The Ravens began the official process of trimming their roster to the league-mandated 53 by waiving 10 players and moving seven others to reserve lists on Friday afternoon.
There were no surprises among the departing players, but Baltimore elected to place rookie safety DeShon Elliott (forearm), offensive tackle Greg Senat (toe), cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste (arm), and safety Bennett Jackson on injured reserve, eliminating the possibility for any of them to be designated to return later in the season. Players injured during the preseason must be placed on the initial 53-man roster before then moving to IR to be eligible for the return designation. Elliott, Senat, and Jean-Baptiste all suffered injuries over the final week of the preseason while Jackson missed a large portion of the summer with an undisclosed ailment.
General manager Ozzie Newsome waived cornerbacks Robertson Daniel and Jackson Porter, safety Kai Nacua, linebacker Alvin Jones, offensive linemen Andrew Donnal and Justin Evans, wide receiver DeVier Posey, tight end Nick Keizer, defensive end Christian LaCouture, and long snapper Trent Sieg. Jones was waived with an injury designation, meaning he will revert to IR if he goes unclaimed and could reach an injury settlement with the team.
Nacua drew some fanfare after his interception return for a touchdown in Thursday’s win over Washington, but the Ravens will apparently go with four safeties — Eric Weddle, Tony Jefferson, Anthony Levine, and Chuck Clark — following the season-ending injury to Elliott.
As head coach John Harbaugh confirmed would happen earlier this month, wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo (quadriceps), cornerback Jaylen Hill (knee), and linebacker Bam Bradley (knee) were transferred to the reserve physically unable to perform list. They will not count against the 53-man roster and are not eligible to be activated before Week 7 of the regular season.
These moves leave the Ravens with 72 players on their preseason roster. Cornerback Jimmy Smith will be placed on the suspended list as he serves a four-game ban for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, leaving 18 more moves to make by 4 p.m. on Saturday.
