The Ravens have placed a right-of-first-refusal tender on restricted free agent Ar’Darius Washington, leaving them at risk of losing the ascendant safety over the next month.

Washington, a former undrafted rookie who earned the starting safety job and helped right the Ravens’ defense last season, has until April 18 to sign an offer sheet from another team willing to pay more than the value of the one-year tender ($3.3 million). If Washington signs an offer sheet, the Ravens would have until April 23 to exercise their right of first refusal and match the offer.

The Ravens also could’ve placed a second-round tender on Washington, which would’ve been worth $5.3 million in 2025 and would have compelled a new team to beat the offer and forfeit a second-round draft pick as compensation for signing Washington. The cheaper tender has no similar draft pick compensation.

Retaining Washington has been a priority for general manager Eric DeCosta, who made those plans clear at the team’s end-of-season news conference.

“He’s going to be a restricted free agent this year for us, and we’re fortunate that we have him back again next year,” DeCosta said in January.

However, after signing left tackle Ronnie Stanley to a massive contract extension, followed by the addition of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in free agency, the Ravens have little salary cap space to work with.

The Ravens take pride in their ability to identify hidden talent. They’ve had multiple success stories with undrafted rookies over the years, and DeCosta can now list Washington among them.

However, it took a few years for Washington to prove he could do it at the NFL level, as he dealt with multiple injuries early in his career. Finally healthy in 2024, Washington stood out in training camp with big hits, impressive pass breakups and multiple interceptions.

But, when the season came around, Washington played more of a depth role as the Ravens rotated combinations of Kyle Hamilton, Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson as their starters.

Washington’s first opportunity to start didn’t come until Week 8, when Williams was benched, and Washington played with Jackson in the Ravens’ loss to the Cleveland Browns. Jackson was benched after his disastrous performance, but Washington held the starting role, playing with Williams in the next game.

In Week 10, the Ravens finally hit on the right duo. They moved cornerback Marlon Humphrey to the slot to be able to shift Hamilton, who had been playing nickel, back to deep safety.

Things immediately turned around. Despite their outward differences — Hamilton is a 6-foot-4, blue-blooded, first-round draft pick, while Washington is a 5-foot-8 undrafted player who’s had to grind for every opportunity — they clicked.

Teammates told The Banner the two worked because they’re the same player on the inside. They used words like aggressive, smart, communicative and unselfish to describe them.

Washington started every game for the rest of the season, helping the Ravens turn things around with Hamilton at his side. The Ravens went from 25th in scoring defense (25.3 points per game allowed) and 27th in total defense (367.9 yards per game allowed) through the first 10 weeks to first in the league over the last seven weeks (16.3 points and 267 yards, respectively)

“Ar’Darius is a great example of a guy who got a chance and ran with it,” DeCosta said.

After playing three games or fewer in each of his first three seasons, Washington finished the season with playing time in all 17 games and 10 starts. He had two interceptions, eight pass defenses and a forced fumble that came on a goal-line stop. He also had two quarterback hits, including one sack, and 64 tackles.

Banner reporter Jonas Shaffer contributed to this story.