Baltimore Ravens sign G John Simpson

John Simpson's four-year, $40M signing earns a C+ Contract Value Index (CVI), a fair-market deal that reflects both his positional importance and the guard's injury-prone career arc. Simpson lands in the solid-starter tier — a reliable left guard with starting experience, but not an elite, franchise-caliber option; his durability concerns and age profile suggest diminishing upside rather than a long-term cornerstone piece. The $10M AAV slots him into mid-tier guard pricing, reasonable for depth-anchoring on a Ravens offensive line but not a marquee investment. The four-year commitment is the real risk here; while Baltimore's offseason window is wide open at 91 days from kickoff, locking $40M into a guard with a spotty injury history limits flexibility should younger, cheaper options emerge via the draft or later free agency. The CVI grade reflects a realistic if unspectacular calculation — neither a steal nor an overpay, but a pragmatic stopgap that doesn't materially improve the team's playoff positioning without concurrent improvements elsewhere on the roster. For an 8-9 Ravens squad treading water in the AFC North, this is the kind of transaction that feels necessary but insufficient to alter trajectory.