The Ravens have signed a pair of linebackers who spent last season with the Oakland Raiders.
Baltimore first added versatile linebacker Ricky Brown, who came in for a tryout on Wednesday. They have also reached a deal* *with Darryl Blackstock.
Brown, 28, is listed as a middle linebacker, but also played SAM (outside) and MIKE (inside) linebacker spots during his six seasons in Oakland.
Blackstock, 29, primarily plays outside linebacker. He was a former third-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2005 out of Virginia. He has played for Arizona, Cincinnati and Oakland during his five NFL seasons, and also spent two years (2009-2010) in the UFL.
Both players should help provide depth in the linebacker corps, and would be expected to contribute on special teams.
A former undrafted rookie out of Boston College in 2006, Brown first landed on the Raiders' practice squad, then moved up in his rookie season to play 13 games. He played in all 16 games in 2007 and earned a starting job the following year.
But since then, the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder has been plagued by injuries. His season has been ended early in three of the past four years.
Brown played in seven games in 2008 before suffering a sports hernia that required surgery. An ankle injury ended his 2009 season after five games.
Brown lost his starting role to first-round draft pick Rolando McClain in 2010, but still played in 14 games. Injuries struck again last year, as he was placed on injured reserve after three games due to a concussion.
After Brown went down with the injury, Blackstock started in his place. Blackstock played in every game last year for the Raiders, registering 20 tackles.
The Ravens had two outside linebackers (Terrell Suggs and Michael McAdoo) go down with Achilles injuries. Their inside linebackers are Ray Lewis, Jameel McClain, Dannell Ellerbe, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Josh Bynes, rookie free agent Nigel Carr and now Brown.
