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Ronnie Stanley was widely considered the best left tackle on the free agent market this year. The veteran has spent his entire career with the Ravens and, when healthy, has been one of the league’s best players at one of the sport’s most important positions.
He was free agency on Monday, but quickly agreed to come back to the Baltimore Ravens. But, it was revealed on Tuesday that he actually took a pay cut to return to the Ravens, despite more lucrative offers on the table.
Stanley, who will turn 31 next week, was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2019 and made the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2024. The only reason that he hasn’t received more accolades is that he has struggled to stay healthy during his career. In fact, the 2024 season was the first season of his career that he didn’t miss a regular season contest. Before the 2024 season, he had played in just 31 games in the previous four seasons. That’s not good at all, and that can really hurt a team, considering how important a left tackle is. When the 2016 sixth-overall pick is on the field, he’s fantastic.
Truly great left tackles are just as rare as truly great quarterbacks, so it’s no surprise that Stanley was highly-sought-after in free agency. Ultimately, he re-signed with the Ravens on a three-year, $60 million deal. That’s a solid deal for both sides, but he actually turned down more from other teams.
LT Ronnie Stanley recently signed a 3-year, $60M deal with the Ravens.
Per @AlbertBreer, these teams also offered yearly salaries of:
Chiefs: About $20M
Commanders: $24M+
Patriots: $24M+— Underdog NFL (@Underdog__NFL) March 12, 2025
Technically, teams aren’t supposed to be talking to free agents before the official free agency tampering began on Monday. But, that rule is broken all the time, as we can see.
Ronnie Stanley would’ve been a huge pickup for the Chiefs, and it’s just as crucial for the Ravens to keep the Notre Dame alum as it was to keep him off of the rival Chiefs.