Sitting in first place in the AFC North, thriving despite a slew of early injuries, the Baltimore Ravens didn't end up making a trade leading up to last week's trade deadline. But it wasn't for lack of trying.
In fact, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta was among the most active last week working the phones in an effort to bolster his roster, according to several executives around the league. Taking aim at a handful of positions, DeCosta tried it all.
Most notably, the Ravens made a run at Dolphins All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard, sources say, aiming to add a marquee player to their secondary for the second half. That's just one of the major deals they discussed.
Yet Howard isn't a Raven now for a variety of reasons. For one, Miami wanted premium picks for a player of Howard's caliber, likely a first-rounder and more. To make that happen, Baltimore would have wanted the Dolphins to eat some of what's left of Howard's $13.785 million salary.
Despite efforts on both sides, and some good-faith negotiations, a trade never materialized.
It wasn't the first time the Dolphins had trade talks around Howard, as the Cowboys famously had similar discussions during the draft.
As for the Ravens, they looked for reinforcements in part because of their assortment of injuries early on. Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, cornerback Marcus Peters and left tackle Ronnie Stanley were among the high-profile injuries. Baltimore explored potential deals in a few of the areas where they had injuries.
In the end, like most teams after the trade deadline, they'll have to move forward mostly with what they have.
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