New Suitor Emerges for Ravens’ Ronnie Stanley

While the Baltimore Ravens seem confident that they can re-sign star left tackle Ronnie Stanley, the rest of the NFL won’t make their job easy.

As if the challenge of trying to sign Stanley to a deal worth $20 million+ per year when they have roughly half of that in cap space wasn’t enough, another AFC heavyweight has now entered the ring.

According to Nate Taylor of The Athletic, the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to target Stanley if he makes it to the open market. This comes just after the Chiefs traded All-Pro lineman Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears on Wednesday morning.

“When free agency begins, the Chiefs will target Ronnie Stanley, the nine-year veteran who is the best left tackle available on the market, according to source,” Taylor wrote. “Stanley, who will turn 31 this month, started all 17 season games last season for the Baltimore Ravens. He earned a 70.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus and allowed just three sacks.

“Stanley’s experience and value, in both the run and pass game when healthy, are why the Chiefs believe he can be a major upgrade at the position and also be a dependable starter for multiple years. After all, the Chiefs have started a different left tackle in each of their five Super Bowl appearances over the last six years.”

The Chiefs are currently around $3 million above the salary cap, per Over the Cap. That said, they’re almost certainly going to make moves to free up more space. After all, it’s highly unlikely they go into the season with Patrick Mahomes carrying a cap hit of over $66 million.

Kansas City was named as a potential suitor for Stanley earlier in the offseason, but this is easily the most concrete link between the two parties.

If Baltimore wants to take away any chance of Stanley signing with its AFC rival, then it must re-sign him before he can talk to other teams on Monday.

Will the Ravens get the job done? Who knows at this point, but the next few days will certainly be interesting to watch.