The Ravens’ roster cutdown figured to have less drama than many previous years, yet the final cutdown to 53 players on Aug. 26 did have its share of surprises. The biggest was that fourth-year cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis was waived, beaten out by undrafted rookie Keyon Martin after a standout preseason.
In fact, the Ravens kept not just one, but three, undrafted rookies on the initial 53-man roster, a stunning turn given that the team had relatively little offseason roster turnover and added an 11-player draft class. It marks the 21st time in the past 22 seasons that at least one undrafted rookie made the initial 53-man roster.
But the 2025 draft class had its limitations; sixth-round cornerbacks Bilhal Kone and Robert Longerbeam both ended up on injured reserve during training camp, third-round pick Emery Jones remains on the Non-Football Injury list as he rehabs a shoulder injury, and seventh-round offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger was cut.
In one of the roster cutdown’s big questions, the Ravens kept tight end Isaiah Likely on the initial 53-man roster rather than moving him to injured reserve, and that keeps the door open to him playing in the opening month of the season.
Likely has been sidelined since early in training camp after suffering a fracture in his foot, and while he might not be ready for Week 1, the Ravens clearly hope he can be available in the opening month of the season. If Likely had been placed on injured reserve and designated to return at the initial roster cutdown, he would have had to miss a minimum of four games.
General manager Eric DeCosta, who is scheduled to meet with the media Wednesday afternoon, says the roster is always fluid, and it’s certainly possible that the 53 players on the roster now will not be the 53 on the roster when the Ravens travel to Buffalo for the season opener on Sept. 7.
Players who were released by the Ravens today who have less than four years of service time are subject to waivers, with claims due by noon on Wednesday. Then the team can work to build its 16-man practice squad. (Nigerian defensive tackle C.J. Okoye, who was cut, would qualify as an international exemption.)
Here is how the Ravens initial 53-man roster breaks down, with 25 on offense, 25 on defense, and three on special teams:
QUARTERBACK (2): Lamar Jackson, Cooper Rush
No surprises here. The Ravens signed Rush to be the backup to Jackson and view him as an upgrade over 2024 backup Josh Johnson. Devin Leary figures to be a candidate for the No. 3 quarterback on the practice squad, but the Ravens also might look elsewhere after Leary’s underwhelming summer.
RUNNING BACKS (4): Derrick Henry, Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell, Rasheen Ali
As head coach John Harbaugh implied in the past week, the Ravens opted to keep four running backs, with Ali landing on the right side of the roster bubble. Mitchell is viewed as the No. 3 back behind Henry and Hill, but Ali gives the Ravens insurance in case Mitchell has any setbacks with his surgically repaired knee. Mitchell also missed camp time recently with a hamstring injury.
In addition, Harbaugh has said he thinks running backs are best suited for the league’s two-year-old “dynamic kickoff” format, and Ali and Mitchell figure to be the team’s top two kick returners.
TIGHT ENDS/FULLBACKS (4): Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, Charlie Kolar, Patrick Ricard
Likely’s status was the biggest question with this group, and keeping him on the 53-man roster keeps him available for the first month of the season. He might not be ready for Week 1 at Buffalo — he was seen at practice this week without a boot on his foot but still limping — but by keeping him on the initial 53-man roster, the Ravens keep open the option that he can contribute by Week 3 against Detroit or Week 4 at Kansas City.
WIDE RECEIVERS (6): Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, DeAndre Hopkins, Tylan Wallace, Devontez Walker, LaJohntay Wester
This group was pretty much set after Wester returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown against Indianapolis in the preseason opener. With that, plus his other punt-return decision-making, the Ravens found their top punt returner, a position they vowed to upgrade this season.
Wester has proved less adept as a receiver this summer, but his role on offense will be limited unless injuries become a major factor.
Likewise, Walker flashed at times, but it’s hard to see a big role on offense if the other receivers are healthy. Dayton Wade would have been a practice squad candidate but suffered a rib injury that required surgery in the preseason finale. Veterans Keith Kirkwood and Anthony Miller were on the practice squad last year and are respected voices in the room. They could be back.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (9): Ronnie Stanley, Andrew Vorhees, Tyler Linderbaum, Daniel Faalele, Roger Rosengarten, Joseph Noteboom, Ben Cleveland, Carson Vinson, Corey Bullock
Bullock emerged among four or five candidates for a final spot on the offensive line, and that seemed increasingly predictable given his usage throughout the summer. Bullock, a Maryland native who was on the practice squad all of last season, drew rave reviews for his improvement from both Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
The starting five was pretty much set a month ago — Cleveland never really mounted a legitimate challenge to either Vorhees or Faalele for a starting spot — and Noteboom was signed as the veteran swing tackle. Vinson was drafted out of Alabama A&M as a project in the fifth round, and the Ravens see long-term upside there.
Given that Harbaugh strongly implied that the team would keep only nine offensive linemen, that left Bullock in contention with, among others, 2024 seventh-rounder Nick Samac, and Dellinger, the only 2025 draft pick who was waived.
Jones (shoulder) will begin the season on the Non-Football Injury list, and the goal he will be able to contribute at some point later in the season.
DEFENSIVE LINE (5): Nnamdi Madubuike, Travis Jones, Broderick Washington, John Jenkins, Aeneas Peebles
There wasn’t much drama here. The veteran Jenkins was signed to replace Michael Pierce as a run-stuffer in the middle of the defense, and Peebles as the sixth-round rookie showed enough to stick around. The other three were set in stone.
Brent Urban was signed during the summer and although he was released, he probably still figures in the team’s plans. His long-term role, including at roster cutdown, was probably discussed before he signed.
The Ravens waived C.J. Ravenell, who could draw interest on the waiver wire, and Okoye, whom the Ravens would like to continue to develop on their practice squad.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (5): Kyle Van Noy, Odafe Oweh, Tavius Robinson, Mike Green, David Ojabo
The suspense here ended when Adisa Isaac suffered a dislocated elbow and additional ligament damage in the second preseason game at Dallas. That pretty much solidified the five outside linebackers on the 53-man roster, since some viewed Isaac in competition with Ojabo for a final spot.
Isaac has been placed on injured reserve with a designation to return, and the hope is he can contribute in the second half of the season. The Ravens have seen much to like from Green, their second-round pick this year, and will hope the oft-injured Ojabo can deliver on his second-round status as he enters his contract year.
INSIDE LINEBACKER (5): Roquan Smith, Trenton Simpson, Teddye Buchanan, Jake Hummel, Jay Higgins
Higgins, a former All-America at Iowa, becomes one of three undrafted rookies to make the initial roster after showing ability on special teams and a penchant for takeaways, two things the Ravens value.
Hiiggins’ size (6-0, 230) and relatively poor metrics — he had the slowest 40-yard dash time among linebackers at the NFL Scouting Combine — apparently scared teams off in the draft process. But defensive coordinator Zach Orr — himself a former linebacker who made the Ravens as an undrafted rookie — called Higgins “really instinctive,” praised his football IQ and expressed surprise that the All-America from the Big Ten wasn’t drafted.
Higgins thus joins a long line of former undrafted rookie inside linebackers — including Orr, Bart Scott, Jameel McClain, Dannell Ellerbe and Chris Board — to make the team.
And given that Orr and other defensive players have stressed takeaways all summer, it couldn’t have been lost on them that Higgins created two in the preseason, with an interception against Indianapolis and a strip-sack against Dallas.
Hummel’s status was thought by some to be in question when he missed time this past week with a hand injury, but the team signed the special teams veteran early in the offseason, and they value players who thrive in that unheralded role.
CORNERBACK (6): Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins, Jaire Alexander, Chidobe Awuzie, T.J. Tampa, Keyon Martin
Keeping just six cornerbacks, and Martin making the team over Armour-Davis, were the most notable developments of the roster cutdown, especially since health of this group is an ongoing concern.
Alexander hasn’t practiced in nearly three weeks, and although Harbaugh said he expects Alexander to be on the field next week, given Alexander’s recurrent knee trouble, it’s fair to question whether he’ll be ramped up and ready to contribute for Week 1.
Martin’s inclusion on the 53-man roster is a major upset well earned. Martin wasn’t even among the team’s initial crop of undrafted rookie signees; Martin, undrafted out of Louisiana-Lafayette, was signed after a tryout at rookie minicamp, then had to work his way up from the very bottom of the depth chart.
He did that throughout the summer with splash plays on defense — including a sack for a safety at Dallas and a pick-six touchdown at Washington — as well as consistent effort on special teams. No doubt the injuries to Kone and Longerbeam opened the door, but Martin to his credit kicked it in.
The Ravens might try to retain Armour- Davis on the practice squad, but it would be understandable if he were claimed via waivers or if he looked for a team where he could play a bigger role.
The ability of safety Kyle Hamilton to play in the slot could have factored in this decision, but for a team that has always lived by the mantra that, “You can never have too many corners,” it’s worth noting that they jettisoned one that could potentially factor for them.
SAFETY (4): Kyle Hamilton, Malakai Starks, Sanoussi Kane, Reuben Lowery
When Ar’Darius Washington suffered a torn Achilles tendon in May, the question became, who would take his place as the No. 3 safety? Kane stepped up as perhaps the most improved player on the roster, someone the Ravens trusted enough that they never went out and signed a veteran.
With other roster concerns, that essentially left Lowery and Beau Brade competing for a final roster spot, and Lowery, the undrafted free agent from Tennessee-Chattanooga, made himself impossible to ignore. Whether it was jumping a pass for an interception or diving to break up a pass, Lowery found himself around the ball all summer.
Starks has looked every bit as advertised as the team’s first-round pick, and Hamilton has said Starks seems “miles ahead” of where he was as a rookie.
With this collection of corners and safeties, it’s understandable that secondary coach Chuck Pagano said, “This is as good a group as I’ve been around in [my] 19 years in the National Football League.”
SPECIALISTS (3): Tyler Loop, Jordan Stout, Nick Moore
As the first kicker ever drafted by the Ravens, Loop was always the prohibitive favorite to win the unenviable job of replacing Justin Tucker. Kicking coach Randy Brown scoured the country and identified Loop as the top target among draftable kickers, and the competition essentially ended when undrafted rookie John Hoyland was released early in training camp.
Loop went 9-for-11 in preseason game action, with a long of 61 yards.
Stout and Moore had no competition. Stout’s evolution as an NFL punter continues, and the goal is this trio can be as successful an “operation” as the Ravens enjoyed with Tucker for more than a decade.
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