Who Should I Start? Isaiah Likely or AJ Barner

Tuesday, February 24, 8:12 AM

Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said on Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine that the team would still like to re-sign impending free-agent tight end Isaiah Likely, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Likely had a career year in 2024 with 42 catches, 477 yards, and six touchdowns on 58 targets in 16 regular-season games, but a foot injury cost him three games to start the 2025 campaign, and he never recovered. The 25-year-old caught just 27 of his 36 targets for a career-low 307 yards and one touchdown in 14 games played. It didn't help his cause that quarterback Lamar Jackson missed time with injury, too, and had one of the worst years of his career. The Ravens want Likely to return, but it's looking more likely that Likely will look for greener pastures on the open market and potentially a chance to be a bona fide TE1. The presence of Mark Andrews in Baltimore has made Likely an inconsistent TE2 in fantasy.