Ex-Giants right guard Kevin Zeitler wasn’t unemployed long, as he is reportedly signing a three-year, $22 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens, a deal that includes $16 million guaranteed according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The new NFL league season begins in earnest on Monday with the “legal tampering period” ahead of Wednesday’s official open, but Zeitler was able to sign immediately because he had been cut by the Giants last week. As such, his signing will not affect the Ravens’ ability to receive compensatory picks for losing other free agents.
Zeitler, 31, spent the last two seasons in New York after being dealt from Cleveland (with Jabrill Peppers) in the 2017 trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon to the Browns. He was due to make $12 million in the final year of a five-year, $60 million deal he signed with the Browns in 2017, which at the time made him the highest-paid guard in the NFL.
Last season, Zeitler was the elder statesman on a Giants line that saw him, center Nick Gates, and right tackle Cam Fleming start all 16 games, forming a consistent right side. He started all 31 games he played for Big Blue, and his streak of 18 straight was the Giants’ second-longest streak of consecutive starts was second on the team behind Dalvin Tomlinson.
In returning to the AFC North, Zeitler joins a Ravens line that ranked 17th in the NFL last season by allowing Lamar Jackson to get pressured on 22.7 percent of his passes. He will solidify a right guard spot that was in flux last year following the retirement of Marshal Yanda, with three different players earning starts.
Zeitler had spent his entire career in the AFC North prior to going to New York, as he was originally Cincinnati’s first-round pick (No. 27 overall) in 2012 and spent his first five seasons with the Bengals.
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