Ravens Reduce Roster To 53
The Ravens cut down their roster to 53 players today, with the team making the following transactions:
Released
- OT Adrian Ealy
- DT Justin Ellis
- DB Anthony Levine
- TE Ben Mason
- RB Nate McCrary
- LB Pernell McPhee
- QB Trace McSorley
- WR Jaylon Moore
- TE Tony Poljan
- OT Foster Sarell
- DT Jovan Swann
- WR Binjimen Victor
- DB Nigel Warriors
Waived/Injured
- LB Otaro Alaka
- DT Aaron Crawford
Placed on Reserve/NFI
The team also announced a handful of previously reported transactions, which you can find here.
Obviously Pernell and Levine are the two major names on this list, but there’s a chance the veterans land back in Baltimore once the team places a handful of players on IR.
Pernell spent the past two seasons in Baltimore, starting 20 of his 22 appearances. In those 22 games, the 32-year-old collected 53 tackles and six sacks. The veteran also started his career with the Ravens before bouncing between the Bears and Washington. Levine, meanwhile, isn’t a stranger to bouncing on and off the Ravens roster, but he’s still managed to miss only one regular season game for the organization since 2013. That missed game actually came in 2020, when the special teams ace finished with only seven tackles.
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
Ravens Place LB Otaro Alaka On IR
Otaro Alaka‘s injury will keep him off the field for at least several months. NFL Network’s James Palmer reports (via Twitter) that the Ravens have placed the rookie linebacker on the injured reserve.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets that Alaka suffered a hamstring injury on Wednesday, and that ailment forced him to miss the rest of the week’s practices. Unfortunately, the injury happened at a bad time for the rookie, who had been inactive for the first three weeks of the season. The Ravens are only rostering three inside linebackers in Patrick Onwuasor, Kenny Young, and Chris Board, so Alaka could have seen the field if a teammate was injured. Plus, starting defensive tackle Brandon Williams was added to the injury report today, perhaps forcing some other players to play out of position.
The 23-year-old Alaka had a standout career at Texas A&M before going undrafted in this past year’s draft. He’ll be eligible to return to the team in eight weeks. The Ravens have until this afternoon to fill his roster spot.
Ravens Sign Gerald Willis, 16 Other UDFAs
Stationed on ESPN’s “best available” graphic for hours on Day 3 of the draft, Gerald Willis found a home in Baltimore. The Ravens made the defensive lineman part of their UDFA contingent. Here is the rest of the team’s 17-man group:
- Otaro Alaka, LB (Texas A&M)
- Marcus Applefield, T (Virginia)
- E.J. Ejiya, LB (North Texas)
- Cole Herdman, TE (Purdue)
- Markus Jones, LB (Angelo State)
- Patrick Mekari, G (Cal)
- Sean Modster, WR (Boise State)
- Kalil Morris, DT (Kent State)
- Mike Onuoha, LB (Texas A&M-Commerce)
- Matthew Orzech, LS (Azusa Pacific)
- Charles Scarff, TE (Delaware)
- Jaylen Smith, WR (Louisville)
- Silas Stewart, LB (Incarnate Word)
- C.J. Toogood, C (Elon)
- Antoine Wesley, WR (Texas Tech)
- Gerald Willis, DT (Miami)
- Evan Worthington, S (Colorado)
Rated as the No. 76 overall prospect on Mel Kiper Jr.’s big board, Willis earned second-team All-American honors by finishing with 18 tackles for loss and four sacks last season. However, character issues likely led to his slide. Florida dismissed the talented defender earlier in his career, and some Miami coaches were skeptical of his NFL future.
The Ravens are continuing their rookie-heavy approach to staffing their wide receiver spots, this trio following Marquise Brown and third-round pick Miles Boykin. Smith, who had his best college season (a 60-catch, 980-yard, seven-touchdown 2017) when playing with Lamar Jackson, will rejoin the developing passer. Wesley’s 1,410 receiving yards ranked third in Division I-FBS last season.