OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens formed their initial 53-man roster for the 2022 regular season by cutting two recent draft picks and a few notable veterans on the defensive side of the ball.
How much the roster changes over the next 48 hours remains to be seen with free-agent running back Kenyan Drake arriving in Owings Mills on Tuesday and at least a couple injured players needing to be on the initial roster to remain eligible for a designation to return from injured reserve later in the season.
Needing to trim the roster to the league-mandated 53 players by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline, Baltimore waived sixth-round rookie running back Tyler Badie and 2021 fifth-round outside linebacker Daelin Hayes and terminated the contracts of safety Tony Jefferson, defensive end Brent Urban, outside linebacker Steven Means, and injured cornerback Kevon Seymour. Badie was the only one of the Ravens’ 11 2022 draft picks not to make the initial roster while Hayes was cut with an injury designation and will revert to injured reserve if he passes through waivers. The aforementioned veterans remain candidates to rejoin the organization in the coming days, whether on the 53-man roster or as part of the practice squad.
Urban is likely to be re-signed as soon as Wednesday and will serve as the backup 5-technique to starter Calais Campbell.
After a strong preseason, inside linebacker Josh Ross became the only undrafted rookie to make the 53-man roster. The Ravens have now kept at least one rookie free agent on their projected Week 1 roster in 18 of the last 19 seasons with the 2020 pandemic season being the lone exception over that time.
Despite seemingly building momentum to earn a 53-man roster spot after rookie third-round pick Travis Jones suffered a knee injury in the second preseason game, defensive tackle Isaiah Mack was among the 25 players let go on Tuesday. The 6-foot-1, 311-pound defensive lineman and undrafted rookie quarterback Anthony Brown top the list of waived players figuring to draw the most interest from other teams as either a potential waiver claim or a candidate to join a practice squad. Of course, general manager Eric DeCosta will be aiming to re-sign many of these players to his own 16-man practice squad.
The Ravens also waived second-year safety Ar’Darius Washington, who made the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie last season and missed most of this spring and summer while recovering from a broken foot sustained last November. After rejoining the organization in January, 2021 fifth-round fullback Ben Mason was cut for the second straight summer.
Despite gaining notoriety with a touchdown catch in the preseason opener, undrafted rookie wide receiver Shemar Bridges was waived with an injury designation and will revert to IR if he goes unclaimed by another team. The late-summer signing of veteran Demarcus Robinson drastically reduced Bridges’ odds of making the 53-man roster.
Below is a look at Baltimore’s full list of cuts from Tuesday:
WAIVED
RB Tyler Badie
QB Anthony Brown
NT Isaiah Mack
FB Ben Mason
ILB Zakoby McClain
RB Nate McCrary
OLB Jeremiah Moon
DT Rayshad Nichols
TE Tony Poljan
WR Makai Polk
CB David Vereen
WR Binjimen Victor
S Ar’Darius Washington
WR Raleigh Webb
OLB Chuck Wiley
VESTED VETERANS TERMINATED
S Tony Jefferson
G Khalil McKenzie
OLB Steven Means
CB Kevon Seymour
OT David Sharpe
DL Brent Urban
CB Daryl Worley
WAIVED/INJURED
WR Shemar Bridges
DT Aaron Crawford
OLB Daelin Hayes
