Baltimore Ravens announced on Thursday that they have waived veteran linebacker Jake Ryan. The move comes as a surprise, considering that Ryan joined the franchise just several weeks ago.
Ravens brought in Ryan to boost their linebacker core, which was depleted by the departures of Josh Bynes and Patrick Onwuasor in the offseason. However, Ravens then decided to invest heavily in the position during the 2020 NHL Draft, using a first-rounder on LSU’s Patrick Queen and a third-round pick on Ohio States’ Malik Harrison.
Reportedly, Ravens are encouraged with what they’ve seen from Queen and Harrison so far, which is why Ryan was deemed surplus.
Jake Ryan spent his early NFL career with Green Bay Packers, where he established himself as a dependable inside linebacker. Between 2015 and 2017, Ryan started 27 games in Green Bay and had 213 tackles, 1.0 sacks, three pass deflections, and one forced fumble to show for. In the past two seasons, however, Ryan struggled with injuries which limited his presence on the field.
After missing the entire 2018 season with a knee injury, Ryan left the Packers and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in hopes to have a bounce-back season. Things didn’t work out in Jacksonville for him either, as he played just one defensive snap in two games last year.
Although things didn’t work out for him in Baltimore, Ryan still has some credit left around the league and will probably manage to land a new job before the season kicks off.
