It may not have ended how they wanted, with a trip to the Super Bowl, but as Ravens coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta reflected on the season, they found it hard to be anything but proud of their team.

Yes, they had higher aspirations, DeCosta said, which they stated at the beginning of the season. But they finished with a 12-5 record, won the AFC North and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round before falling to the Buffalo Bills, and DeCosta deemed the season a success.

Now the team heads into DeCosta’s favorite season: the offseason.

The Ravens have a long list of things to do, from evaluating draft prospects and free agents to negotiating contracts. They have to make decisions on players who performed above expectation and those who fell below.

Over 48 minutes, Harbaugh and DeCosta reflected on 2024 and shared their thoughts on the future. Here are seven major takeaways.

Belief in Mark Andrews

Three days after Mark Andrews was vilified for his fourth-quarter failures in the Ravens’ loss to the Bills, Harbaugh came to the tight end’s defense.

“Mark Andrews is one of the very best football players, one of the most committed football players,” he said. “Nobody cares more about the success of this football team than Mark Andrews, and he made numerous plays in the game up until the plays that everybody’s talking about, and in the season. And one of my messages to him was, we are not where we’re at throughout the course of the season or in the game without the contributions of Mark.”

Andrews fumbled as the Ravens looked for a potential go-ahead score, and he dropped a potential game-tying 2-point conversion on a catchable throw from quarterback Lamar Jackson. The three-time Pro Bowl pick also had a drop earlier in the game.

Andrews, 29, is entering the final year of his deal and has a $16.9 million salary cap hit in 2025. With ascendant tight end Isaiah Likely also nearing the end of his rookie deal, along with Charlie Kolar, the Ravens could be compelled to decide on their future at the position this offseason. But DeCosta indicated Andrews’ role on next year’s team was secure.

“We’re blessed to have, in my opinion, the best tight end room in the league, and we’ll be blessed this year on the field as well,” he said.

Future with Ronnie Stanley, Patrick Mekari is unclear

DeCosta was noncommittal when asked about the team’s intentions with left tackle Ronnie Stanley, a Pro Bowl alternate this season, and left guard Patrick Mekari, who started 17 games after spending most of his career as a versatile reserve. Both are set to become free agents.

The Ravens’ offensive line far surpassed expectations, becoming one of the NFL’s most reliable units, but keeping Stanley won’t be cheap. According to Pro Football Focus, the 30-year-old is projected to be worth a two-year, $40 million contract, with $27.5 million guaranteed.

“Our goal is to always have the best line that we can have, offensive line, and we made a tough call last year to go younger and have some younger guys play, and we knew we’d have a few growing pains,” DeCosta said, referring to the Ravens’ decision to part ways with right guard Kevin Zeitler and right tackle Morgan Moses. “I think we had a few, but looking back on it, I think it was absolutely the right thing to do, and we saw our guys improve and get better and really mesh as a unit and jell.

“We are aware that we have some guys whose contracts are up. We’ll look at that and certainly have some discussions with players. We’ll look at potentially bringing back our guys. We’ll look at the draft. We’ll look at free agency. We’ll overturn every rock to find as many good offensive linemen as we can. I think we have some good young players on the team. They’ve shown that.”

Right tackle Roger Rosengarten, who started 14 games during his impressive rookie season, has experience at left tackle and could be an option to replace Stanley. But moving him would create a hole along the right side.

“It’s a very hard thing to come in as an offensive lineman as a rookie and play well, and Roger, honestly, just got better and better and better and better,” DeCosta said. “Mature guy, beyond his years. I think a year in the weight room is going to really serve him well, as it will all of our guys.”

3 veteran stars likely to return

In Derrick Henry, the Ravens have a Pro Bowl running back with a spiking salary cap hit. In Justin Tucker, they have a kicker coming off a career-worst season. And in Patrick Ricard they have an All-Pro fullback set to hit free agency. But DeCosta’s hope is to have all three back.

Henry, who rushed for 1,921 yards (5.9 per carry) and 16 touchdowns, will have a cap hit of $12.9 million in 2025, one of the league’s highest at the position. But DeCosta said the 31-year-old “proved that he had a lot left in the tank. … I’m just so grateful that Derrick chose us last year. I can honestly say his attitude and the way that he played was amazing to watch. His relationship with his teammates, his humility as a player, his work ethic — can’t wait to see him next year.”

Tucker, the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history, missed eight of his first 27 field goal attempts and finished 2024 with the worst field goal accuracy of his career (73.3%). But the 35-year-old didn’t miss a kick after returning from the Ravens’ bye, and DeCosta indicated the Ravens weren’t committed to bringing in competition this offseason.

“We’ll have those discussions, but I have every expectation that Justin’s going to be a great kicker for us next year and moving forward,” DeCosta said. “... The way that Justin finished, he finished strong this year toward the end. Had a little bit of adversity midway through the season, but I think Justin is a tremendous competitor, very, very talented. He works his butt off, and I would expect him to be the kicker for us next year.”

Ricard, 30, a valued lead blocker and reliable piece in pass protection, is set to become a free agent. He played 39% of the Ravens’ offensive snaps in 2023 and 2024, helping the offense establish a smashmouth identity under coordinator Todd Monken. His stated desire is to retire as a Raven.

“I think Pat knows how we feel about him, and I would love for him to retire as a Raven, too,” DeCosta said. “I mean, he epitomizes everything that we’re all about, and he’s another undrafted guy who just became, in my opinion, the best at his position. So we’ll have those discussions.”

Lamar Jackson’s contract could be reworked

Jackson’s postseason struggles have not shaken the Ravens’ faith in his abilities.

“I can say there’s no player I’d rather have on my team than Lamar Jackson,” DeCosta said. “I think he’s the best quarterback in the league.”

DeCosta said the Ravens could look into restructuring Jackson’s contract, which runs through 2027, to free cap space this offseason. His cap hit is set to reach $74.6 million in 2026.

“At some point, I’ll probably talk to Lamar,” DeCosta said. “I’m just really happy, blessed to have watched him play football this year. We just finished the season. I want Lamar to relax a little bit and kind of think back on what we accomplished as a team and what he accomplished individually. We’ll have those conversations, probably, at some point.”

John Harbaugh’s expiring contract

There’s only one year remaining on Harbaugh’s contract, but the timeline is not weighing on the veteran coach’s shoulders. Having just finished his 17th season with another trip to the divisional round, Harbaugh said he’s happy in Baltimore. He emphasized that he talks to DeCosta, owner Steve Bisciotti and team President Sashi Brown regularly and that they’re all friends.

“We’re on a mission together,” Harbaugh said. “As long as that goes, as long as God permits that to go, I’m all about it. I’m fired up for it and not worried about those kinds of things.”

The Ravens have missed the playoffs only five times with Harbaugh at the helm. They’re 13-11 in 24 playoff games and have made the playoffs the last three seasons. However, they’ve won only one Super Bowl under Harbaugh.

What went wrong with Diontae Johnson, Eddie Jackson

When adding veteran players, DeCosta said, you have to look beyond their value and determine if the players will accept their roles.

Twice this season, the Ravens ran into issues with that. DeCosta was aware it might happen when he traded for wide receiver Diontae Johnson but admitted he looked too much at safety Eddie Jackson’s value and not at whether he might be happy in Baltimore.

Jackson, a two-time Pro Bowler, was an offseason signing and played nine games, four of them starts.

The Ravens’ pass defense struggled with Jackson at free safety, and he was benched and then cut. “It really comes down to, probably, I failed,” DeCosta said. “Because this was a guy that didn’t really want to accept his role as a backup safety and a special teamer. And I understand that, I really do.”

DeCosta said the decision to cut Jackson was more about freeing a roster spot and said he still appreciates Jackson.

“Eddie just wasn’t happy with his role,” DeCosta said. “He wanted to play football. He got probably distracted at times.”

The first game when Jackson was inactive coincided with Johnson’s Ravens debut.

Johnson was traded from the Steelers to the Carolina Panthers in the offseason amid rumors of locker room issues. DeCosta said he was aware of those, but he said he looked at it as a chance to strengthen a position group without giving up much — he traded a 2025 fifth-round pick for Johnson and a sixth-rounder.

They knew Johnson, who was the Panthers’ top wide receiver, might not accept his role as a depth piece with the Ravens.

“I think we did our homework,” DeCosta said. “We understood the risks and the rewards. We didn’t look at it as cost-prohibitive. … We knew that it wasn’t 100% going to be a slam dunk. And it didn’t work out.”

The Dean Pees effect

First-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr is a young, talented coach, Harbaugh said, but talent can’t make up for years of experience built on learning from mistakes. That’s why Dean Pees played an important role for the defense this season, according to Harbaugh. He drew on decades of experience to help jump-start Orr’s career as a coordinator.

Pees helped the defense reconnect with its roots, he was a “sounding board” and “had ideas,” Harbaugh said.

“For Zach to be able to tap into that knowledge and that experience right away [and] fast was really a positive, and I think Zach would tell you the same thing,” he said.

Pees is interested in staying involved. However, at 75, he will probably take a part-time role rather than be a full-time staffer as he was the second half of this season.