Less than five months after being traded, former Ravens center Jeremy Zuttah has been released by San Francisco.
The 49ers chose to part ways with the 31-year-old Wednesday after it was apparent that he wasn’t going to win the starting job from incumbent Daniel Kilgore. The Ravens swapped Zuttah and their 2017 sixth-round pick for San Francisco’s 2017 sixth-round pick on March 15, a move that led to general manager Ozzie Newsome selecting Virginia Tech safety Chuck Clark with the 186th overall pick in April’s draft.
Zuttah was scheduled to make $3.5 million in base salary for the 2017 season.
Baltimore’s decision to trade Zuttah was more about his underwhelming play in 2016 and the desire to get bigger and stronger at the position than about his salary, but the organization didn’t add a veteran center in the offseason and lost fourth-year interior lineman John Urschel to his surprising retirement at the start of training camp.
It’s unclear if the Ravens would be interested in re-signing Zuttah at a lower salary for depth with Ryan Jensen currently slated to start at center. In addition to Urschel’s retirement, the Ravens lost fourth-round rookie guard Nico Siragusa to a season-ending knee injury in training camp, leaving former practice-squad member Matt Skura as their top reserve interior lineman behind Jensen and starting guards Marshal Yanda and Alex Lewis.
Zuttah has started 117 games in his NFL career and was added to the Pro Bowl as an alternate last season, but nagging injuries contributed to a decline in his play over the last two seasons. He started 41 games at center in his three seasons with the Ravens.
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
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