With their cornerback depth continuing to be decimated by injuries, the Ravens have added one of the NFL’s oldest players to provide both experience and versatility in the secondary.
On Tuesday, Baltimore announced the signing of cornerback Tramon Williams, who spent all but three of his first 13 professional seasons in Green Bay. The 37-year-old appeared in all 16 games for the Packers last season, registering two interceptions, 39 tackles, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and eight pass breakups in 761 defensive snaps.
Originally a 2006 undrafted free agent from Louisiana Tech, Williams has 34 interceptions in 199 career games played with the Packers, Cleveland, and Arizona. The 2010 Pro Bowl selection hasn’t been with a team since the Packers’ NFC Championship loss to San Francisco last January.
The 5-foot-11, 191-pound Williams was highly regard by Pro Football Focus last year, ranking among the publication’s top 10 cornerbacks at the conclusion of the regular season. After moving to free safety with the Packers during the 2018 campaign, Williams played primarily at slot cornerback last season, giving the Ravens no shortage of versatility for a secondary that’s lost four cornerbacks to injured reserve since the start of training camp.
On Tuesday, Baltimore placed undrafted rookie cornerback Khalil Dorsey on IR with a dislocated shoulder sustained in Sunday’s win at Indianapolis. He joins fellow cornerbacks Anthony Averett (shoulder), Tavon Young (knee), and Iman Marshall (knee) on IR, but both Dorsey and Averett are expected to be able to return at some point during the second half of the season.
How defensive coordinator Wink Martindale chooses to use Williams will be interesting with his ability to play so many different spots on the back end. If the veteran defensive back shows no drop-off from last season, his ability in the slot could allow the Ravens to move Marlon Humphrey back to a permanent outside cornerback position and Jimmy Smith back to the hybrid safety role envisioned for him at the start of the season. Of course, Williams’ game-day role could be as simple as serving as the third safety in the oft-used dime package and contributing on special teams.
With Williams now in the mix and Humphrey expected to be activated from the reserve-COVID-19 list this week, the Ravens should have five healthy cornerbacks available for their Week 10 trip to New England, a list that also includes Smith, Marcus Peters, and Terrell Bonds.
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According to ESPN’s Field Yates, Young recently agreed to restructure his contract to create just under $1.7 million in space on the Ravens’ 2020 salary cap. Having played just one full game over the last two seasons, Young also agreed to a reduction of his $5.5 million non-guaranteed 2021 base salary to $2.65 million guaranteed, which should secure his place on the roster for next season while providing general manager Eric DeCosta some cap savings.
Young suffered a season-ending knee injury against Houston in Week 2 and is under contract through the 2022 season.
In other roster news, the Ravens signed offensive lineman R.J. Prince and defensive back Nate Brooks to their practice squad. Tight end Sean Culkin, long snapper Nick Moore, outside linebacker Chauncey Rivers, and safety Nigel Warrior were designated as the four protected players on the practice squad for Week 10.
