Offensive tackle Austin Howard lost his job with the Raiders on Friday, but he might not be without a team for long. The Ravens are considering adding Howard, according to Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).
The 30-year-old Howard would provide an experienced right tackle option to a Baltimore team that lost former No. 1 Ricky Wagner in free agency. After Wagner started 47 games for the Ravens from 2014-16, he inked a five-year deal worth more than $45MM with the Lions.
The Ravens didn’t pick up an established tackle or a spend a draft pick on a bookend in the wake of Wagner’s departure, leaving them with James Hurst as the starter opposite LT Ronnie Stanley. Hurst did appear in all 48 of the Ravens’ games over his first three years, but he only started 16 of those contests. Just three of Hurst’s starts came last year, and his performance drew an unenthusiastic review from Pro Football Focus.
Howard didn’t garner praise from PFF in 2016, either, as he ranked 52nd among its 77 qualified tackles. However, an ankle injury may have contributed to his less-than-stellar showing over 11 games, and he did rack up 10 starts for the fifth consecutive year. In all, Howard has started in 72 in 76 appearances across six years with the Eagles, Jets and Raiders. Howard signed a five-year, $30MM contract to head to Oakland in 2014, but his next deal certainly won’t come anywhere close to that – especially considering he’s recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.