The Ravens’ quest to add a veteran wide receiver continued Tuesday with free agent Sammy Watkins reportedly visiting their training facility in Owings Mills.
The 27-year-old concluded the meeting without a deal and was scheduled to travel to Indianapolis to meet with the Colts on Wednesday, according to NFL insider Josina Anderson. Baltimore is aiming to improve a passing game that finished 18th in yards per attempt and 32nd in yards per game last season, but general manager Eric DeCosta was shut out from the receiver market over the first week of free agency despite making a push to sign Pittsburgh slot man JuJu Smith-Schuster late last week.
Watkins, the fourth overall pick of the 2014 draft out of Clemson, spent the last three seasons in Kansas City where he made 129 receptions for 1,613 yards and eight touchdowns over 34 games. The 6-foot-1, 211-pound receiver appeared on his way to a standout career with 2,029 receiving yards and 15 touchdown receptions over his first two NFL seasons with Buffalo, but injuries have limited him to 10 or fewer games in three of the last five years. Watkins hasn’t played all 16 contests in a season since his rookie year.
In 2020, he registered 37 catches for a career-low 421 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games as his role became more complementary in the explosive Chiefs offense. Known early in his career for his breakaway speed, Watkins was more of a short-to-intermediate target last season as he averaged a career-low 11.4 yards per catch. Able to play outside or from the slot, Watkins was graded 87th out of 127 qualified wide receivers by Pro Football Focus last year, which was the lowest grade of his career.
The veteran wideout does have some connections with the Baltimore staff as he played under offensive coordinator Greg Roman in Buffalo from 2015-16 and has also worked with new pass game specialist Keith Williams, who served as a personal coach to several NFL receivers in recent years.
On Tuesday, the Ravens re-signed safety Geno Stone, who finished the 2020 season with Houston after being waived in late December and was not tendered as an exclusive-rights free agent by the Texans. The Iowa product was Baltimore’s seventh-round pick last year and appeared in two games while spending large portions of the season on the practice squad and the reserve-COVID-19 list. Stone will have the chance to compete for a 53-man roster spot at a position lacking depth behind starters Chuck Clark and DeShon Elliott, especially with veteran Anthony Levine still a free agent.
