Justin Tucker‘s tenure with the Ravens has come to an end. The decorated kicker was released on Monday, per a team announcement.
“Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances,” a statement from general manager Eric DeCosta reads in part. “Considering our current roster, we have made the tough decision to release Justin Tucker… We are grateful for Justin’s many contributions while playing for the Ravens. We sincerely wish him and his family the very best in this next chapter of their lives.” 
While this move is significant given Tucker’s lengthy run of success in Baltimore, it does not come as a surprise. The possibility of moving on from the 35-year-old has loomed throughout the offseason. On-field matters were cited as the reason why a release would take place during the official comments on the subject from the team’s decision makers, but today’s news also comes amid a backdrop of sexual misconduct allegations.
16 message therapists have accused Tucker of inappropriate conduct dating back to the early portions of his NFL career. Denials of any wrongdoing have emerged on two occasions, and the Ravens made it clear in the wake of a league investigation being opened they would wait until its conclusion to make a decision. In spite of that, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports the matter is still being reviewed.
Prior to the draft, Tucker was informed by the Ravens the team could select a kicker. In the rare instances when teams do so, veteran incumbents are usually replaced. That will indeed be the case in this instance as well. Tyler Loop – selected in the sixth round of this year’s draft – is now the only kicker on Baltimore’s roster. Barring an addition for training camp, he will be tasked with replacing the NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker.
Tucker (a former undrafted free agent who took over kicking duties as a Ravens rookie in 2012) played a key role in the team’s Super Bowl victory that year. From that point on, he enjoyed a strong run of consistency, with his field goal success rate ranging from 82.5% to 97.4%. The 2010s All-Decade team member connected on a 66-yard field goal attempt in 2021, breaking the record for the longest in NFL history.
The 2024 campaign saw a notable downturn in accuracy, however. A midseason slump resulted in Tucker missing a total of 10 kicks (eight field goals, two extra points) during the season. A return to form late in the campaign did little to quell questions about a change at the position being on the horizon. That became especially true when news of the allegations broke.
Jeff Zrebeic of The Athletic notes Tucker will be designated a post-June 1 release, which represents the more feasible financial route from the team’s perspective. This move will generate $4.2MM in cap savings while incurring a dead money charge of $2.87MM. Three years remained on the five-time All-Pro’s contract, one which carried an average annual value of $6MM (the second-highest figure in the league for kickers).
While the Ravens will move forward with a new kicker for the first time in 13 years, attention will turn to the results of the league investigation. Tucker’s future in the NFL – if he has one – will no doubt depend in large part on the findings of the NFL probe.
Why release him instead when they could’ve just traded him to Cleveland?
😂
The Ravens did their investigation and found way too many red flags and poof…gone. The Ravens do not screw around when ugly allegations or video shows up…Ray Rice comes to mind
On the other hand, they just drafted a guy who was off a lot of teams’ draft boards for multiple sexual assault allegations, including one that got him kicked off his first college team.
I love how every draft guru slobbered all over the Mike Green pick, saying how brilliant they were for drafting him. Like, he didn’t fall because teams didn’t know how talented he is…
Yeah just like they did with Mike Green wonder we he was kicked out of Virginia before ending up at Marshall???
When Green got drafted Turner had to go. There are only so many sex offenders you can have on 1 team.
His allegations span for years…they cut him because he is old and no longer automatic. They would have known some of those rumors when he was good.
But they can use the narrative that its the allegations to deflect against drafting Green with lengthy similar allegations….perhaps worse.
They may have known something for years, but the public knowing about it is an important change.
Exactly.
Ummm…Ray Lewis
Exactly
“The Ravens do not screw around when ugly allegations”
lol, Ray Lewis says hello.
From Ray Rice to Harvey Weinstein to Justin Tucker, people sure do face consequences for their behavior a lot more readily when they’re not as successful at their jobs as they used to be.
Not everyone can be a mortician and bury their mistakes 🙂
Tell that to Kansas City
When was Tucker convicted of anything??
Someone needs to be convicted of a crime in a court of law to be sent to prison, not for an employer to decide to part ways with them.
Cleveland offered him 240 Mil fully guaranteed
…to be their quarterback…
Browns will now sign him to a 4 year fully guaranteed contract.
Those pesky “message therapists” from the fourth paragraph….
Hopefully he didn’t do anything to the message therapist who wrote out his release statement
Object lesson for the Chiefs K. We’ll put up with you, until you start missing kicks.
This has nothing to do with on field and everything to do with the “sexual assault” allegations against him. Don’t fool yourselves Baltimore. Half the NFL is thanking you for cutting him. These rejected females are only looking for a paycheck. These NFL players are easy targets.
Don’t be that guy
You have to inform the neighbors when you move into a neighborhood, don’t you ActionDan?
My question is why is it a issue years later. If he did something inappropriate why wasn’t it addressed that day. Teams need to invest in their own massage employee and hire a man.
Women shouldn’t be banned from working with men simply because men can’t control their willys
Apparently this was a rumor that has been going around locally for a few years
My question is why people like you always ask this question. There’s a power dynamic in place, people afraid of retaliation, of losing their job, of not knowing they’re not alone, psychological damage, disbelief at what happened, etc. There’s a million reasons why things don’t come out “that day”. Life ain’t perfect.
and again, sports players are guilty before innocent
If it’s one accusation, sure. But once you are in the double digits, you lose the benefit of the doubt. Also, these are just our opinions. He’s not being convicted of anything.
Guilty before innocent? I bet you some very highly paid private investigators have found out damn well what the truth is.
Time for the Browns to set a record for largest fully guaranteed Kicker contract.
Don’t worry Cleveland, he already sucks!
It would be poetic if he signs with Cleveland.
My first Ravens jersey: Ray Rice
My next Ravens jersey: Justin Tucker
I dunno but I think I might be done with jerseys.
Ravens should have waited for league to complete investigation. Seems premature and now the ladies want to get paid. Better hope the rookie kicker doesn’t cost them important games next season. Best of luck Tucker on your new team. You won a lot of games for Ravens since 2012 and deserve better.
Other than Cleveland, no other team is going to pick him up unless he’s cleared by the NFL.
kicking on the lower end of 70% i would think would be costing them games. He was going to get competition regardless of if its a rookie kicker or not. That man cost me some games in my fantasy league last year for sure.
Can only continue playing football with sex allegations if you can throw the ball. Not kick
Message therapist is an awesome name for a PR flack.
That 66 yarder should come with an explanation to the benefit of the Lions, in my mind. That kick, as impressive as it was for Tucker, should have never occurred. Unfortunately for Lions fans, the officials messed up (and as usual, the NFL did nothing). I don’t hold that against the Ravens or Tucker-they did what they were supposed to-but the NFL really irks me with how they mess up their own games and refuse to actually fix any of it.
I used to tell people that I always went to the bathroom or to get another drink whenever Tucker came in for a field goal try, because I already knew what a made field goal looked like. His range was essentially anywhere from the stadium parking lots and in. And I say these things as a Steeler fan… I’m not happy if these allegations turn out to be true, as one would expect them to based on the sheer mountain of accusations. He’s tarnished a formerly fine career.