The Ravens called John Simpson in free agency with a simple message: come back to Baltimore and help bring the edge back. Simpson, who is 28 years old and entering his seventh season, said the team told him its main demand was to restore tenacity, physicality and dominant play up front.

That is familiar territory for Simpson, who first arrived in Baltimore near the end of the 2022 season after being released by the Las Vegas Raiders. He won the starting left guard job during the 2023 offseason, helped the 2023 Ravens reach the AFC Championship game and later signed a two-year, reported $18 million deal with the New York Jets.

Now he is back where he says he feels at home. Simpson said his first stint with the Ravens showed him how it is supposed to be done, and he made it clear he was ready to answer the phone when Baltimore called again: “Hey, look, I'm gonna do everything I can for y'all, man, because this is home.”

The appeal goes beyond nostalgia. Simpson said the chance to return to Baltimore was a no-brainer because of the team’s family environment, and he credited veteran linemen Kevin Zeitler, Ronnie Stanley and Morgan Moses for helping shape him during his first stint. He said he now plays with more bite than he did early in his career: “I didn't talk much [before], but now I talk a lot of trash,” he said, adding that he gets “rowdy out there.”

Baltimore is also asking him to fit into a front that is still changing. The Ravens have a new offensive line coach in Dwayne Leford, who is also the team’s run game coordinator and is stressing speed off the ball. Leford has already made an impression on Simpson, who called him “one of the best teachers I think I've ever had” and said, “He's a dog, and I think he has what it takes to play at this level and compete against some of the best in this league.”

The last piece remains unsettled. The Ravens are still figuring out who will start at center in place of Tyler Linderbaum, and that makes Simpson’s presence more than just a reunion. He said the interior of the offensive line is where it all starts, because “Obviously, in the interior, we're the first people to make contact,” and Baltimore is counting on that group to set the tone after inconsistency inside helped derail its offense last year.

For Simpson, the return is a chance to reset the standard in a place that already knew what it could get from him. For the Ravens, it is a test of whether a familiar face can help stabilize the middle of the line before the season gets away from them again.