OWINGS MILLS, MD. — Has Tyus Bowser played his last snap for the Ravens? John Harbaugh wasn’t willing to go that far when he met with the media on Oct. 16, but he acknowledged that Bowser’s situation has become “more complicated,” and if Bowser doesn’t return to the field at some point this season, it’s fair to wonder whether he ever will again in a Ravens uniform.
Bowser, 28, has been on the Non-Football Injury list all season while dealing with a knee injury sustained while training away from the team, hence the NFI designation.
According to league rules, after being placed on the NFI list to begin the season, Bowser was eligible to return to the active roster after four weeks. He has been doing conditioning work on a side practice field for the past few weeks, suggesting his return was growing nearer.
But asked about Bowser’s status, Harbaugh said, “I’m going to let Tyus comment on that. That’s gotten a little more complicated over the last couple of weeks. I’m really not at liberty to talk about it right now, but at some point in time, I’m sure we’ll have an announcement on that one way or another. He has to make some choices and some decisions.” [Click here to listen to what Bowser had to say Oct. 17.]
In the spring, Bowser was penciled in as a starting outside linebacker who can both rush the passer and drop into coverage. He led the team with seven sacks in his last full season in 2021, and he also has four career interceptions, including three in 2020.
The Ravens originally drafted Bowser in the second round in 2017 out of Houston, and they extended him with a four-year, $22 million deal ($12 million guaranteed) after the 2020 season. At the time, it seemed like a shrewd, forward-thinking move to secure a three-down linebacker for the long term, but injuries drastically have changed the look of that deal.
Bowser has played just nine games since 2021. He suffered a torn Achilles in the 2021 season finale against Pittsburgh, and that kept him out the first two months of last season. He returned to play in nine games, totaling 13 tackles and two sacks.
This year, he was placed on the NFI list after an offseason training injury, and he has yet to join the 53-man roster.
Teams are not obligated to pay players on the NFI list, and while a team occasionally works out a deal to pay a player on the NFI list, as the Ravens have done with rookie offensive tackle Andrew Vorhees, there has been no such reported agreement with Bowser.
If Bowser doesn’t return this season, it seems unlikely he will at all. According to Spotrac, which tracks player contracts, the Ravens would clear $5.5 million in cap space while eating $2 million in dead money if moving on from Bowser after the season, making him a top candidate to be a cap casualty.
The Ravens’ edge rush group has suffered a rash of injuries this year, with Bowser, David Ojabo and Odafe Oweh all sidelined for extended periods. They were perceived to be the team’s top three outside linebackers six months ago.
In their absence, the Ravens have signed veterans Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, who have made significant contributions. Clowney had two sacks in the Ravens 24-16 win against Tennessee in London on Oct. 15, and with 3.5 sacks, Clowney is one off the team lead.
The Ravens have said all year that their sacks will come from all over, and that has proved true; no outside linebacker has more than Clowney’s 3.5 sacks, and yet the Ravens are tied for the league lead with 24 sacks overall.
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