Throughout the first fifteen season of John Harbaugh’s tenure in Baltimore, the Ravens operated as perhaps the most stability-minded club in the league. ‘Contend Every Season’ was their constant refrain. Valuable players were traded away for draft picks, compensatory picks were hoarded, splashy acquisitions were mostly avoided and future salary cap space preserved in an effort to ensure future teams maintained a high floor.
The theory was that if they consistently made the playoffs, they would break through to the latter rounds eventually. Unfortunately, the club failed to break through, reaching the divisional round only thrice in the last decade without a conference championship game appearance.