Baltimore Ravens: 5 Remaining Free Agents Worth Signing

The first wave of signings has come and gone, and, as usual, the Ravens were completely silent.

The second wave, though, is yet to come, and this is where the Ravens regularly make their mark.

With the highest-priced free agents off the market, the Ravens can focus on signing quality role players and potential starters at an affordable price.

Luckily for the Ravens, there are numerous players who could step in and contribute right away at an affordable cost.

With this in mind, here are five remaining free agents who would fit in Baltimore.

David Hawthorne

With Jameel McClain shopping his talents elsewhere, the Ravens could use a quality inside linebacker to take some pressure off Ray Lewis. 

David Hawthorne would be a great addition to accomplish that end.

Hawthorne is excellent at stopping the run, and he is big and strong enough to handle the transition to a 3-4 defense.

Surprisingly, Hawthorne has not been commanding a lot of attention on the open market. The Ravens could change that and finally sign a quality talent to boost their defense.

Chris Hope

Not long ago, Chris Hope was among the top safeties in the NFL. While his star has fallen, he is still a quality safety that could really help the Ravens, who just lost both of their backup safeties.

Hope is a quality run defender who consistently racks up big tackle totals, but he is also a solid playmaker with 20 career interceptions.

The Ravens seem to lack urgency in addressing the safety position, but they desperately need depth at the position, and Hope would provide a quality option in that regard.

Mike Tolbert

The Ravens seem content with their running back situation right now, but when an affordable upgrade is available, its important to capitalize.

Mike Tolbert would definitely be an upgrade over Anthony Allen as the backup to Ray Rice. His powerful style would complement Rice well, and he is versatile enough to line up on third downs as a third-down back or even as a fullback.

All in all, Tolbert would be a great addition to the Ravens backfield, and he would still leave room for Anthony Allen to get touches as well.

Neil Rackers

The Ravens seem committed to bringing back Billy Cundiff, but upgrades are available, and the Ravens would be unwise to ignore them.

Neil Rackers is somehow still available, and his kicking percentage over the past few years is much better than Cundiff's. 

Over the past four years, Rackers has hit 88 percent of his field goals. Over the same span, Cundiff has hit just a hair over 80 percent.

More importantly, Cundiff has proven he cannot be relied on with the game on the line. Missing a game-tying kick from 32 yards is inexcusable, and it's baffling that the Ravens don't seem to think so.

The Ravens are making a mistake if they let Cundiff walk into the kicking job in 2012. Neil Rackers would offer an upgrade at an affordable cost.

Ted Ginn

This is the most important signing the Ravens could make this offseason. Ted Ginn would help the Ravens in a variety of ways, and they must make a serious run at him.

Ginn would offer two things that the Ravens are seeking: a deep threat at receiver and an elite kick and punt returner.

With Ginn lining up at receiver, opposing teams couldn't bracket Torrey Smith and instead would be forced to respect Ginn's ability to get deep as well. This would open up underneath opportunities for Anquan Boldin, Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta.

More importantly, Ginn would finally stabilize the Ravens' return game, which has struggled in recent years.

Lardarius Webb should not be returning kicks when he is so important to the Ravens defense, and the Ravens simply didn't have a competent kick returner on the roster last year.

For his ability to immediately upgrade both the Ravens offense and special teams, the Ravens must sign Ted Ginn.