There’s not too long left until Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely enters unfamiliar territory to become a free agent for the first time in his career, after four years in Baltimore. When asked about his potential return next season, the TE was rather diplomatic in his answer.

“I love Baltimore. They took the chance on me when all 31 didn’t,” Likely said on Gruden Goes Long. “At the end of the day, I tell everybody Baltimore is home for me. But business is business, so I’m really just seeing what’s going to happen.”

Back when fellow tight end Mark Andrews earned that three-year, $39,267,000 extension mid-season, it was pretty obvious that the front office wouldn’t sign Likely to a big-money extension. A potential franchise tag for tight ends is expected to be more than what Likely makes right now, and the Ravens might choose to address other positions in free agency.

In fact, before taking a look at the market, the front office has a lot of decisions to make internally, excluding Likely. Having signed Andrews and Rashod Bateman to extensions last season, they still need to figure out Tyler Linderbaum and Zay Flowers’ future and have to go about restructuring Lamar Jackson’s contract amid a tight cap situation.

All Likely is looking forward to is blossoming, whether that happens in Baltimore or elsewhere.

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“I just want to be able to blossom,” he said. “The last couple years, I’ve had a great vet in Mark Andrews, where he taught me everything to be a star-caliber tight end to the point where it’s like now I just want to be on a team where I can get out there and help a quarterback, help a team be able to put as much points on the board as possible.”

The Andrews-Likely duo is arguably the best TE pairing in the league, but offering contracts exceeding $10 million to two tight ends might not be the best move forward for the Ravens. Likely, should he decide to leave, he is more than worthy of being a TE1 elsewhere.

In just 63 games played during his Ravens tenure, he has racked up 135 receptions for 1,568 yards, scoring 15 touchdowns. There’s a possibility that this number skyrockets after a change of scenery. After all, Likely wasn’t too happy about how things went down this year.

Isaiah Likely puts the Ravens offense on notice

The Ravens were a disappointment on both sides of the ball this season, allowing 354.5 YPG while the passing game produced just 192.8 YPG, the 28th-best mark in the league. Before diving into his future with the team, Isaiah Likely, in conversation with Jon Gruden, put the entire offense on notice for not finishing drives.

“I’d say really just little details,” he said. “Like, having a lead like we did as much as we did in Buffalo. I feel like that was just the mantra of our season, just not finishing. And I felt like, when we were out there, it’d be like a drive where we have explosive plays where we get explosive touchdowns where either [Derrick Henry] runs for 60, [Zay] Flowers catches the ball and goes for 60, you know, Lamar just doing magic back there. And then we’ll have drives where it stalls out.”

It all started with the 41-40 loss to Buffalo, where the Ravens bottled an 8-point lead with three minutes left in the game. Bills scored a touchdown after RB Derrick Henry’s fumble, and the Ravens went three-and-out on their next drive, gifting the ball back to Josh Allen, who closed the game.

“Like we’ll have a three and out, we’re punting, we’re not really clicking on offense, we’re not helping the defense, you know, if they get a three and out, we’re just kicking the ball back to him,” Likely added. “So, I feel like it was just wasn’t clicking on all ends where it was just we was jelling as a team. And I felt like that was just the mantra of our season.”

They ended up losing five of their first six games, but most of the blame fell on the defense, which conceded 194 points during that initial stretch. Sure, the Ravens won their next five but stumbled when the opponents got harder.

In the final stretch of the season, where they faced their division rivals—the Bengals and Steelers—twice, including matchups against the Patriots and Packers, they lost four of those six, and the week 18 loss to the Steelers knocked them out of the playoffs.

Lamar Jackson racked up 2,549 yards and 21 scores, Henry fumbled four times, Zay Flowers was the only wideout who stepped up, and the Ravens, despite their offensive potential, failed to make a genuine run. Isaiah Likely’s frustration is no different from what the Ravens fans felt all season, and it won’t be a surprise if he ends up testing new waters this offseason.