The Ravens waived veteran inside linebacker Jake Ryan Thursday, showing faith in their two rookie draft picks.
Ryan was officially signed by Baltimore to a one-year deal on May 4. He was a fourth-round pick out of Michigan by the Green Bay Packers in 2015, and played in 43 games for the Packers from (2015-17). However, the 28-year-old Ryan missed the 2018 season after suffering a torn ACL in training camp.
He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars following the 2018 season, but spent much of the 2019 season on the reserve/non-football injury list. The Jaguars activated Ryan for two games in December before he returned to the injured list.
Baltimore signed Ryan thinking he would add to their depth at inside linebacker after losing Josh Bynes (Cincinnati) and Patrick Onwuasor (New York Jets) in free agency. However, the Ravens drafted two inside linebackers in the first three rounds who are expected to play prominent roles – first-rounder Patrick Queen and third-rounder Malik Harrison. Inside linebackers L.J. Fort, Chris Board and Otaro Alaka are also returning, so the Ravens are well-stocked at the position.
"Those two guys will kind of be roaming in there at those two linebacker spots, both base and sub, and we'll just see how much playing time they earn," Harbaugh said of Queen and Harrison. "We expect them to play a lot of football this year. We're really fired up about those two guys."
