Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley is in Orlando, Florida. A Pro Bowl selection — even as an alternate — he is enjoying the fruits of his labor alongside a few teammates after what was a personally satisfying season.

It was also a painfully disappointing one.

Baltimore fell short of its yearly stated goal of winning a Super Bowl, losing in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Buffalo Bills in upsettingly familiar fashion. In the locker room afterward, the proud veteran voiced his frustration to teammates, loudly lamenting the Ravens’ lack of rushing attempts and expressing his displeasure with the offense at times overcomplicating things, as he saw it.

Speaking with reporters, Stanley said, “This one is going to hurt for a while.”

“This is a really hard one to accept for us, especially the guys who have been here for years,” he continued. “There’s just kind of shock about it.”

On a personal level, however, it was a rebirth.

After being plagued by injuries and poor play in 2023 that resulted in a contract restructure and $7.5 million pay cut, Stanley was not only healthy but highly productive. He didn’t miss a game and allowed just two sacks in 590 pass-pass-blocking snaps. He ranked 12th in pass-rush win rate among tackles, per ESPN analytics, and had a 79.6 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus. And his timing was impeccable, individually at least, with the soon-to-be 31-year-old due to become a free agent in March.

In the aftermath of the loss to the Bills, Stanley said he was going to take his future “day by day” and said, “whatever happens, happens,” but that future will soon be upon him as well as Baltimore.

Stanley is one of 19 Ravens due to hit the open market. He is also perhaps the best player at the all-important position who will be available in free agency, casting doubt about his future in Baltimore.

In a perfect world, the Ravens would likely be more than happy to have Stanley back. He is the blindside protector to their $265 million quarterback, All-Pro and perhaps soon-to-be three-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson. He is also a respected presence along a front that had three new starters last season, including rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten, who blossomed into a dependable blocker opposite his mentor.

According to Over the Cap, Baltimore currently has just over $5.8 million in salary cap space — a number that will grow with salary dumps and contract restructures — and that raises serious questions as to whether general manager Eric DeCosta can afford to retain Stanley, a two-time Pro Bowl selection and former All-Pro.

There are other considerations that complicate matters, too, including a desire to sign Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton to long-term extensions as they get set to enter the final year of their rookie deals.

“I think our goal is to always have the best offensive line that we can have,” DeCosta said at the team’s season-ending news conference last week when asked about Stanley. “We made a tough call last year to go younger and have some younger guys play, and we knew we’d have a few growing pains. I think we had a few, but looking back on it, I think it was absolutely the right thing to do, and we saw our guys improve and get better and really mesh as a unit and jell.

“We are aware that we have some guys whose contracts are up, and we’ll look at that and certainly have some discussions with players. We’ll look at potentially bringing back our guys; we’ll look at the draft; we’ll look at free agency; we’ll overturn every rock to find as many good offensive linemen as we can, and I think we have some good young players on the team — they’ve shown that. And one thing we’ve seen over the years with that position, is guys get better as they get older and more established. They get in the weight room, they get stronger and play better, so that’s going to be the case with the guys we have.”

There are some homegrown free agents to account for as well, including versatile offensive lineman Patrick Mekari, who started at left guard this season, and All-Pro fullback Patrick Ricard.

As for those conversations DeCosta mentioned, they have already begun in earnest. But it’s still early days and there have yet to be substantive contract talks between the Ravens and Stanley, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

The Notre Dame graduate could be prohibitively expensive. In 2020, the Ravens signed Stanley to a five-year, $98.75 million extension, making him at the time the highest-paid offensive lineman in the sport.

The cost of elite left tackles has, of course, gone up since then.

The sport’s highest-paid left tackle, the New York Giants’ Andrew Thomas, signed a five-year, $117.5 million deal in 2023. San Francisco 49ers standout left tackle Trent Williams, meanwhile, sits at the top of the list in annual value with an average of $27.55 million per year.

Stanley’s $7.5 million for 2024 ranked just 16th among left tackles, meaning he’ll see a significant increase this year.

Will some team with a young quarterback or another that believes it’s one or two players away from being a contender make an offer that Stanley simply can’t refuse?

There should be at least a few suitors.

Or is there a creative way for the Ravens to come up with an offer that satisfies both parties and maintains a comfortable continuity? Time will tell.

Certainly, teammates know what they’d like to happen.

“God willing, I hope we keep Ronnie,” Rosengarten said. “Those [decisions] aren’t in my hands. Ronnie played like an All-Pro this year, in my opinion. … He played his [butt] off all year, and whether that means [that I] go to left tackle or wherever, [if that] happens, I’m willing to do whatever.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker @baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.