Isaiah Likely
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The Ravens are ready to unleash a "nightmare" upon NFL defenses.
If there’s 1 thing NFL teams really, really love to do, it’s prove they’re the solution to any given player’s problems/obstacles on another team by having success with their team.
Take the case of talented Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely, who heads into free agency with what might seem like a wide range of outcomes but, if we put on our thinking caps, is almost certainly about to get way, way overpaid by some ambitious general manager and owner.
According to one NFL insider, that could be a huge mistake.
“It’s likely Isaiah Likely will be moving on (in free agency),” NBC’s Matthew Berry wrote on Monday. “The league seems mixed on him after an up-and-down year. Some people love him, but Baltimore seems content to let him leave and as one league source said to me, ‘someone is gonna be stupid and pay Isaiah Likely a ton of money.’ For what it’s worth, I’m a Likely fan and believer, but I definitely got mixed reviews on him from the league.”
Not 1st Time Teams Warned About Isaiah Likely
This was supposed to be the season the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Likely not only tapped into his seemingly unlimited potential but also struck it rich. It was supposed to be the year the Ravens finally realized it was time to move on from veteran tight end Mark Andrews and make Likely the main focus at the position.
One broken foot and one miserable, mistake-filled season for Likely and the Ravens later, it’s safe to say things have changed.
Andrews, somehow, played his way into a 3-year, $39.2 million contract extension he signed on December 3. Add in the fact the Ravens fired longtime head coach John Harbaugh and replaced him with Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Likely finds himself on the outside looking in.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay put Likely at the top of his list of “Buyer Beware” NFL free agents in 2026 thanks to how he played after he returned from a fractured foot suffered just a few days into training camp on July 29 which cost him the first 3 games of the regular season.
“Isaiah Likely has been a popular breakout candidate for several years, but the Baltimore Ravens tight end has mostly spent his NFL career working behind Mark Andrews in the team’s pecking order,” Kay wrote on January 14. “Likely will finally get a chance to emerge from the three-time Pro Bowler’s shadow in 2026. While he’s a good bet to catch on as a primary pass-catching option for one of the many teams lacking a playmaker at the position, expectations should be tempered after he failed to realize the sky-high potential he displayed earlier in his career.”
Isaiah Likely Could Head Home in Free Agency
Likely have just dropped a critical hint about where he intends to sign by liking a recent social media post.
“TRENDING: Free agent TE Isaiah Likely, who grew up in Massachusetts, liked a comment on his IG post telling him to ‘come back home,’ ” JPA Football wrote on its official X account. “The Patriots are loaded with cap space and will likely have an aggressive offseason in terms of acquiring talent to try reaching the Super Bowl again.”
Likely grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and graduated from powerhouse Everett High.