After announcing this morning that he’s mulling a comeback attempt, linebacker Zach Orr has drawn the interest from at least eight NFL clubs. Orr plans to meet with each and every one of those teams before making a decision on where (and possibly if) to sign, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions were the first club to reach out to Orr, per Birkett, so he’ll take his first visit with Detroit.
Here’s more on Orr as he ponders whether to make a return to the NFL:
- Orr’s search for “dissenting medical opinions” was not new, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), and the former Ravens ‘backer finally “found a doctor who told him what he wanted to hear,” a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Baltimore’s doctors wouldn’t clear Orr after a congenital spine condition was discovered, and it’s unclear if another club’s physicians will have a differing view. Initially, doctors told Orr that he was at risk of death or paralysis if he continued his career.
- The Ravens opted not to use a restricted free agent tender on Orr because they assumed he was retiring, meaning Orr can now choose his next team unfettered. It’s possible another player could attempt to “escape” the restricted free agent process by feigning retirement, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk writes. That’s not to insinuate Orr’s retirement was anything but genuine, as his serious medical condition is clearly limiting. But another player could use Orr’s situation as a template to hit free agency on his own terms in the future (although a club could simply tender said player at the cheapest level, allowing the team to hold the player’s rights).
- Now that Orr returning to the NFL is a viable possibility, his former Ravens teammates are lobbying for Orr to re-sign with Baltimore, per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. The Ravens haven’t added a free agent or draft pick to replace Orr’s 932 defensive snaps, and currently have 2016 second-round pick Kamalei Correa penciled in to play opposite fellow middle linebacker C.J. Mosley. Given that it was Baltimore’s doctors that failed to medically clear Orr in the first place, it seems unlikely he’ll end up back with the Ravens.
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