It was supposed to be a routine pre-draft press conference for the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, with general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh giving reporters some information – but not too much as to give away the whole map of the team's upcoming course in the draft.
Harbaugh and DeCosta are awesome at this because they're smart and always interesting enough to make the media happy. But this day, the duo gave up something much more important and lasting:
They told us their philosophy for having a team that chases a championship every year.
Not some years. Not after rebuilding or refurbishing or, worse, tanking.
Not after losing free agents, so there are built-in excuses for falling back.
Every.
Year.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 01: General Manager Eric DeCosta of the Baltimore Ravens speaks to the media during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 01, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Eric DeCosta: Always All In
"I like to think we're always all in," DeCosta said. "In this business, if you're not all in, then you're all out as far as I'm concerned. We're going to be all in every single year.
"That's what John expects, that's what I expect, that's what [club owner] Steve [Bisciotti] expects, and I think that's what our fans expect."
With that, there might have been some ringing in the ears of people in Dallas, Buffalo, Miami and other NFL outskirts where being "all in" every year has not lately or sometimes been the business model.
The "all in" phrase has been on people's lips of late because Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that's how the Cowboys would be proceeding this year.
And then didn't.
Former Buffalo Bills WR Stefon Diggs makes a toe-tap catch along the sidelines against the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium in New York. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)
Bills Resetting While Ravens All In
The Ravens being all in seems in obvious contrast to what is going on with the Bills, who this offseason have shed their starting safeties (plural), starting receivers (plural), the starting center who was a locker room leader, a starting cornerback, and others because they felt they needed some sort of cap or culture reset.
And, obviously, the all-in approach every year is in contradiction to what the Dolphins did in 2019 and what the Commanders and Broncos did at the end of last year when they either traded away talent or simply benched superior players.
It should be noted the Ravens have suffered losses this offseason. Significant losses in both talent and sheer numbers.
Baltimore has seen a dozen contributors to last year's 13-4 team leave via free agency. They traded starters (Morgan Moses) or released starters or long-time contributors (Odell Beckham Jr. and Tyus Bowser).
So this is a team with holes at offensive line, wide receiver, running back and cornerback that it needs to fill.
Lamar Jackson, Ravens In Same Spot
But don't dare call what DeCosta and Harbaugh are doing something as radical as rebuilding or even refurbishing.
"We're in the same place as we were last year at this time," DeCosta said. "Go back and look at what some of you wrote last year and see how we ended up. We have a lot of time to make moves. A lot of these players that we lost, excellent players, a lot of these guys were acquired in August. Some of these guys were acquired in September. So we're still building. And a big part of that is going to be through the draft.
"I think we're just getting started … The destination is September, not May."
The destination might be a little later than that if you listen to Harbaugh. Because the playoffs don't start until January and the championship is decided in February.
"Some years you're going to lose more free agents, but you're going to pick up more compensatory picks," Harbaugh said. "Then two years from now, you'll have more picks in the draft. Then you'll get younger, and you'll have younger players that cost less. But you're going to have to pay the guys who turn out to be great players. And you want to keep as many as you can, so that ongoing process is part of the whole big picture and the goal is to be in, all in, every single year as best as you can be."
Harbaugh: Ravens Will Be Good
And this:
"You can't just be, ‘Oh, we’re going to throw our chips on the table this year and next year we're going to fold and not play any games?' No, we're going to try to win the championship every single year, as many games as we can," Harbaugh added.
"And it's the sum of the parts that we put together and build around those guys. And go out and play on Sundays and lay it all out there with a bunch of fans yelling and screaming in the background to support your football team.
"That's what we're all about. That's what football is. It's not just a math equation. It's more than that. And that's what makes it so exciting and so interesting."
That has mostly worked so far. The Ravens have won a double digit number of games in five of the past six years. They have a .618 winning percentage in the regular season and have played 22 playoff games in Harbaugh's 16 seasons as the head coach.
They apparently know what they're talking about. And what they're predicting for 2024:
"We're going to have a heck of team next year," Harbaugh said. "You wait. You watch."
