Ravens Place Second-Round Tender On RB Gus Edwards
The Ravens’ ground game has been dynamic over the past couple of years, and they’re not going to let a key piece of that get away. Baltimore has placed a second-round tender on restricted free agent Gus Edwards, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The second-round tender will be worth around $3.4MM this year, so it’s a nice payday for Edwards. It also means that any team that wants to sign Edwards to an offer sheet would have to give up a second-round pick, which virtually guarantees he’ll be back with the Ravens next year. Since Edwards is a former UDFA, had they tendered him at the original-round level, opposing teams wouldn’t have had to give anything up to poach him.
That original-round tender would’ve paid about $2.1MM, so it’s a better than 50 percent increase for Edwards. The Rutgers product started off on the practice squad in 2018 but quickly moved up to the active roster and even started six games that year.
Impressively, he’s averaged at least 5.0 yards per carry in each of his three pro seasons while carrying the ball at least 133 times in each of those. This past season in 16 games and six starts, he rushed 144 times for 723 yards and six touchdowns. With Mark Ingram out of the picture now, Edwards will be back splitting carries with second-year player J.K. Dobbins in 2021.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/16/20
Monday’s restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decisions will be posted below. Deals will be updated throughout the day.
RFAs
Tendered at original-round level:
- Bengals: TE Cethan Carter, G Alex Redmond, DT Josh Tupou, S Brandon Wilson
- Broncos: WR Tim Patrick
- Dolphins: LB Vince Biegel, P Matt Haack
- Raiders: QB Nathan Peterman, LB Nicholas Morrow
- Seahawks: WR David Moore, C Joey Hunt, DE Branden Jackson
Non-tendered:
- Bills: WR Isaiah McKenzie
- Dolphins: S Adrian Colbert, LB Deon Lacey
- Eagles: RB Corey Clement
- Giants: C Jon Halapio
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Broncos: S Trey Marshall, WR Diontae Spencer, CB Shakial Taylor
- Browns: Pharaoh Brown, RB Dontrell Hilliard, WR KhaDarel Hodge
- Chiefs: G Andrew Wylie
- Colts: DB Rolan Milligan
- Lions: CB Dee Virgin
- Ravens: RB Gus Edwards
Non-tendered:
- Chiefs: TE David Wells
Ravens LB Patrick Onwuasor Signs RFA Tender
Ravens linebacker Patrick Onwuasor has signed his second-round restricted free agent tender, the club announced today. Running backs Gus Edwards and De’Lance Turner, center Matt Skura, and offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor all signed their exclusive rights free agent tenders, per Baltimore.
Onwuasor, 26, has started 25 games for the Ravens over the past two seasons, but didn’t top 60% playing time in either of those campaigns. That’s likely to change in 2019, as Onwuasor is expected to become Baltimore’s top linebacker following the departure of free agent C.J. Mosley. Last year, Onwuasor posted 59 total tackles, 5.5 sacks, and one interception while grading as the NFL’s No. 40 linebacker among 92 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus, which assigned Onwuasor a top-15 coverage grade among LBs.
Following a solid 2018 season, a rival team could have theoretically expressed interest in signing Onwuasor to an offer sheet. However, that would have forced said club to sacrifice a second-round pick and give Onwuasor a large enough contract to dissuade the Ravens from matching. Instead, the former undrafted free agent is now scheduled to earn $3.095MM for the upcoming campaign.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/18
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted from practice squad: RB Gus Edwards
- Placed on IR: RB De’Lance Turner
Cleveland Browns
- Released via injury settlement: FB Dan Vitale
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted from practice squad: TE Tyrone Swoopes
- Waived: WR Keenan Reynolds
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Freddie Martino
- Placed on IR: CB Marcus Williams
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC North
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Baltimore Ravens
Practice squad:
- T Randin Cornelius
- RB Gus Edwards
- DE Myles Humphrey
- G Nico Siragusa
- RB De’Lance Turner
- WR Tim White
- RB Christopher Ezeala*
- TE Darren Waller**
Cincinnati Bengals
Signed:
Practice squad:
- TE Moritz Bohringer*
- DT Andrew Brown
- RB Quinton Flowers
- TE Jordan Franks
- CB C.J. Goodwin
- QB Christian Hackenberg
- C Brad Lundblade
- T Kent Perkins
- CB KeiVarae Russell
- WR Kermit Whitfield
- LB Chris Worley
Cleveland Browns
Claimed:
- DL Carl Davis
- OL Aaron Neary
- DL Ifeadi Odenigbo
- DB Tavierre Thomas
- LB Tanner Vallejo
Cut:
- DL Jamie Meder
- DL Carl Nassib
- LB Jermaine Grace
- DB Jeremiah McKinnon
- C Austin Reiter
Pittsburgh Steelers
Practice squad:
- LB Keion Adams
- CB Brian Allen
- RB Jarvion Franklin
- WR Trey Griffey
- TE Bucky Hodges
- DE Lavon Hooks
- LB Farrington Huuenin
- WR Tevin Jones
- C Patrick Morris
- OL R.J. Prince
- TE Christian Scotland-Williamson*
* = international player
** = practice squad exception
Ravens Reveal Final Cuts
Two prominent 2015 Ravens draft picks were informed they won’t be on this season’s initial 53-man roster. Breshad Perriman and defensive lineman Carl Davis, a third-round draft choice three years ago, did not make the cut.
Davis started nine games for Baltimore last season but has just 30 career tackles. He missed the entire 2016 season.
The Ravens will also cut guard Nico Siragusa, a 2017 fourth-rounder who saw an injury end his rookie season before it started. Recently coming off suspension, tight end Darren Waller also won’t be part of the Ravens’ season-opening roster.
Here is the full list of Baltimore’s cuts, the first group including the players who will head to the waiver wire:
- T Randin Crecelius
- NT Carl Davis
- RB Gus Edwards
- RB Christopher Ezeala
- DE Myles Humphrey
- DE Bronson Kaufusi
- G Cameron Lee
- WR Andre Levrone
- TE Vince Mayle
- WR Breshad Perriman
- G Maurquice Shakir
- G Nico Siragusa
- RB Mark Thompson
- RB De’Lance Turner
- TE Darren Waller
- WR Tim White
- QB Josh Woodrum
Released:
Placed on Reserve/NFI list:
Ravens Sign 15 UDFAs
The Ravens have signed 15 undrafted free agents. Here’s the complete list:
- Jaelon Acklin, WR (Western Illinois)
- Randin Crecelius, OL (Portland State)
- Gus Edwards, RB (Rutgers
- Justin Evans, G (South Carolina State)
- Nick Keizer, TE (Grand Valley State)
- Andre Levrone, WR (Virginia)
- Mason McKendrick, LB (John Carroll)
- Christian LaCouture, DL (LSU)
- Alvin Jones, LB (UTEP)
- Trent Sieg, LS (Colorado State)
- Mark Thompson, RB (Florida)
- Alex Thompson, C (Monmouth)
- De’Lance Turner, RB (Alcorn State)
- Kaare Vedvik, P (Marshall)
- Darious Williams, DB (UAB)
Jones started 43 games at UTEP and tallied 40 tackles for a loss over the course of his NFL career. That’s a pretty solid showing for someone who played quarterback in high school and was initially recruited to UTEP as a safety.
Five Florida Gators were drafted last week, but Thompson did not hear his name called. The talented running back will now get his opportunity to go from the Ravens’ 90-man offseason roster to their 53-man roster in the fall. In a limited sample of work, he averaged 5.1 yards per carry as a senior, though ball security was an issue for him at UF. He’ll have to keep the fumbles to a minimum this offseason as the team already has four running backs on the roster in Alex Collins, Javorius Allen, John Crockett, and Kenneth Dixon plus two other UDFA RBs in Edwards and Turner.