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Baltimore Ravens News & Rumors

Ravens Waive G Tyre Phillips, Claim LB Del’Shawn Phillips

August 31st, 2022 at 12:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

A Ravens guard starter to open each of the past two seasons, Tyre Phillips is now on the waiver wire. The Ravens moved on from the young offensive lineman Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

The team attempted to trade the talented but injury-prone O-lineman, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec (on Twitter), but scant interest came. Baltimore is moving forward with Ben Cleveland and Ben Powers instead. Kevin Zeitler remains in place as the Ravens’ right guard starter. Versatile veteran Patrick Mekari remains with the team as well.

Phillips has started 13 games for the Ravens. While teams were not willing to give up a draft pick for Phillips, it would not surprise if the 2020 third-round pick was claimed on waivers. The Ravens could also stash him on their practice squad. He is a candidate to be on Baltimore’s 16-man taxi squad, Zrebiec tweets. Phillips, however, did not fare well during preseason play. He also missed extensive time due to injury in 2020 and ’21.

The Ravens claimed linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips off waivers from the Jets, Zrebiec adds (via Twitter). Del’Shawn Phillips, 25, played in 17 games — mostly as a backup — with the Jets last season.

Ravens Drop Roster To 53

August 30th, 2022 at 5:03pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens have confirmed their final roster cuts, bringing the squad to the league-mandated 53-man limit. Like many teams, they are releasing a number of vested veterans with the intention of keeping them in the fold in the coming days, once other necessary moves have been made. Here is the list of Baltimore’s departures:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Released:

Badie might be the most surprising inclusion on the list. The sixth-round rookie led the SEC in rushing yards last year, but the team has had a crowded RB room throughout the offseason. Badie was though to be in competition with veteran Mike Davis for the No. 3 spot. Another notable name is soon to be added to the mix in the form of Kenyan Drake, though. Badie would, considering his age, represent a practice squad priority should he clear waivers.

Hayes was a fifth-round pick last season, but was limited to one appearance as a rookie. That extended absence, coupled with his relative lack of college production, could make him another practice squad candidate. Still, his inclusion – along with that of Means – is noteworthy given the team’s lack of depth in the edge rush department. Either of them departing to another roster could make the position even more of a priority than it is now.

Like Jefferson, Urban was named in the build-up to today’s deadline as a likely veteran to be released temporarily, while having a handshake agreement in place to return later in the week. The Canadian began his career in Baltimore, and returned this offseason as one of many changes the team has made along the defensive line.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/29/22

August 29th, 2022 at 4:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

Teams have until 3pm Tuesday to slash their rosters from 80 to 53 players. Here are the Monday moves teams are making en route to doing so. The list will be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Ravens To Release S Tony Jefferson

August 29th, 2022 at 3:56pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens have begun their final roster cuts, and a notable veteran is among them. Safety Tony Jefferson is being released, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). 

The safety position has seen plenty of turnover this offseason in Baltimore; Marcus Williams was the team’s top free agent signing, and the Ravens used the first of their two Day 1 selections on Kyle Hamilton in the draft. Those two, along with incumbent Chuck Clark, left Jefferson a narrow path to an initial roster spot.

Jefferson, 30, opened his career with the Cardinals, putting up consistent numbers while taking on a larger snap share with each passing year. That led him to Baltimore in free agency, where was a full-time starter until the midway point of the 2019 campaign. A knee injury left him sidelined him for the entire 2020 season, and led to four surgeries being required. He returned to Baltimore late this past year.

As a vested veteran, the Oklahoma product is not subject to waivers, and could sign anywhere in free agency. However, as has been the case with a number of respected veterans recently, the Ravens are likely to bring Jefferson back in the next day of so. Per Jeff Zrebiec of the Athletic (subscription required), Baltimore could simply wait until tomorrow’s necessary paper transactions (such as transferring injured players from the 53-man squad to IR) until re-signing him.

Assuming that takes place, Jefferson will be able to demonstrate his new-found health while competing with a number of younger options for a depth role on the team’s backend. If he remains willing to sign with the team on a handshake agreement, he could also be a practice squad candidate throughout the campaign, one in which the Ravens once again have high expectations on both sides of the ball.

Ravens Notes: Dobbins, Jones, OLBs

August 29th, 2022 at 9:17am CST by Adam La Rose

Earlier this month, the Ravens got their top RB back on the practice field when they activated J.K. Dobbins. It was a welcomed sign for the team, after the former second-rounder missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL.

Dobbins is still not a lock to suit up in Week 1 as he continues to recover from the injury, however. As a result, he “won’t get a full workload” immediately upon his return, notes ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. The Ohio State product took over the lead role midway through his rookie season, averaging six yards per carry and scoring nine total touchdowns. Those figures led to major expectations last season, but his year-long absence (along with that of backup Gus Edwards, who will also miss at least the first month of the 2022 season) dealt a major blow to Baltimore’s run game.

The Ravens, unsurprisingly, will ease Dobbins back into lead-back duties. Given that, and Edwards’ ongoing recovery, the team will turn to a combination of veteran signing Mike Davis and, in all likelihood, sixth-round rookie Tyler Badie in support roles in the backfield.

Here are some other notes from Charm City:

  • Dobbins isn’t the only promising young player whose health status the team is watching carefully. Rookie defensive lineman Travis Jones is dealing with a sprained knee which should keep him sidelined for three to five weeks, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). The third-rounder had an impressive training camp and preseason, and will be in line for at least a rotational role right way. The chances of his debut coming in Week 1 are greatly lessened by this news, though, so the Ravens will lean more heavily on starter Michael Pierce in the middle of the d-line.
  • The Ravens have been named as a potential landing spot for a veteran edge signing throughout the offseason, given the team’s relative lack of moves at the position. Especially considering the fact that projected starter Tyus Bowser was placed on the reserve/PUP list last week (guaranteeing that he will miss the first four weeks of the season), the team is thin at the position until he and/or second-round rookie David Ojabo recover from their respective Achilles tears. As such, a pass rush addition of some kind should be expected, per Jeff Zrebiec of the Athletic (subscription required). Jason Pierre-Paul, who visited the team earlier this offseason, tops the list of remaining free agents; plenty of other names are due to become available as well during final roster cuts.
  • In that same piece, Zrebiec also notes that wideout Demarcus Robinson‘s deal, signed last week, includes nearly $900K in guaranteed money. That should help ensure he remains on the roster, something he wasn’t able to do with the Raiders. The veteran had four catches for 135 yards and a touchdown during the team’s preseason finale, and figures to play a notable role in their receiver rotation.
  • Safety Tony Jefferson could find himself on the roster bubble tomorrow, but not for a lack of effort to return to his previous form. The 30-year-old suffered a knee injury in 2019 which cost him his starting spot; he underwent a total of four surgeries to repair the damage, Zrebiec details. Jefferson understandably considered retirement during the process, but has now recovered to the point where he came back to Baltimore last season and could carve out a role on the 2022 squad as well.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/28/22

August 28th, 2022 at 7:55pm CST by Rory Parks

We will keep track of today’s minor moves right here:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders:

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Summers is a 2019 seventh-round pick who has just one career start but who has established himself as a key contributor on Green Bay’s special teams unit over his first three seasons in the league. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com expects the TCU product to generate interest on the waiver wire (Twitter link). Indeed, Packers HC Matt LaFleur said that the team made the decision to part ways with Summers now in order to give him a chance to hook on with a new club before the wave of impending cuts that will soon flood the market (Twitter link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com).

The Seahawks’ decision to move Brown to the PUP list means that he will be sidelined for at least the first four games of the season. That marks a disappointing start to his second NFL campaign; the fourth-rounder had two separate IR stints last year. That limited him to just five games (three starts), during which he registered 10 tackles and one pass deflection. Seattle has seen plenty of roster turnover at the CB position this offseason, leaving Brown in line for at least a rotational role. In his absence, the team will rely even more on starters Sidney Jones and Artie Burns, with rookies Coby Bryant likely to play in the slot.

Ravens S Chuck Clark Requested Trade

August 27th, 2022 at 12:19pm CST by Ben Levine

Chuck Clark has been mentioned as a trade candidate throughout the offseason, and it sounds like the veteran safety would welcome a move. Following an offseason that saw Baltimore make two major commitments at safety, Clark acknowledged that he asked the organization for a trade following the NFL Draft in April.

[RELATED: Trade Candidate: Ravens S Chuck Clark]

“Me personally, I just felt the situation that I was in, how things were going, of course, yeah I did ask, ‘Can I get out of here?'” Clark said (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra). “And so, I felt like that didn’t happen and I wasn’t just going to give away my spot. If I’m not going to be a starter, it’s going to have to be taken from me.”

The Ravens signed Marcus Williams to a five-year, $70MM deal, and they selected safety Kyle Hamilton with the 14th-overall pick in the draft. Naturally, Clark thought he was at risk of losing his starting spot, and it sounds like that was the motivation for making his trade request.

The 27-year-old has spent his entire career in Baltimore, and he’s made 44 starts for the team over the past three years. That includes a 2021 campaign where Clark started 16 games while compiling 80 tackles, 12 passes defended, and a pair of interceptions.Pro Football Focus ended up ranking him 41st among 92 qualifying safeties.

Despite the request, Clark still attended offseason workouts and has been a full participant throughout training camp and the preseason. Plus, since the Ravens have the luxury of bringing Hamilton along slowly thanks to their depth, it sounds like Clark could remain a starter for at least another season.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward, but I think that what you all have seen so far is how everyone has been in place,” Clark said. “There was definitely a time I didn’t know what was going to happen, honestly. And whatever was to come with that was going to come. At one point I did feel that way, but now that I’m out here with my team, man, I’m just like … I’m here, I’m locked in. They’re going to get what I got for right now. So, whatever comes in the future, that’s what’s going to come.”

Clark still has two years remaining on the three-year, $16MM extension he signed in 2020.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/26/22

August 26th, 2022 at 7:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves around the league:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ravens Activate LT Ronnie Stanley

August 26th, 2022 at 4:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens are in line to have their top left tackle available to start the season. The team announced on Friday that they have activated Ronnie Stanley from the PUP list. 

The news is encouraging for Stanley, who has played just one game since October 2020. The 28-year-old underwent a third ankle surgery not long after his 2021 Week 1 appearance, the only one of the campaign. Recovery from the lingering issues associated with the initial injury he suffered has been slow-moving and met with a great deal of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, the Notre Dame alum was expected to be back in time for Week 1 of the regular season as far back as this spring’s draft. A return to full health would be a massive boost to the Ravens’ offense, given the All-Pro’s abilities in pass protection in particular. Stanley ranks fourth amongst left tackles at an average of $19.75MM per year, so being able to play up to that figure would also be significant for the team from a financial standpoint.

The news isn’t all positive on the injury front, however. The Ravens also announced that outside linebacker Tyus Bowser has been placed on the reserve/PUP list, meaning that he will miss at least the first four weeks of the season. The team’s top pass rusher suffered a torn Achilles in the regular season finale, putting his fall availability in doubt. The 27-year-old posted a career-high seven sacks last year, and was projected to start alongside 2021 first-rounder Odafe Oweh.

Bowser’s absence, along with that of second-round rookie David Ojabo, who suffered the same injury during his Pro Day, leaves the Ravens thin in the edge department. Oweh and veteran Justin Houston are now likely to start, but an addition – something which has long been speculated regardless of Bowser’s status – would come as little surprise at this point.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/25/22

August 25th, 2022 at 4:53pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves around the NFL:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: CB Duke Dawson

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Waived (injured): WR Cyril Grayson
  • Released from IR via injury settlement: T Jonathan Hubbard

Washington Commanders

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