The Ravens have signed L.J. Fort to the 53-man roster, adding veteran depth at inside linebacker.
Undrafted rookie inside linebacker Otaro Alaka (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve Saturday, creating a roster vacancy. During Sunday's loss to the Cleveland Browns, Patrick Onwuasor (63 snaps) played the majority of snaps at inside linebacker, with Kenny Young (23 snaps) and Chris Board (23 snaps) sharing reps at the other inside linebacker spot.
The 29-year-old Fort was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent in March, but the Eagles released him last week. He did not play a defensive snap during Philadelphia's first four games, but he did see action on special teams.
Fort began his career with the Browns, after being signed as an undrafted free agent from Northern Iowa. After short stints with the Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots, Fort spent three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2015-17) before joining the Eagles.
In 65 career games, Fort has 85 tackles, three sacks and one interception.
"We've played against him quite a bit," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "He's played middle linebacker, played the MIKE quite a bit, been a starter for the Steelers on and off, top level special teams player. We're very fortunate that he became available due to the injury situation up there in Philly, and he's a fit for us, defensively and special teams-wise. Just a good player, and he's going to help us on defense and special teams."
