Former Ravens defensive lineman Michael Pierce, who signed a three-year deal worth a reported $27 million with $18 million guaranteed with the Minnesota Vikings, says even though he and the Ravens tried to hammer out an extension last spring, by the end of the 2019 season he knew he’d likely depart in free agency.
Pierce said in January that signing with the Ravens would be a “dream come true,” but the writing was on the wall that Pierce would depart when Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta swung a trade for Calais Campbell and signed Michael Brockers to beef up the defensive line.
“Mr. DeCosta was up front and honest with us from the get-go. If they could make it work with the money they were trying to spend on the position, they would, but it just didn’t work out,” Pierce said on Glenn Clark Radio March 19. “Obviously, this is a business. They’ve been nothing but good to me, especially coming in as an undrafted free agent. I have nothing but great things to say, but I kind of knew it, and then toward the end of the year I knew it.”
