The Baltimore Ravens have to get their roster down to 80 players by Tuesday, August 24th at 4pm EST. On Monday, they took steps towards doing that, releasing three players while placing another on injured reserve.
We have placed LB L.J. Fort on Injured Reserve.
We have released DB Jordan Richards, T Andre Smith and WR Michael Dereus.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 23, 2021
The move to place Fort on injured reserve was expected, as after Monday’s practice head coach John Harbaugh confirmed that the linebacker tore his ACL in Baltimore’s 20-3 preseason win over the Panthers. His loss is a big one for the Ravens’ defensive and special teams units.
Dereus was brought in while Baltimore was dealing with a plethora of injuries at the wide receiver position. While many wideouts still haven’t returned to practice, some appear close, so Dereus was let go after failing to appear on the box score during either of the Ravens’ 2021 preseason victories.
Richards was added in the middle of the 2019 season, and played a key role on special teams over his two years in Baltimore. However, with so many young defensive backs emerging, there just wasn’t enough room to keep Richards around.
Smith was signed by the Ravens before their playoff game against the Tennessee Titans during the 2019-2020 season. He then opted out of the 2020 season, and was on the roster bubble entering 2021 training camp. After getting and extended look at him during the preseason, Baltimore decided to move on from the former top-10 pick.
The Ravens will still have to make one more move before Tuesday’s deadline to get their roster down to the required 80 players.
