Ravens To Sign Dez Bryant To Practice Squad?
The Ravens will sign Dez Bryant to the practice squad if his upcoming workout goes well, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Ravens have been in talks with Bryant for a long, long time, but it sounds like he’ll finally land in Baltimore. 
[RELATED: Ravens Trade For Yannick Ngakoue]
The former Cowboys All-Pro auditioned for the Raves back in August, marking his first tryout since he suffered an Achilles tear in November 2018. The Ravens’ interest in Bryant goes back much further than this past summer – soon after the Cowboys let Bryant walk in free agency two years ago, the Ravens offered him a three-year, $21MM deal. Bryant turned that proposal down and remained in free agency for several months before signing a less lucrative Saints deal and ending up on the team’s IR list. Bryant, 32 in November, has not played since the 2017 season.
Before all of that, Bryant was a three-time Pro Bowler in Dallas with three-straight seasons of at least 1,200 yards. Now, Bryant is eager to return to the field and prove that he still has gas in the tank.
Vikings Trade Yannick Ngakoue To Ravens
The Vikings are finalizing a trade to send defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. In exchange, the Vikings will receive a 2021 third-round pick and a 2022 conditional fifth-round pick. 
The Vikings acquired Ngakoue from the Jaguars earlier this year for a 2021 second-round pick and 2022 conditional fifth-round pick to Jags. They weren’t able to recoup everything they gave up, but they did manage to get a decent amount of draft capital for the mercurial edge rusher.
After COVID testing, Ngakoue will be able to join the Ravens in practice during their bye week. His first game with Baltimore will come next Sunday, against the Steelers. The Ravens have been chasing Ngakoue for the last few months, and the interest has been mutual. Ngakoue, a Maryland native and a Terrapin alum, will debut with his third pro team in familiar surroundings. The deal also reunites Ngakoue with Calais Campbell, who played together and started together in the Jaguars’ 2017 AFC Championship Game.
“We are excited to add Yannick Ngakoue to our football team,” Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said in a statement. “Yannick is someone who we are very familiar with going back to the draft process years ago. He is an exciting player and a dangerous pass rusher who makes us better. Yannick grew up here. He’s the type of person we welcome in our building. Finally, we are not finished building this team, as we continue to chase our ultimate goals.”
The Ravens and Jags were deep in talks at one point, but the Ravens’ salary cap situation ultimately prevented a deal from happening. Ultimately, Ngakoue agreed to reduce his 2020 salary from ~$18MM to $12MM in order to facilitate a trade to the Vikings. The Maryland product likely would have been willing to make a similar concession to make a Ravens trade work, but even a $12MM salary would have forced Baltimore to create cap space elsewhere via restructure or extension. Today, they had more room to work with, thanks to help from Brandon Williams and other reworked deals.
Ngakoue figures to provide a major boost for the 5-1 Ravens. Meanwhile, the trade reads as something of a white flag for the Vikings, who are 1-5 and quickly falling out of playoff contention.
Earl Thomas Files Grievance Against Ravens
Earl Thomas has followed through with the rumored grievance he was planning to file against the Ravens, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The free agent safety was due a $10MM base salary this season, but the Ravens cut him in August. They will now be forced to carry some of Thomas’ salary on their books.
Baltimore’s cap sheet now includes a $5MM Thomas number, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes, with teams having to carry half of players’ salaries while grievances are pending. The Ravens terminated Thomas’ contract in August, and the team’s language pointed to a conduct-detrimental release. Thomas’ 2020 salary was guaranteed for skill and injury, setting up this grievance. The Ravens signed Thomas to a four-year, $55MM deal in March 2019.
This marks the first piece of Thomas news in a few weeks, which is certainly notable given his All-Decade acclaim and age (31). The Cowboys were linked to Thomas shortly after his Ravens release. Despite once offering the Seahawks a second-round pick for the All-Pro defender, the Cowboys passed. The Texans were set to work out Thomas earlier this season, but they moved in a different direction — after some reported pushback from players.
As a result of this grievance, the Ravens’ cap space dropped under $5MM. Without Thomas, Baltimore’s defense ranks fourth in DVOA. The Ravens have used Chuck Clark and DeShon Elliott as their safety starters.
2020 NFL Cap Space, By Team
As shown by Le’Veon Bell‘s recent deal with the Chiefs, big name free agents can come available at any point throughout the season. His contract wasn’t particularly pricey, but teams like to keep cash on hand during the year, especially when mulling potential trades before the deadline. Excess cap room can also be rolled over from year-to-year and give clubs the opportunity to lock up their most valuable players with extensions.
Here are the most recent figures for each team, via Over The Cap:
- Cleveland Browns – $33.1MM
- New York Jets – $27.9MM
- Dallas Cowboys — $23.9MM
- Washington Football Team – $23.6MM
- Jacksonville Jaguars– $22.9MM
- New England Patriots – $22.9MM
- Denver Broncos – $19.7MM
- Detroit Lions – $17MM
- Philadelphia Eagles– $18MM
- Miami Dolphins – $15.8MM
- Indianapolis Colts – $10.4MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers – $9.6MM
- Cincinnati Bengals– $9MM
- Baltimore Ravens – $9MM
- Arizona Cardinals– $8.9MM
- Chicago Bears – $8.4MM
- Tennessee Titans – $8.3MM
- Houston Texans – $8.1MM
- Los Angeles Chargers — $8MM
- New Orleans Saints – $8MM
- Green Bay Packers – $7.7MM
- New York Giants – $7.2MM
- Los Angeles Rams – $7MM
- Las Vegas Raiders – $6.3MM
- Carolina Panthers – $6.2MM
- Kansas City Chiefs – $5.8MM
- Buffalo Bills – $5MM
- San Francisco 49ers – $4MM
- Seattle Seahawks – $4MM
- Atlanta Falcons – $2MM
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $1.4MM
- Minnesota Vikings – $158K
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/17/20
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted: S Marcus Gilchrist, LB Kristian Welch
Carolina Panthers
- Activated from IR: WR Keith Kirkwood
- Promoted: DT Woodrow Hamilton, DE Austin Larkin
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: DT Kahlil McKenzie
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: S Elijah Benton
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: RB Jeremy Cox, LB Josh Watson
Detroit Lions
- Activated from IR: G Joe Dahl
- Promoted: QB David Blough, TE Isaac Nauta
- Waived: CB Chris Jones
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from IR: WR Equanimeous St. Brown
Houston Texans
- Promoted: S Jonathan Owens
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted: DE Jabaal Sheard
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: DT Eli Ankou
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted: DT Benito Jones
New York Giants
- Promoted: LB Trent Harris
New York Jets
- Promoted: LB Blake Cashman, WR Vyncint Smith, QB Mike White
- Released: S Marqui Christian
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Promoted: WR Deon Cain
San Francisco 49ers
- Activated from IR: WR Richie James
- Promoted: DT Darrion Daniels, WR Kevin White
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: DT Jeremiah Ledbetter
Tennessee Titans
- Promoted: LB Daren Bates, WR Cameron Batson, DB Kareem Orr
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: TE Temarrick Hemingway
Ravens Place DT Brandon Williams On Reserve/COVID-19 List
The NFL again changed its policy regarding the reserve/COVID-19 list this week, resulting in more players being eligible to land on it. The Ravens placed their first player on the list since training camp.
Baltimore placed veteran defensive tackle Brandon Williams on the COVID list Saturday, putting him in line to miss Sunday’s game against Philadelphia. The Ravens are now on track to be without Williams and Derek Wolfe against the Eagles. The latter drew a doubtful designation because of a neck injury and a concussion.
Williams was not at Ravens practice Friday, with John Harbaugh indicating he was an excused absence. The 31-year-old defender did not test positive, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, but did have close contact with an infected person (Twitter link). The Ravens’ Week 6 game against the Eagles remains a go, per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec (on Twitter). They are traveling to Philadelphia this afternoon.
A former Division II standout, Williams has been a Ravens starter since the 2014 season. The Ravens opted not to let the former third-round pick walk in 2017, re-signing him to a lucrative extension. Williams made the 2018 Pro Bowl and is a key player for a Raven defense that ranks third in DVOA.
It is unclear if Williams has tested positive for the coronavirus, but new protocols implemented this week call for all players who qualify as close contacts of someone who tested positive for COVID-19 to be isolated for at least five days — even if they are asymptomatic.
Teams Expressed Interest In Ravens C
- Prior to the Ravens promoting center Trystan Colon-Castillo, multiple teams expressed interest in poaching him from Baltimore’s practice squad, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets. The Ravens signed the University of Missouri product as a UDFA this year; they made him a game-day inactive in Week 5.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/12/20
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Nate Hairston
Carolina Panthers
- RB Rodney Smith
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: TE Dominique Dafney
Houston Texans
- Signed: LB Emmanuel Ellerbee, K Brett Maher
- Released WR Dwayne Harris, QB Alex McGough
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DE Jabaal Sheard
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DE Eddie Yarbrough
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Travis Jonsen, TE Codey McElroy, RB Aca’Cedric Ware
- Released: C Zach Shackelford
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LS Matt Overton
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/12/20
Here are today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted from practice squad: C Trystan Colon-Castillo
- Placed on IR: LB Otaro Alaka
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted from practice squad: LB Deon Lacey
- Placed on IR: LB Del’Shawn Phillips
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DT Caraun Reid
- Placed on IR: S Andrew Wingard
- Released: DT Carl Davis
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DE Jordan Brailford
New England Patriots
- Moved to COVID-19 list: DT Byron Cowart
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: CB Ken Crawley
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Austin Carr, TE Garrett Griffin
- Released: DL Margus Hunt
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: CB Ross Cockrell, LB Chapelle Russell
- Placed on IR: LB Jack Cichy
- Waived: CB Parnell Motley
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from COVID-19 list: LS Beau Brinkley, NT DaQuan Jones
2021 NFL Draft Order
With most of Week 5 in the books, we bring you a way-too-early look at the current order for the 2021 NFL draft. For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2020 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. After that, the same goes for the six clubs eliminated from each round of the postseason, with the final two picks determined by the outcome of the Super Bowl.
Here’s where things stand in the race to the bottom:
- New York Giants (0-5)
- Atlanta Falcons (0-5)
- New York Jets (0-5)
- Washington Football Team (1-4)
- Minnesota Vikings (1-4)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4)
- Miami Dolphins (via Houston Texans, 1-4)
- Los Angeles Chargers (1-3)
- Detroit Lions (1-3)
- Denver Broncos (1-3)
- Philadelphia Eagles (1-3-1)
- Cincinnati Bengals (1-3-1)
- Miami Dolphins (2-3)
- San Francisco 49ers (2-3)
- New Orleans Saints (2-2)
- New England Patriots (2-2)
- Arizona Cardinals (3-2)
- Indianapolis Colts (3-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
- Carolina Panthers (3-2)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2)
- Las Vegas Raiders (3-2)
- Kansas City Chiefs (4-1)
- Cleveland Browns (4-1)
- Chicago Bears (4-1)
- Baltimore Ravens (4-1)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (via Los Angeles Rams, 4-1)
- Tennessee Titans (3-0)
- Green Bay Packers (4-0)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (4-0)
- Buffalo Bills (4-0)
- New York Jets (via Seattle Seahawks, 4-0)