike has not been able to get back to that elite level of production. This past year, Maduibuike suffered a serious neck injury in week 2 against the Cleveland Browns. There are some rumors floating around that the neck injury could be a career ender. According to Spotrac, Nnamdi Madubuike is scheduled to have a cap hit of $30.9 million in 2026. If the Ravens are having some buyer's remorse and wanted to move on from Madubuike the only way they could get some savings would be to trade him after the June 1st deadline. At this point, I don’t think that it’s likely that the Ravens are going to cut or trade Madubuike. If he is forced to retire due to the neck injury, the Ravens would save $22 million in fully guaranteed cash salary owed to Madubuike. This would result in a $29 million dead cap hit, at which point the Ravens would restructure the contract and execute a post-June 1st cut to spread the dead cap over 2026 and 2027. Based on our contract risk meter tool, we have Madubuike listed as a medium risk.
The Baltimore Ravens finished the 2025 season with a record of 8-9, earning them the 14th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Despite the losing record they finished 2nd in the AFC North and are projected to have $23.3 million in cap space.
The Ravens still have the foundational pieces of a contending team, led by Lamar Jackson at quarterback, Derrick Henry indicating he plans to continue playing, Zay Flowers coming off his best season, and Mark Andrews at tight end. The defense is where most of the adjustments need to be made, but they have pieces to build around with S Kyle Hamilton, S Malaki Starks, and LB Roquan Smith.
I believe Jesse Minter is the perfect coach to get this Ravens defense playing at an elite level again. Minter is considered to be a defensive genius, and his defenses play fast and physical which is a perfect fit for the AFC North division. The Ravens don’t have a ton of cap space but they should have enough flexibility to address key roster holes as they look to keep their Super Bowl window open with Lamar Jackson still leading the way at quarterback.
Want to see which players face contract risk across the rest of the NFL? Check out our contract risk meter tool and keep an eye out for our upcoming series breaking down teams undergoing front-office changes.
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