OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta was noncommittal Tuesday when asked if he expected tight end Mark Andrews to remain with the team.
"I never know what's going to happen," DeCosta said at the Ravens' predraft news conference. "And I would never want to say this or that. But I can tell you this: Mark Andrews is a warrior. He's played his butt off for us."
Andrews, 29, is entering the final year of his four-year, $56 million contract and is coming off one of the most frustrating seasons of his career. He averaged 39.6 receiving yards per game last season, which was the worst since his 2018 rookie season.
The low point for Andrews came during Baltimore's 27-25 AFC divisional-round playoff loss in Buffalo, where he dropped a 2-point conversion that would have tied the game with 1:33 remaining. All of this has led to speculation as to whether Baltimore would be open to trading Andrews during the draft.
But Andrews is a three-time Pro Bowl tight end who has been Lamar Jackson's favorite target. After seven seasons, Andrews ranks third in franchise history with 436 receptions (36 shy of the Ravens record) and second with 5,530 yards receiving (248 shy of the team mark). Last season, Andrews surpassed Jamal Lewis as the Ravens' all-time touchdown leader and has totaled 51 for his career.
"His competitiveness, his talent, his attitude, his leadership is so valued here," DeCosta said. "He's a great player. And I think we're in the business of keeping as many great players as we can. So, there's always a lot of unpredictability with the draft. You just never know."
The Ravens picked up Andrews' $4 million roster bonus on March 17. His salary cap number is $16.9 million, which ranks third on the team. Baltimore would gain $11 million in cap space by parting ways with Andrews.
The Ravens have plenty of depth at tight end with rising backup Isaiah Likely, who set career highs last season in receptions (42), receiving yards (477) and touchdown catches (six). Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Likely has repeatedly stepped up when Andrews has been injured and could be a prime candidate to receive a contract extension.
But Ravens coach John Harbaugh provided a vote of confidence for Andrews at the annual league meeting last month.
"I do fully expect him to be playing for us next year," Harbaugh said on March 31. "He's just too good a player. Mark would be one of the few guys I would expect to be here, so we'll see what happens. My plans are that we've got Mark, we've got Isaiah, we've got Charlie [Kolar, and] we've got Pat Ricard all in place doing all those jobs."
DeCosta also declined to go into specifics about a potential contract extension with running back Derrick Henry. In his first season in Baltimore, Henry ran for 1,921 yards, the 11th-most in an NFL single season. His 18 touchdowns set a new franchise single-season record.
Henry, 31, is scheduled to make $6 million in the final year of his contract, which ranks fifth among running backs in 2025. Last month, Saquon Barkley signed a two-year, $41.2 million extension with the Philadelphia Eagles to become the league's highest-paid running back.
"So we have a lot of different balls in the air right now," DeCosta said. "That's probably what I would say on that. I'm not going to talk about what we're doing, what we're not doing behind the scenes business-wise with these guys. I don't think it's good for me to do that."