The Baltimore Ravens’ offseason transactions are in full swing. One day after they re-signed tight end Nick Boyle to a contract extension and signed center Greg Mancz to a Reserve/Futures contract, the Ravens also kept a key special teams player.
According to the Ravens’ Twitter account, the team re-signed safety Jordan Richards to a one-year deal. Per ESPN’s Field Yates, the deal is worth $1.015 million with $125,000 guaranteed. With Baltimore having limited salary-cap space this offseason, Richards’ deal ends up being a cost-effective way of keeping a valuable and experienced special teams player as they could lose Anthony Levine and others in free agency.
While Richards is technically listed as a safety, he didn’t play there much for the Ravens. Despite Richards playing in all 16 games in 2020, he was on the field with the defense for just 15 snaps. Compare that to the 334 snaps (79%) on special teams and it’s clear what Richards’ role is likely to be moving forward.
Still, Richards does have experience at safety, getting some meaningful playing time at the position with the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons over his first four years in the league before joining the Ravens midway through the 2019 season. With Baltimore seeing the secondary hit hard by the injury bug last season, it proved experienced depth at defensive back is a must-have in this era of football.
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