The Ravens, hit hard by injuries in recent weeks, have made some changes on the defensive side of the ball. The team announced today that has cut veteran outside linebacker Jason Babin, along with cornerback Rashaan Melvin, promoting cornerbacks Asa Jackson and Charles James to fill the open spots on the active roster (Twitter links).
Babin, signed by the Ravens following the season-ending injury to Terrell Suggs, was inactive for his first two games with Baltimore, and barely saw the field in his next two games, committing multiple penalties when he did play. Despite his 64.5 career sacks, the 35-year-old clearly wasn’t a big part of the Ravens’ plans going forward, so it makes sense that the team would part ways with him in order to re-stock a depleted secondary.
Melvin has also been frequently inactive for the Ravens in the first few weeks of the season, so the team decided to give the two defensive backs on its practice squad a chance to earn playing time on the 53-man roster, with Jackson and James receiving promotions.
Jackson, 25, filled in last season for the Ravens when multiple cornerbacks went down with injuries, starting six games and recording 28 tackles. James, meanwhile, has seen most of his limited regular season action on special teams. He was cut by the Texans prior to the season.
The Ravens also announced a pair of previously reported moves, confirming that they’ve signed cornerback Shareece Wright and placed cornerback Will Davis on IR (Twitter link).