The Baltimore Ravens will not tender cornerback Christian Matthew and he will now become a free agent next week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Matthew, 28, signed to the Ravens’ practice squad in January of 2024, and signed a reserve/future contract after their postseason run came to an end that same month. He did not play in the regular season, instead spending the season on injured reserve.
A 2022 seventh-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals, Matthew has dressed for 20 regular-season games, 18 with the Cardinals and two with the Chicago Bears. He has 20 total tackles, most of which came as a rookie in 2022 with Arizona. He played 235 defensive snaps and 180 special teams snaps for Arizona in 2022, but played just 97 special teams snaps for Arizona and Chicago in 2023.
Matthew was one of two restricted free agents the Ravens had this offseason, the other being safety Ar’Darius Washington. Unlike Matthew, Washington, who entered the starting lineup in the middle of the season and helped the defense pull off an impressive turnaround, will almost certainly receive a tender as he looks to build on this season’s success.
A tender essentially allows teams to prevent a restricted free agent from hitting the open market with a one-year contract. In 2025, a right-of-first-refusal tender costs around $3.26 million, a second-round tender costs around $5.35 million and a first-round tender costs around $7.46 million.
If a player who receives a first-round or second-round tender signs an offer sheet with another team, then the original team will receive the corresponding draft compensation. In the case of a right-of-first-refusal tender, then the draft pick they receive corresponds to the round they were originally selected in, unless that player was an undrafted free agent.
Matthew may be off to the open market, but it will be interesting to see what tender the Ravens decide to give Washington with the new league year just days away.
