Bilhal Kone

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The Ravens secured solid value with Bilhal Kone's four-year, $4.5M deal, earning a C+ CVI that reflects competent roster building at the cornerback position. At just $1.1M annually with minimal guaranteed money ($0.3M), Baltimore is essentially getting a cost-controlled asset with legitimate upside potential without meaningful financial risk. The contract structure is particularly shrewd — if Kone develops into a reliable starter, the Ravens have him locked up at below-market rates for four seasons, while the low guarantee provides an easy exit ramp if he doesn't pan out. This represents the type of calculated gamble that championship contenders need to make in the salary cap era, finding diamonds in the rough while established veterans command premium dollars. Baltimore's secondary depth gets a boost without hampering their ability to retain core players or pursue higher-priority free agents.

Performance Analysis

Bilhal Kone is, by any honest assessment, a replacement-level cornerback at this stage of his development — a sixth-round draft pick out of the 2025 class who has done little in his rookie season to distinguish himself from the depth of the Baltimore secondary. His recorded production amounts to a single tackle across one game, which is about as thin a statistical footprint as you can have while still being on an active roster, and it offers no meaningful evidence of a breakout or even a quiet competence at the NFL level. The most significant concern here is not one bad game but the near-total absence of meaningful on-field opportunity, which at this stage of a rookie season either signals scheme limitations or, more likely, a coaching staff that has not yet seen enough to trust him in real situations. At $1.1M on a rookie scale contract, the financial commitment is negligible, and the Ravens' decision to retain him speaks more to roster-building economics than any conviction about his ceiling — you keep a Day 3 corner around because the cost is low and the position demands depth. Baltimore has also continued adding to their secondary this offseason, signing Chidobe Awuzie among others, which only further compresses the depth chart and makes Kone's path to meaningful snaps narrower heading into 2026. The mediaFraming around him is essentially a blank slate — no buzz, no controversy, no highlight-reel moments — and that anonymity is the defining feature of his profile right now. His performance grade lands at D-, and until he registers consistent snaps and demonstrates he can compete in coverage at the NFL level, that verdict is difficult to argue against.