Ravens Sign Veteran CB to Practice Squad

The Ravens will reportedly be without four-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey for a couple of weeks due to a calf injury he sustained in the first half of their last game. Second-year pro Nate Wiggins left in the second half with an elbow injury. Both players are integral to the defense's success when healthy. They possess some of the best ball skills: Humphrey led the entire AFC with a career-high 6 interceptions last year. Wiggins leads the team with one pick and 4 pass breakups through four games.

With Oruwariye, they are adding an experienced player at the position with a proven ability to make plays on the ball with 10 career interceptions and 27 pass breakups. His best season came in 2021 with the Detroit Lions, where he led the team and finished third in the league with a career-high 6 interceptions to go along with 11 pass breakups. One of his picks that year came against Ravens franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Originally drafted in the fifth round by the Lions out of Penn State in the 2019 NFL Draft, Oruwariye has had 40 career starts in 61 career games. After his rookie contract expired, he bounced between the practice squads of the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants in 2023.

Last season, he was with the Dallas Cowboys and started 4 of the 7 games he appeared in, recording 29 total tackles, including 23 solos and one for a loss, 3 pass breakups and an interception to seal a win against the Giants in his Week 4 debut.

The 29-year-old spent the offseason, training camp and preseason with the Tennessee Titans so he run a similar system to the Ravens as defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson spent the 2023 season in Baltimore. There's a strong chance Oruwariye could be called into action and elevated for the team's upcoming Week 5 home matchup with the Houston Texans. According to reports, on Wednesday's practice, all three of the Ravens' top three corners were absent from the field, including veteran Chidobe Awuzie, who played a season-high 91.8% of the team's total defensive snaps against the Chiefs with 67.

In other Ravens practice squad-related news, the team extended an offer to veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks after his visit this week, but the former All Pro declined and flew home the next morning, per a report from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

This development is not only disappointing but confusing. The Ravens desperately need more experience at inside linebacker, with three-time First Team All Pro Roquan Smith slated to miss a few weeks with a reported Grade 2 hamstring strain he suffered in Week 4. Kendricks is 33 years old and underwent shoulder surgery this offseason, so even if he feels like he is in "peak shape", as Pelissero reports, starting on the practice squad to get acclimated with the system and get into football shape is the most logical route back to the field to extend his playing career.