On Monday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh announced the release of cornerback Justin Bethel. He also called him “the best special teams player in the NFL.”
Bethel didn’t lose his job for performance reasons. Instead, Harbaugh admitted that the Ravens were releasing the veteran in order to potentially pick up a fourth-round compensatory pick.
It’s complicated. Or, as Harbaugh put it, it’s a “funky” rule that will give the Ravens some extra firepower in the draft after defensive lineman Brent Urban, who left the Ravens for the Titans in the offseason, was cut by Tennessee last week.
Because Urban did not last on the Titans’ roster until Week 10, the Ravens lost their shot at a fourth-round compensatory pick. By dropping Bethel, they resumed their place in the queue.
Bethel will now seek work elsewhere, after notching a team-high six tackles for Baltimore.
Can the Ravens re-sign Bethel or would they lose their pick again by doing so?
Wow that’s crazy
One would think the best special teams player is prob worth a 4th round pick?
Harbaugh was a qb away from getting fired
I think they should still lose their pick because he said that… shouldn’t do that dirty under handed stuff.
I don’t think it was a dirty underhanded move, it’s doing what you can within the rules to set your franchise up for success in the future. As good as Bethel is on special teams, he’s buried in the depth chart for DBs with the acquisition of Peters in addition to Marlon Humphrey as the #1 and with Jimmy Smith coming back after the bye week. Not to mention Brandon Carr and now Averett and Canady are back in their roles as backups. They recoup the 4th that they would’ve lost with Brent Urban who they can look into bringing back. He was another great special teams player for the Ravens in the past. Harbaugh sounded very disappointed that they had to cut him, and that’s not his decision as the head coach. That’s on Eric Decosta and Harbaugh was no doubt expressing remorse at the reasoning behind having to lose his best special teams player as a coach and former special teams coach.
I would imagine he won’t be out of work any longer than he chooses. Eagles, Texans and a host of other clubs can use him .
The Steelers are in that same boat with Donte Moncrief since the Eagles released LJ Fort. Pgh will recoup a 3rd.