Amid another season of struggles at the wide receiver position, the Baltimore Ravens picked up Sammy Watkins off waivers from the Green Bay Packers.
This is pretty much a no-brainer for Baltimore. Watkins, 29, had a base salary of $1.12 million before Green Bay opted to move off the veteran. The team will pay the prorated version of that, less than $200,000, for the remainder of the season.
It also comes after third-leading receiver Devin Duvernay exited Ravens practice on Tuesday with a foot injury that’s feared to be significant.
With star quarterback Lamar Jackson sidelined to injury, the Ravens have been a hot mess on offense in recent weeks. That included scoring a mere three points in Saturday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns. As for Watkins, the former top-four pick of the Buffalo Bills did very little in Green Bay prior to being waived:
- Sammy Watkins stats (2022): 13 receptions, 206 yards, 0 TD, 59.1% catch rate
With that said, there is some familiarity here. Watkins suited up for the Ravens a season ago, catching 27 balls for 394 yards and a touchdown in 13 games (nine starts).
With Baltimore at 9-5 on the season and hoping to get Jackson back from his knee injury soon, adding a reinforcement was key. Given the Duvernay injury news, that’s magnified further.
As of right now, Demarcus Robinson is Baltimore’s leading pass-catcher from the wide receiver position with 44 receptions. He, too, was picked up off waivers earlier in the season.
Outside of Robinson and Duvernay, not a single active Ravens receiver has caught more than eight passes with former first-round pick Rashod Bateman on injured reserve and lost for the season.
Baltimore takes on the Atlanta Falcons Christmas Eve as the team looks to get out of his rut offensively.
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