Ravens GM Explains Odd Draft Trade

The Baltimore Ravens were surprisingly quiet on the trade front throughout the 2025 NFL Draft, only making two deals with both of them coming on Day 3.

Even then, one of those deals was a total head-scratcher.

At the end of the fourth round, the Ravens traded picks No. 136 and 183 to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for picks Nos. 141 and 178. Essentially, Baltimore moved down five spots in the late fourth/early fifth round to move up five spots in the early sixth round, which is a very strange decision to say the least.

According to general manager Eric DeCosta, though, there was indeed a method to the madness.

"Yes, it is kind of an analytics thing for us," DeCosta told reporters Saturday evening. "I know, I agree, it kind of looked weird, but it also had to do with our draft board and where we thought we had to take guys and just a combination of picks, potentially tied to the kicker, just for us to gain some additional flexibility in the sixth round and maneuver a little bit that way. It really wasn't anybody that we really coveted at that specific point when we picked. So we just liked the movement in the sixth round for us to kind of get some things accomplished.

"And also, we felt like there might be an opportunity for us to actually potentially use some of those sixth-round picks potentially to acquire some picks next year, which we sort of did by trading a sixth-round pick as part of another deal, but to get a fifth-round pick. So, it was really an analytics thing, a strategy that we used based on the board, the type of players that we thought were there."

The Ravens used pick No. 181 on Western Michigan cornerback Bilhal Kone, but they used pick No. 186, which they acquired in a separate deal with the New York Jets, on Arizona kicker Tyler Loop. So they did address the position they were aiming for, albeit in a roundabout way.

One could still very much argue that the Ravens cost themselves with this move due to the players that came off the board after they traded down. The Titans drafted Stanford wide receiver Elic Ayomanor at No. 136 and the New England Patriots drafted Florida State defensive tackle Joshua Farmer at No. 137, and both players could've been great value picks for Baltimore.

However, DeCosta seems confident in his process, and that's all that truly matters for now.