Malik Harrison signed his one-year deal with the Ravens Wednesday soon after the start of the new league year.
A Ravens third-round pick in 2020, Harrison has become a versatile defender and core special teams player.
The 6-foot-3, 259-pound linebacker can set the edge and play on the inside. He played in 14 games last season, including eight starts, and made 20 tackles. He has made 120 tackles over his four-year career and played in all but six games.
Harrison played 21 percent of the defensive snaps last season. He could have a bigger role in 2024 after the free agency departures of inside linebackers Patrick Queen (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Del’Shawn Phillips (Houston Texans). Outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy are also free agents. Second-year inside linebacker Trenton Simpson will also compete for a starting spot next to Roquan Smith.
More on the 2024 NFL offseason, free agency
The NFL 2024 calendar year begins at 4 p.m. ET on March 13. At that time, contracts running through 2023 officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 5. Beginning March 11 through March 13 teams can enter into a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.
In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 19 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 24, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits. Following the restricted free agent deadline comes the 2024 NFL Draft, which runs from April 25-27.
More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents
Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags.
The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match, that round’s pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return.
An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.