Pay like a Raven. The Baltimore Ravens are reportedly finalizing a contract extension with offensive coordinator Todd Monken on Monday.
According to ESPN’s senior NFL writer Jeremy Fowler, the Ravens are completing an extension agreement with Monken after he garnered interest from several other teams regarding their head coaching vacancies.
The 58-year-old is coming off his second year as the Ravens offensive coordinator and helping Lamar Jackson to another MVP-level season.
Monken interviewed with the Chicago Bears ahead of them deciding on Ben Johnson and the Jacksonville Jaguars before they ultimately chose Liam Coen, while the Las Vegas Raiders also submitted an interview request during this current hiring cycle.
His extension should be thrilling for Ravens veteran head coach John Harbaugh who is going into his 18th season with the club, and told reporters that he was “hopeful” Monken would be back with Baltimore after their 2024 season ended abruptly in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Buffalo Bills in a 27-25 loss last Sunday night.
“Todd Monken will be a great head coach,” Harbaugh said. “He’s an old-school football coach with kind of a new school and a great mind. Always creative. He works well with his staff. I’m really excited about 3.0, that iteration of this offense going forward.”
Even though Monken has yet to land an NFL head coaching job, Harbaugh said he believes Monken would be a great one.
Embed from Getty Images“Todd is one of those guys that can apply his experience, along with the fact that he’s always thinking ahead,” Harbaugh said. “He’s always trying to come up with the next idea, and then he’s also very much [a] collaborator. To me, sometimes a young coach does a good job of that, sometimes an experienced guy understands the value of that and is able to utilize those people really well around him. It’s the guys that last. Those are the guys that kind of prove themselves over time I think, and Todd is one of those guys.”
Prior to joining the Ravens, Monken was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Georgia with Kirby Smart from 2020-22. He was also the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns in 2019 and held the same title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016 through the 2018 season.
Baltimore’s offense has been one of the NFL’s elite under Monken, averaging a league-best 424.9 total yards per game during the regular season. The Ravens have also owned the NFL’s No. 4 and No. 3 scoring offenses in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
While quarterback Jackson was already one of the top players at his position before Monken’s arrival on the scene, he has excelled since the offensive coordinator was brought in.
Jackson has combined to throw for 7,850 yards and 65 touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions over the past two seasons. He has also used his legs, rushing for 1,736 yards and nine additional scores over that same span.
Monken has helped the Ravens grow one of the league’s most potent offenses, and he is reportedly finalizing a long-term extension to remain with the team going into the future.
