Their 2020 season now in the books, the Ravens made a series of roster moves that included four veteran players apparently no longer in their plans.
In addition to signing 11 young players to reserve-future contracts on Monday, Baltimore waived veteran quarterback Robert Griffin III, cornerbacks Tramon Williams and Davontae Harris, and wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas. Griffin, Williams, and Harris were all pending free agents anyway while Thomas opted out of the season in late July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Williams, 37, signed with the Ravens in November and appeared in six regular-season games, recording 14 tackles, a pass breakup, and two quarterback hits. The 14th-year veteran played 12 defensive snaps and made three tackles in the 17-3 divisional-round loss to Buffalo.
With Baltimore since the 2018 season, Griffin had been on injured reserve since hurting his hamstring in the Dec. 2 loss at Pittsburgh. The 30-year-old struggled in his lone start of the season, going 7-for-12 for 33 yards and an interception returned for a touchdown in that 19-14 defeat to the Steelers. Having used Trace McSorley — who also finished the season on injured reserve — and undrafted rookie Tyler Huntley as backups to star quarterback Lamar Jackson since then, the Ravens weren’t expected to re-sign Griffin when his two-year, $4 million contract was scheduled to expire in March. Monday’s move affords Griffin an early start to try to catch on with another team, but the sides could always consider a reunion in the future if circumstances were to change.
Huntley headlined the list of reserve-future signings that also included tight end Eli Wolf, safeties Nigel Warrior and Chris Westry, outside linebackers Aaron Adeoye and Chauncey Rivers, defensive tackles Aaron Crawford and Braxton Hoyett, wide receiver Jaylon Moore, running back Ty’Son Williams, and long snapper Nick Moore. All but Westry, a member of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad this season, had been on the Ravens’ practice squad.
Tasked with replacing the injured Jackson for the fourth quarter of Saturday’s loss to the Bills, Huntley went 6-for-13 for 60 yards and rushed three times for 32 yards. The young Utah product drew some praise in what was an otherwise disappointing night for the Ravens.
“He made some scramble plays, handled it in terms of managing things and orchestrating a really challenging situation,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “We were on a time constraint there and trying to move as fast as we could. I thought he did a nice job.”
With Griffin no longer in the quarterback picture, Huntley and McSorley are expected to compete for the No. 2 job behind Jackson for the 2020 season.
