Report: Ravens talked about Thielen during Ngakoue trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Ravens addressed one of their biggest needs by acquiring Yannick Ngakoue from the Vikings to bolster their pass rush. But as the NFL Trade Deadline rapidly approaches, they may not be done building the roster for the second half of the season.
According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, Baltimore kicked the tires on two of Minnesota’s receiving threats during the Ngakoue trade talks.
“When they did the Ngakoue deal, they were talking about Adam Thielen, they were sniffing around on Irv Smith, their young tight end,” La Canfora told The Sports Junkies Thursday. “They couldn’t come to any sort of agreement there on value, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if they added a pass-catching tight end or wide receiver.”
If a pass-rusher was the Ravens’ primary need before the deadline, giving Lamar Jackson another weapon on the outside would be a close second.
Outside of Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews, the Ravens haven’t been able to get consistent production from their pass-catchers over the last two seasons. So when the Ravens can’t dominate the game on the ground, their offense struggles as we saw in the playoffs against the Titans and this season against the Chiefs.
Adding Thielen, who was a 1,000-yard receiver for two straight seasons before getting hurt last year, would certainly give Jackson some consistency at the receiver position. There’s also the fact that Thielen primarily works in the middle of the field, which is where Jackson has been most comfortable passing the ball early in his career. But, as La Canfora noted, those talks didn’t get anywhere.
The Ravens have limited cap space to make a move of consequence without giving up a decent chunk of salary in return or restructuring one of their current players’ deals. However, there are still plenty of receivers out there on teams expected to be sellers and games this week will further cement teams’ decision-making process at the deadline.
If the Ravens aren’t in fact finished making moves, there’s still plenty of time.
