OCTOBER 10: Putting an end to the confusion on this matter, the Ravens confirmed on Monday that they have indeed signed Isabella to the taxi squad. In a corresponding move, the team waived fellow wideout Bailey Gaither.
OCTOBER 9: SI’s Howard Balzer tweets that the Ravens have not, in fact, signed Isabella at this time. No agreement has been reported between he and any other team, though, so the underwhelming WR may still end up in Charm City. Regardless, this situation will be worth monitoring over the coming days.
OCTOBER 5: It didn’t take long for Andy Isabella to find his new squad. The free agent wideout will be signing with the Ravens, according to Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (via Twitter). He’ll be joining Baltimore’s practice squad, per Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus (on Twitter).
Isabella was a second-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2019, and he spent his first three-plus seasons with the organization. After finishing the 2021 campaign with only one reception and starting the 2022 season with a pair of catches, the receiver was waived by Arizona earlier this week. He ultimately went unclaimed, allowing him to sign with any squad.
The 25-year-old figured to be a popular name on the free agent circuit, but that was mostly due to his draft stock and remaining potential. The wideout showed a bit of a promise during his first two seasons in the NFL, when he hauled in 30 receptions for 413 yards and three scores in 28 games. Isabella also had brief cameos in the return game.
In Baltimore, he’ll likely have to fight for reps. Even if you ignore the Ravens’ running backs and tight ends, the team still has plenty of receivers who deserve snaps, including Rashod Bateman (who is questionable for this weekend) and Devin Duvernay. Isabella will join a depth chart that also features Demarcus Robinson, Tylan Wallace, and James Proche.
I thought this guy was going to be an under the radar stud for the Cardinals.
I’m not exactly sure why it hasn’t worked out for him thus far..
Whether it was D-Hop, Kirk, Green, Moore, Hollywood Brown, Fitzgerald, or Sherfield…Since Isabella was drafted as their 2nd Round pick, one by one, we have seen them all get more time and reps than Isabella.
I know Fitz predominantly took over slot duties, which left him with limited opportunities, but even with guys like Green and D-Hop missing time, Isabella just seemed like a forgotten man..
Has anyone ever heard or read any reports as to why he never really got more opportunities in Arizona??
He came out as a polished route runner, with excellent speed and hands, as far as I knew…Idk, just feels like he should have had more of an impact for the Cardinals whether it was as a WR or as a punt returner..
It seems like Kingsbury gave up on him after trying to make him a slot receiver in 2020, which was never his game. Maybe he just can’t translate to the NFL as an outside receiver, but just because he’s a 5’9 white guy doesn’t mean he’s a slot receiver. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t have much to offer, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if this is mostly about Kingsbury’s poor judgement.
That definitely sounds logical about Kingsbury just having poor judgment at the WR position…
They’ve basically had a few guys handed to them, via trades and in the Draft, yet they still somehow have issues at the WR position.
And yes, just because a guy is short, doesn’t mean he cannot lineup outside. If a guy is a playmaker, you find ways to get creative and get him the ball..
I think Kingsbury lacks the ability to make adjustments for players’ best strengths. It seems like he just makes them fit into his system for better or worse..
In Arizona’s case, there were several wideouts ahead of Isabella on the roster. Moore and Brown both have the straight line speed that Isabella possesses, and are a little more versatile. I believe that Isabella’s lack of playing time, however, is a major reason that he is limited to those types of plays, especially coming out of a small school.
Murray also hasn’t really shown a connection with many of the lower level receivers in Arizona-he connects with number one or number two options usually, or the tight end, but I personally don’t see him hit the third or fourth receiver as often as I would expect on some of the plays. Arizona has drafted or signed a lot of receivers in the last few years, and the only homegrown receiver I can think of with decent success was Kirk (Moore may be on that list as well).
The Ravens could use a deep speed receiver, however, given how many of Jackson’s deep balls have been overthrown. I appreciate that Jackson can have accuracy issues, especially with certain routes, but adding a deep ball oriented receiver isn’t a bad choice to give him more options. Duvernay is plenty fast, but Isabella should be faster and would be expected to help with some of those straight line or vertical type routes. We’ll see if Baltimore puts him on the field.
Ravens sign Isabella….oh wait, no they didn’t.
Cardinals release Maxx Williams….oh wait, no they didn’t.
Great stuff.