On Thursday, the Baltimore Ravens placed four of their players on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. In addition, they also added one player to the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list in offensive lineman Ja’Wuan James.
Ravens put OT Ja'Wuan James on the Non-Football Injury list.
James suffered an Achilles injury in April when he was with the Broncos.
Ravens haven't ruled out James from playing at some point in the regular season.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) July 22, 2021
James had an unfortunate series of events happen to him before eventually finding his way to Baltimore. While working out away from the Denver Broncos’ facility in May, he suffered a torn achilles. With the injury occurring off-site, Denver decided to release James, voiding the remainder of his contract. The former University of Tennessee star filed a grievance against his former team, seeking $15 million.
After signing a four-year, $51 million contract with the Broncos in 2019 free agency, the tackle played in just three games in his first year of the deal due to a knee injury. James opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19, and his injury away from the facility ended his tenure with Denver after just 63 total snaps in two seasons.
When asked about James after the Ravens signed the offensive lineman to a two-year deal worth up to $9 million, head coach John Harbaugh said that it’s “possible” that the former Bronco could return in November or December.
James will most likely remain on the NFI list until he is ready to return to action. Whether that’s sometime this season or next year remains to be seen, but Baltimore feels like they got a great player on a steal of a contract, a move that could pay dividends in the future.
