The Baltimore Ravens made a move today trading a 5th round pick in the 2025 draft to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for WR Diontae Johnson and a 6th round pick in the 2025 draft.
The move comes as a little bit of a surprise as Johnson, 28, is in his first year playing for the Panthers after spending the first five years of his career playing for their AFC North Rivals in Pittsburgh. Johnson was brought in to Carolina to put some weapons around Bryce Young and so far this season has hauled in 30 receptions for 357 yards while catching three touchdowns
For the Ravens, this trade brings in a productive receiver who’s been a reliable target every year since he was drafted. Johnson is familiar with the physical AFC North defense that Ravens will face down the stretch, and will be yet another weapon for the Lamar that will keep opposing defenses on their toes.
As the Ravens start preparing for the Denver Broncos, below are three storylines keep your eyes on this week leading up to Sunday:
Health of defensive lineman: Brent Urban (concussion) and Michael Pierce (Calf) both went down last Sunday and couldn’t return. Those are two big bodies that are going to be day by day when it comes to practicing his week. The Ravens made a practice squad signing yesterday as they signed Josh Tupou, who spend time with them during the offseason. The fact that they made him a practice squad signing as opposed to the roster is a positive as it may mean he would be an emergency elevation if either Urban or Pierce isn’t ready to go
Status of Cornerbacks: The status of Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins are both up in the air in terms of practicing this week. In his press conference on Monday, John Harbaugh didn’t mention that Nate Wiggins is dealing with an illness that may sideline him from practice. If the Ravens make an elevation involving one of the cornerbacks on the practice squad (Anthony Kendall and Bump Cooper) then it may not be a good sign for our secondary going into Sunday.
Potential Trade: Marcus Williams was a healthy scratch on Sunday due to a “personnel decision”. John Harbaugh said after the game that Williams would be playing some good football for them this season. Although they’re not making a story out of the decision, Williams is highly paid and could be a solid trade option to send him and his contract in exchange for a pass rusher. This would also free up space for the team to bring in a free agent cornerback currently on the market like Xavien Howard.
The Ravens have the day off today and will get back to the practice field tomorrow as they prepare to face a young Denver Broncos team 1pm on Sunday.
If we’re finding one word to sum up the Ravens 29-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns yesterday, that one word alone can sum up the whole game. Drops on offense, big drops on defense, which culminated in the Ravens dropping the game.
The day started out as with Lamar Jackson commanding the offense down the field until Derrick Henry was stopped on a 4th and 1 on the Browns 10 yard line off a running back direct snap. The Browns used that momentum to propel their offense down the field and end the drive with a field goal to take the lead. The rest of the first half was back in forth, both offenses being stopped and while tacking in a field goal for each respective side. The first touchdown of the game came with 24 seconds left in the first half as Kyle Hamilton sacked Jameis Winston and forced a fumble on the Browns own 20. This led to a Lamar Jackson to Nelson Agholor 10-yard touchdown pass to help the Ravens take a 10-6 lead going into halftime.
The second half saw the Jameis Winston led Brown drive down the field and end it with a David Njoku 25-yard touchdown catch. A play in which he wrestled the ball away Ravens safety Eddie Jackson (who had a day to forget). The Ravens followed up as they had a long drive of their own ending in a Mark Andrews touchdown to put the Ravens up 17-13 with 4:33 left in the third quarter. After the Browns followed with a score drive of their own to take the lead back 20-17, this is where missed opportunities became the story of the day.
Rashod Bateman dropped a ball off a 60 yard throw by Lamar Jackson that would have been a big swing in the game. Eddie Jackson had two dropped interceptions that were even highlighted by the announcers. Despite the Ravens having so many missed opportunities, they still had a 24-23 lead with less than three minutes left in the game. But just as Ravens fans were beginning to think the mistakes couldn’t get any worse, Kyle Hamilton dropped game ending interception with a minute on the clock. But as is the story of the game, the drop lead to a Browns touchdown on the very next play and led to the Ravens dropping the game 29-24.
The Ravens have some soul searching to do this week as the Denver Broncos (5-3) led by rookie Bo Nix come to Baltimore next Sunday at 1pm.
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