The Ravens are signing former Raiders wide receiver Seth Roberts to a one-year deal, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Roberts became a free agent earlier this week when Oakland cut him loose.
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Roberts was due to make a $4.45MM base salary with the Raiders in 2019 and up to $4.8MM through bonuses. However, his base pay was completely non-guaranteed, allowing the Raiders to shed the entire sum of his contract.
Roberts, 28, had 45 receptions for 494 yards and two touchdowns in 2018. In the previous year, he had similar figures with 43 catches for 455 yards and one score. Roberts has a career 11.6 yards per reception average, but he was more of a deep threat in his breakout 2015 season when he averaged 15 yards per grab.
The Ravens are still expected to target wide receivers in the draft, but the presence of Roberts may take off some of the pressure.
“One of the biggest things that we have to do is just take some at-bats and swing,” GM Eric DeCosta recently said of the team’s WR strategy in the draft. “It’s hard to be a .400 hitter if you’re only at bat twice. We’ve got to take some chances. We’ve got to find some guys that we like and try to appreciate the really good football players, the guys that make plays.”
Roberts joins a WR group that lost John Brown and Michael Crabtree this offseason. He’s just the third receiver on the roster who has actually caught a pass in the NFL, along with Willie Snead and Chris Moore.
“It’s hard to be a .400 hitter if you’re only at bat twice.”
Hard to believe this guy is just a GM and not a champion on Jeopardy. LOL.