The Ravens continued cleaning house in their struggling secondary Tuesday afternoon by claiming veteran Danny Gorrer from the Detroit Lions and cutting cornerback Dominique Franks.
The move came hours after Baltimore had waived fourth-year cornerback Chykie Brown and promoted rookie free agent Tramain Jacobs to the practice squad. The Ravens rank 24th in the NFL in pass defense after giving up six touchdown passes in a 43-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Franks received the start on Sunday after he was only re-signed on Oct. 8. He was pressed into starting duty after No. 1 cornerback Jimmy Smith suffered a mid-foot sprain in Week 8 that is expected to keep him out until at least after the Week 11 bye. Opposing passers had completed 18 of 28 passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns, and a 112.1 rating against Franks, according to Pro Football Focus.
Gorrer will now have a second tour with the Ravens after he appeared in 11 games with Baltimore during the 2011 season. Mostly a special-teams player, Gore was cut at the end of the 2012 preaseson as he was behind Smith, Lardarius Webb, Cary Williams, and Corey Graham in a deep group of cornerbacks. How times have changed since then as Williams and Graham departed via free agency, Smith is hurt, and Webb hasn’t looked himself since returning from a back injury.
The Texas A&M product appeared in six games for the Detroit Lions this season, making seven tackles and two pass breakups before he was waived on Monday. Detroit’s pass defense ranks fifth in the league as Gorrer became a victim of the numbers game when the Lions re-signed defensive tackle Andre Fluellen due to the recent knee injury suffered by Nick Fairley.
Gorrer spent the previous two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, appearing in 13 games and making one start.
Considered a solid depth cornerback in his first run with the Ravens, Gorrer shouldn’t at all be viewed as a savior to the secondary woes, but his familiarity with the defense made him a reasonable candidate to add to the mix.
