The Baltimore Ravens now sound like true believers in the legend of tight end Mark Andrews, and Andrews feels the same way about himself.
"I’ve had an incredible offseason and I’m excited to show what I can continue to do,'' Andrews said this week. "I'm not slowing down.''
And yet ...
Baltimore did not hide the fact over the course of the offseason that a trade of Andrews, or maybe even cutting Andrews, was a cap- and age-driven option.
None of this has anything to do with the fact that the Ravens saw their 2024 season end on an Andrews end-zone drop against the Bills in the playoffs; that could happen to any player and it's less likely to happen to the talented Andrews that it is to most.
He now says he's used the gaffe as motivation to prove “this is not the end.”
“This is my life,'' Andrews said. “I put a lot of work into this. Everything I do, everything I think about is focused on that. It wasn’t the way I planned it, but that’s all part of the story. I’ve been using it. I’ve had an incredible offseason and I’m excited to show what I can continue to do.”
The Ravens, of course, have two very solid tight ends in Likely and three-time Pro Bowler Andrews. But there will have to be decisions made in due time.
Both players' contract expire after the 2025 season, and it is unlikely that the reigning AFC North champions will be able to pay both of them the money they are looking for.
Likely recently appeared on Up & Adams with Kay Adams, and naturally, contract talk arose. The young tight end seemed prepared with a quote that seems to send a message to the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
"We’ll see man. The Flock knows I love them. I love being here. I love being a Raven," Likely said.
So Likely, who just turned 25, wants in. And wants to get paid.
And Andrews isn't going anywhere. And in his age-30 season? He'll want to get paid one more time, too.
But first? He's proving to the Ravens - and maybe to himself - that the critics are wrong.
He's not slowing down.