Stay or Go: Brandon Carr

Welcome back to “stay or go?” Baltimore Beatdown’s prediction series that take a look at upcoming Ravens free agents and provides a verdict on whether they’ll remain in the picture with the team.

In this exercise, we’ve been sticking with the unrestricted free agents, and in this case, a club option controlled player. We’re trying to stick with players who have a market value on Spotrac’s 2020 NFL Free Agents tracker, with a few exceptions being made – anyone left off of that is someone we’re assuming could be brought back relatively easily.

We hope you enjoy and sound off in the comments about what you think is going to happen in free agency!

Brandon Carr

Photo by: 2019 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images

ENTERING: 13TH SEASON

AGE: WILL BE 34 IN WEEK 1

CONTRACT STATUS: CLUB OPTION, $7M CAP HIT IF PICKED UP

I think this one is going to be (predictably) a bit short, although there is a bit of nuance to discuss in regards to Carr’s potential future as a Raven. There’s absolutely no chance that Eric DeCosta is going to pick up a seven-million-dollar option for a 34-year-old cornerback, but it’s hard to truly say that has much of anything to with Carr himself.

For his part, he had another solid season in 2019, continuing the tradition of being one of the NFL’s great ironmen since 2008 when he was drafted by the Chiefs. 16 games started and a 66.2 overall grade from PFF in an age 33 season at a position that isn’t always kind to older players is pretty impressive, but considering the larger context, it isn’t enough to warrant a $7 million dollar cap charge.

That larger context is that Baltimore is more than set at cornerback right now outside of Carr. Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters are your locked in starters, and with Tavon Young, Anthony Averett, and ‘Biggie’ Marshall all bucking their heads behind them, this is both a deep and youthful group. That’s all without mentioning that I’m predicting Jimmy Smith will be remaining in the picture as well, a move that would essentially seal Carr’s fate.

The question ultimately becomes is he and the team willing to make something work after the option is declined by the front office. Carr has had success in Baltimore and seems very happy here so maybe that will factor into whether he’d want to be back for a smaller number than seven million. But in that sense, the ball is entirely in his court to make something more team friendly happen.

While he’s had a great run in purple and black, the situation would seem to predicate a split would be good for both parties. Carr can either retire, or go somewhere else for a bit more money and playing time to close out a very good career.

THE VERDICT: GO

PREDICTION: DECOSTA DECLINES CARR’S OPTION AND HE FINDS WORK ELSEWHERE FOR THE FINAL SEASONS OF HIS NFL CAREER