Tag: DeShon Elliott

8 cuts that would give the Ravens’ salary cap the biggest boost

The Baltimore Ravens don’t have much in the way of available salary-cap space. If they’re desperate, they could look to cut a few players.

Like the rest of the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens are a little light on the wallet. Thanks to the 2021 salary cap being expected to go down for the first time in over a decade, the Ravens will have far less salary-cap space than they originally envisioned. Though Baltimore has more than about half the league, they could be looking to free up some more money this offseason.

There are a few ways the Ravens could create more cap space. They could use extensions to lower the 2021 cap hit of some players. Restructuring is always an option as well, though that tends to create more cap issues in later years. However, there’s always the pink slip option, jettisoning a player who just isn’t worth their current cap hit and has limited dead money still attached to their deal.

Today, we’re going to look at the straight-up cuts to see which players would return the most money to the Ravens’ salary cap.

*Note: I’m not saying any of these players should or will get cut. These are just the ones that have the biggest savings

NFL Wild Card Weekend: How former Longhorns performed

It was certainly a wild year in the NFL so no surprise that the playoffs would begin the same. Here is how the Texas Exes performed.

It has the name for a reason, wild card weekend in the NFL playoffs is always entertaining. The events that took place this year were completely different than what we have grown accustomed to with a total of six games on wild card weekend rather than two per conference. With more teams in the postseason, that means more opportunities for former Longhorns to chase the Lombardi Trophy.

Our Longhorns in the NFL playoff edition breaks down 11 of a possible 13 Texas Exes in the postseason. Of the possible 13 players, only seven remain after the wild card weekend festivities. The Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans were eliminated after their opening game losses. Poona Ford, Quandre Diggs, Michael Dickson, Kenny Vaccaro, D’Onta Foreman and Geoff Swaim each witnessed their seasons come to an abrupt end.

The Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs will play another week — eight Longhorns remain between these four squads. As it moves to the divisional round, these Texas players still have a chance to appear in the Super Bowl.

Watch: Ravens S DeShon Elliot with a massive 3rd down hit to force Titans punt

Baltimore Ravens safety DeShon Elliott knocked the ball loose and might have ended the Tennessee Titans’ playoff hopes.

The Baltimore Ravens replaced Earl Thomas with DeShon Elliott this offseason after a string of events. And with the playoffs underway, Elliott delivered the big hit needed to stop a key Tennessee Titans drive and potentially lock the game up for the Ravens.

With the Titans entering Baltimore territory, Elliot drilled tight end Jonnu Smith, knocking the ball out of his hands and forcing Tennessee to punt.

Plays like this are a regular event for Baltimore’s defense, sometimes resulting in strip fumbles which lead to defensive scores. While Tennessee’s offense has stayed disciplines and found some success, only one touchdown drive was allowed in the first three quarters.

A healthy defense has proven to be a recipe for success in the Ravens playing winning football. They will likely need one more stop to close out this game.

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Ravens sign former Lions S Jayron Kearse to the practice squad

The Baltimore Ravens have added to their practice squad, signing former Detroit Lions safety Jayron Kearse.

The Baltimore Ravens have an eye on the postseason and are making some moves to shore some things up. One such move was to sign former Detroit Lions safety Jayron Kearse to the practice squad, the team announced Thursday.

Baltimore has been dangerously thin on defensive back talent this season as injuries have ravaged the secondary. By signing Kearse, the Ravens are adding a little insurance in case of more players getting injured and getting him acclimated to the team and the playbook before thrusting him into action.

While Kearse is on the practice squad, the placement could just be temporary. As we’ve seen at times this season, Baltimore has used the practice squad as a staging area for incoming players they intend on playing. And while Kearse being available this late in the season points to him not being starter quality, that’s not necessarily true.

Kearse started seven games for the Lions this season. He was targeted 31 times, allowing 19 completions for 149 yards and one touchdown, allowing an 83.9 passer rating. Though he didn’t notch any interceptions, Kearse did force a fumble and has been used with some frequency on blitzes — something he could see even more of in Baltimore.

For how late in the season this move is, it’s a pretty good one that adds a little emergency depth at a position the Ravens need it. And filling that depth role with someone who has started before and performed at a decent level. It’s a small but potentially critical move if the Ravens are able to go deep into the playoffs this season.

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Behind Enemy Lines: Week 16 Q&A with Ravens Wire

With a Week 16 matchup between the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens on tap, we go behind enemy lines for a chat with Ravens Wire.

The New York Giants (5-9) and Baltimore Ravens (9-5) will square off on Sunday afternoon in a Week 16 matchup at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

The Giants opened the week as 9.5-point road underdogs, but the spread has gotten a bit worse with New York now at +10.5.

With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Ravens Wire managing editor Matthew Stevens.

Horns in the NFL: Week 11 in the NFL recap

Week 11 of the NFL season is now under wraps. We take a look at how each player performed in the National Football League over the weekend.

Week 11 of the NFL season wrapped up on Monday night with one former Longhorn in action. Malcom Brown and the Los Angeles Rams were looking to take down Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on MNF. Despite getting the fewest carries of the backs, Brown led the Rams in rushing.

The Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens game featured the most Texas exes with five total. Kenny Vaccaro was inactive for this game or else six former Longhorns would have been playing in that game. The Arizona Cardinals–Seattle Seahawks game featured four more former Longhorns.

How each former Longhorns performed in the NFL this week:

WATCH: Ravens S DeShon Elliott lays out Titans RB Derrick Henry with massive hit

Baltimore Ravens safety DeShon Elliott wasn’t going to get stiff-armed down the field by Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry.

The last time the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans met, running back Derrick Henry asserted his will on Baltimore’s defense. He ran over and around the Ravens’ defense, stiff-arming his way to just under 200 yards on the ground in that game. This Week 11 matchup wasn’t going to be the same and safety DeShon Elliott made sure of it on one play in the third quarter.

Henry appeared to have a full head of steam as he galloped deep in Ravens territory. But the seemingly unstoppable force met an immovable object in Elliot, who stopped the Titans’ back in his tracks and actually folded him backward a bit. Not many NFL defenders, nor people on the street, would happily meet Henry head-on in the open field. But Elliott is a different breed of safety.

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Ravens’ midseason awards

With 8 games in the rearview mirror, we take the time to look over the first half of the Baltimore Ravens’ 2020 season to hand out awards

With their eighth game in the books, the Baltimore Ravens have made it to the midseason mark. While things can and likely will change over the final eight games, the beginning half of the season paints a good picture of where Baltimore’s 2020 season is headed. As we’ll do at the end of the season, we here at Ravens Wire wanted to hand out awards to commemorate the first half and shout out some excellent play as well as some not-so-great performances.

We got four writers together — Matthew Stevens, Neil Dutton, Alex Bente, and Kevin Oestreicher — to pick our winners and give a little reasoning for the choices. The following selections were all unanimous unless noted otherwise.

Let’s see who we all voted for the Ravens’ midseason awards.

Ravens take 6 players off Reserve/COVID-19 list, including LB Patrick Queen

The Baltimore Ravens got everyone but Marlon Humphrey back from the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday. All are eligible to play Sunday.

The Baltimore Ravens placed eight defenders on the Reserve/COVID-19 list earlier in the week after cornerback Marlon Humphrey tested positive for the virus and seven other players were considered “high-risk close contacts.” As expected, the Ravens got back all but Humphrey by Saturday. All seven players are now eligible to play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.

Baltimore activated the following players from the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday, to go along with outside linebacker Matthew Judon’s activation on Thursday:

  • CB Terrell Bonds (restored to the practice squad)
  • OLB Tyus Bowser
  • S DeShon Elliott
  • LB L.J. Fort
  • LB Malik Harrison
  • LB Patrick Queen

The moves will help a Ravens defense that is pretty beat up already. In addition to Humphrey being out of this game, Baltimore placed cornerback Jimmy Smith on the injury report with a questionable designation for Sunday’s game. Added to cornerbacks Iman Marshall, Tavon Young, and Anthony Averett all heading to injured reserve and the Ravens’ defense could use all the help they can get right now.

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Ravens place 7 defensive players on COVID-19/Reserve list

According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley and The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, the Ravens will place the following seven players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Baltimore Ravens announced cornerback Marlon Humphrey had tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The positive test had actually come back from just before Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately for the Ravens, it was previously reported that six other players had come into close contact with Humphrey as well, which would cause them to go into isolation per the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.

According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley and The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, the Ravens will place the following seven players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

  • CB Marlon Humphrey
  • CB Terrell Bonds
  • OLB LB Matthew Judon
  • OLB Tyus Bowser
  • LB Patrick Queen
  • LB L.J. Fort
  • LB Malik Harrison
  • S DeShon Elliott

So far, only Humphrey has tested positive for COVID-19, meaning he’ll be out for at least 10 days. The other six players were considered “high-risk close contact” cases and must isolate from the team for a minimum of five days as long as they don’t present any symptoms or test positive over that time.

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While not ideal, there’s a chance all six “close contact” players will be cleared in time for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately, there’s also a chance any or all of those players could show symptoms or test positive and Baltimore will be short-handed for Week 9 around its entire defense. When added to the team placing left tackle Ronnie Stanley and right guard Tyre Phillips on injured reserve, there’s a very real chance the Ravens could be missing as many as nine major contributors and starters Sunday.

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