The Baltimore Ravens are getting ready for a massive, Loser-Goes-Home contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers which essentially amounts to an AFC North Division championship game.
They’ll have one player on their side with a little more peace of mind after they signed 6-foot-3, 360-pound veteran nose tackle John Jenkins to a contract extension.
“It’s a one-year extension for $2.1M for Jenkins, who wanted to remain in Baltimore,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on Friday, January 2.
At 36 years old, Jenkins is the oldest player on the Ravens roster by several years and has had the kind of unusual career arc you just don’t see in the NFL very often. In 13 NFL seasons, it’s the first contract extension he’s received — Jenkins pointed out he’s spent the last 11 seasons playing on a series of 1-year contracts.
“Having my first extension in 13 years, you know, I’m excited,” Jenkins said after signing his new deal. “The Ravens are the one who believed in me to give me the opportunity in the first place.”
Jenkins Didn’t Become Full-Time Starter Until 30s
When we say Jenkins had an unusual NFL path to this point, we really mean it.
Take into account that Jenkins was a third round pick by the New Orleans Saints (No. 82 overall) in the 2013 NFL draft out of Georgia … when Mark Richt was still the Bulldogs head coach.
While Jenkins played his first 4 seasons with the Saints, the ensuing years have been a true football odyssey. The Ravens are his seventh team after stints with the Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders, including multiple stints each with the Bears and Dolphins.
In the first decade of his career, Jenkins had just one season as a full-time starter when he started 12 games for the Saints in 2015. Then, in his 30s, a revelation: Jenkins has started 47 out of a possible 50 games over the last 3 seasons, including 34 consecutive games for the Raiders in 2023 and 2024 and 13 games for the Ravens this season.
Ravens Took Massive Hit on Defensive Front
The Ravens’ defense was almost solely to blame for a 1-5 start to the regular season before scrapping their way to an 8-8 record headed into the Steelers game.
While we usually can’t blame those struggles on any one thing … in this case you actually can. In Week 2, NFL All-Pro and 2-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike suffered a season-ending neck injury.
Arguably the defense’s best player after NFL All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, Madubuike is also one of the highest paid players in the NFL at his position after he signed a 4-year, $98 million contract extension in March 2024.
Harbaugh declined to answer a question about whether Madubuike’s injury might cost him more than just the rest of this season or could even be career ending.
“I’m trying to explain it in the best way I can in terms of what I’m allowed to tell you,” Harbaugh told a group of reporters. “A lot of that are things he needs to address with you guys, on his time. Those are questions best addressed by him going forward.”
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