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The Ravens have agreed to terms with G Kevin Zeitler on a three-year deal worth $22.5 million.
Can confirm that Ravens have agreed to terms with veteran g Kevin Zeitler on 3-year, $22.5 mill deal as @AdamSchefter and @RapSheet have reported. Happened earlier this morning. Zeitler was released by Giants last week so he didn’t have to wait until noon today to talk to teams
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) March 15, 2021
As noted by Jeff Zrebiec, since Zeitler was released by the Giants, he did not have to wait until the beginning of the legal tampering period to begin negotiating with teams. Furthermore, Zeitler will not count against the compensatory pick formula.
Baltimore is very familiar with the veteran guard, as he spent the first seven years of his career in the AFC North. Zeitler was drafted by the Bengals with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. After five seasons, Zeitler signed with the Browns. Cleveland traded Zeitler to New York in 2019.
Zeitler has been one of the best guards in the NFL during his career and represents a massive upgrade for the Ravens on the interior offensive line. This move also means that Baltimore could move Bradley Bozeman to center, where he spent his entire career playing in college at Alabama before moving to left guard in the NFL. The Ravens have several in-house options to compete for the other guard position if they do move Bozeman to center, including Tyre Phillips, Ben Powers, and Ben Bredeson. Phillips and Powers both spent time at right guard last season.
Baltimore was unable to replace All-Pro RG Marshal Yanda after his retirement following the 2019 season, causing some issues during the regular season and postseason for the Ravens. This move gives Baltimore another top-tier veteran along the interior to help shore up what was a very young group in 2020. According to PFF, Zeitler only gave up two sacks last season on a bad offensive line for the Giants. Zeitler has also only missed one game in the past six seasons and only nine games in his entire nine-year career.