The most concise, pointed case for keeping Ronnie Stanley came from the Ravens locker room.

As the eight-year mainstay of the offensive line entered into an offseason that could have seen him hit free agency, his teammates were among his strongest loyalists hoping he’d be back.

Left guard Patrick Mekari summed it up as well as anyone could: “That’s Lamar’s left tackle,” referring to quarterback Lamar Jackson.

It doesn’t get simpler than that when you think about why the Ravens gave Stanley, a Pro Bowl talent who has had a few rough, injury-plagued seasons, a $60 million three-year contract before he could hit the market.

There is a correlation between Jackson, the two-time MVP, and Stanley, the blind-side protector. In the years when Stanley has played well, Jackson has also played well, and the Ravens’ offense has been unstoppable. Stanley’s best seasons with Jackson have been 2019, 2023 and 2024 — all of Jackson’s best campaigns.

When Stanley is hurt, his injury stints tend to overlap with Jackson’s. And, when Jackson is hurt, the whole operation comes screeching to a halt.

Jackson is so good at avoiding pressure and making pass rushers look ridiculous, it outshines the blockers who clear the lanes he slithers through. Stanley was an anchor on a left side that flattened in the run game, and as a pass protector he didn’t allow any sacks through the first nine weeks of the season.

He wasn’t as good as his 2019 All-Pro year, but in many ways it felt as if Stanley turned back the clock. Stanley played just 18 games in a three-season span from 2020 to 2022, but his power and aggression on the field this past year helped remind Ravens fans why the franchise once made him the NFL’s highest-paid lineman.

It’s up to general manager Eric DeCosta to say tough goodbyes, and frankly he’s done a good job of that in the last few years. Last season, the Ravens made the call to get off Morgan Moses and Kevin Zeitler — and they still had a top-10 offensive line, setting an NFL record for yards per rush with Jackson and Derrick Henry at the forefront.

But even the Ravens — who pride themselves in drafting first-year starters such as Tyler Linderbaum and Roger Rosengarten — don’t have this much hubris. Saying farewell to one of Jackson’s best protectors is too much of a risk.

DeCosta and John Harbaugh both alluded to a deal getting done at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, with Harbaugh saying he was hopeful an extension would happen.

That extension had to come before free agency, because Stanley was poised to be the belle of the ball. Since the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl, the league has been talking about the importance of building the trenches — and the Ravens are no stranger to this philosophy.

There are probably less critical positions in which the salary cap-strapped Ravens could save money. Without Stanley, they could have been poised to swap Rosengarten from the right (where he had great success last year) and tried to find a budget fix at the other tackle spot, or draft one. This offensive line class, in free agency and the draft, isn’t bowling anyone over.

As good as Jackson and Henry were last year, the chances were they’d be playing behind a worse line without Stanley. And, for a team still aiming for the biggest prize, two straight years of losing multiple veteran OL starters isn’t a good start.

Of course there will be doubts about Stanley’s revitalizing season. Some of the Ravens’ big contracts of the past few years have come back to bite them — Stanley’s last contract most of all. But the risk of overpaying Stanley paled in comparison to the risk of playing without him.

For Stanley, it’s a savvy move, too. He’s blocking for an MVP quarterback and an all-time great running back. In Buffalo, Stanley was among the most frustrated Ravens to come up short in the playoffs again — bringing him back gives him a chance at finally helping this franchise meet its goal.

At 30, this contract also puts him closer to retiring with this franchise, becoming known as one of the key pieces of a memorable era of Ravens football.

For seven years, he’s been Lamar’s left tackle. Thankfully for the Ravens, he will be for a few years to come.