HEADLINES

Josh Oliver

Vikings To Sign TE Josh Oliver

March 13th, 2023 at 2:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

Josh Oliver‘s run-blocking ability will secure him a nice payday. The Vikings plan to sign the former Ravens tight end, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

Oliver agreed to a three-year, $21MM Minnesota deal, one that Garafolo notes comes with $10.75MM guaranteed. Incentives could bump the contract up to $24MM. This represents a big commitment to the tight end position for the Vikings, who traded for T.J. Hockenson at the deadline last year.

Pro Football Focus graded Oliver as the NFL’s second-best run-blocking tight end in 2022, behind only fellow Raven Isaiah Likely. Oliver will now have a chance to supplement Hockenson and bolster the Vikings’ ground game. While the Vikings won’t be overly reliant on their acquisition in the passing game, it’s worth noting that Oliver finished the 2022 season with a career-high 14 receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns. The 25-year-old tight end was a third-round pick by the Jaguars in 2019. He spent two seasons in Jacksonville before getting traded to Baltimore in 2021.

While Oliver started nine of his 17 appearances for Baltimore last season, the Ravens won’t miss him too much considering their depth at the position. Likely can easily fill in for Oliver’s blocking role, and the 2022 fourth-round pick also had more offensive upside as a pass-catching backup to Pro Bowler Mark Andrews.

Ravens Rumors: Oliver, Robinson, Mayfield

February 19th, 2023 at 8:22pm CST by Ely Allen

As the Ravens face the offseason, the biggest free agency question on everyone’s mind is clearly what will happen with star quarterback Lamar Jackson. While everyone is focused on that, general manager Eric DeCosta and company have plenty of other free agents to deal with, as detailed recently by Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.

One of the more intriguing free agents Baltimore must handle is tight end Josh Oliver. Acquired for a modest price from the Jaguars two years ago, Oliver was brought in to serve as a number three tight end behind receiving specialist Mark Andrews and blocking specialist Nick Boyle. Injuries to Boyle forced Oliver into a much larger role and over the past two seasons, Oliver has filled in and continued to improve.

At first glance, it seems like an easy decision for Baltimore to allow Oliver to walk as, despite waiving Boyle, the Ravens still have Andrews and two second-year tight ends in Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar behind him. Oliver may have carved out his role on the offense last year, though, playing in Boyle’s stead. While Andrews is a formidable blocker, Likely and Kolar were both elite receiving options in college. Oliver’s biggest impact and improvements this past season were in the running game as a blocker. At only 25 years old, it may make sense for him to find space on the roster of a team that has never shied away from its love of tight ends.

Here are a couple other free agent rumors out of Charm City:

  • Another question that Zrebiec poses in Baltimore surrounds free agent wide receiver Demarcus Robinson. Robinson was an under-the-radar signing late in the preseason for the Ravens, but he likely gave the offense more than they expected out of him. After catching a career-high 48 passes for 458 yards and two touchdowns, Robinson has appeared to have interest in returning to Baltimore. The Ravens are likely looking to upgrade their receivers room in every way possible, though, and currently, it’s unclear where Robinson fits. Robinson likely benefitted from the missed snaps of Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay, both of whom found their way to injured reserve last year. If the team can add a few weapons and get a healthy Bateman and Duvernay, will they decide to bring back Robinson, as well?
  • One position that definitely makes sense for the Ravens to upgrade in free agency is backup quarterback. In a more recent breakdown, Zrebiec discussed why it would be important to sign an established backup. The past two seasons in Baltimore have ended with Jackson on the sideline dealing with injury. In the 12 games that Jackson has either sat out or left with injury in the last two years, the Ravens are 4-8, not including their lone playoff loss without Jackson. Teams like the 49ers and Cowboys displayed this year the value of having backup quarterbacks capable of winning games. Pushed into play due to injury, backup quarterbacks Cooper Rush, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brock Purdy went a combined 16-4 in their regular season starts. While Rush is available, as are other options like Sam Darnold, Jacoby Brissett, and Andy Dalton, Baker Mayfield may make the most sense. Mayfield is an affordable option after flaming out a bit in Cleveland and Carolina, but he showed he still has the ability to compete in the waning games of the season with the Rams. He’s fairly young, having been drafted the same year as Jackson, while still experienced, and he specifically has experience in the AFC North. Mayfield also has a formidable talent for running the ball that wouldn’t require new offensive coordinator Todd Monken to switch things up too much when he’s in. Whether or not the former division rival is the answer, it’s become clear that backups Tyler Huntley and Anthony Brown can’t carry the team when Jackson is absent.

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/4/22-1/5/22

January 5th, 2022 at 11:32pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Tuesday and Wednesday’s activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Jared Cook, LB Damon Lloyd (remains on IR)

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/23/21

December 23rd, 2021 at 6:46pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list today. In some instances, players activated from the list remain on IR:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Ravens Acquire TE Josh Oliver From Jaguars

March 17th, 2021 at 6:35pm CST by Rory Parks

The Jaguars have agreed to trade tight end Josh Oliver to the Ravens in exchange for a conditional draft pick, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter).

Jacksonville selected Oliver in the third round of the 2019 draft, so the club had reasonably high hopes for him. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to shake the injury bug. He got his first start as a pro in Week 11 of the 2019 campaign, but he sustained small fractures in his back during that game and missed the rest of the season. Then, last August, he underwent surgery on a broken bone in his foot and missed all of 2020.

So the San Jose State product has played a grand total of four games in his NFL career and has three catches to his credit. Still, he turns 24 in just a few days and is controllable through 2022, and his size, athleticism, and upside make him an intriguing buy-low candidate for the Ravens.

Baltimore relies heavily on its tight ends, so even with Mark Andrews and Nick Boyle ahead of him on the depth chart, Oliver should have some opportunities in the Ravens’ offense. Boyle has developed a reputation as one of the best blocking TEs in the game, but he has also become a reliable target for quarterback Lamar Jackson, and his presence was sorely missed when a knee injury knocked him out for the season in November. So, if nothing else, Oliver will be worthwhile depth.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/20/20

August 20th, 2020 at 5:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Thursday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the afternoon:

Carolina Panthers

  • Claimed (from Bills): K/P Kaare Vedvik
  • Waived: TE Andrew Vollert

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/17/20

August 17th, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

  • Waived: OT Nick Kaltmayer (Sunday)

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Jets

  • Signed: TE Connor Davis
  • Waived: S Anthony Cioffi

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

  • Signed: LB/DE Jamal Davis II (Sunday)

Jaguars Sign TE Nick O’Leary

November 18th, 2019 at 11:12am CST by Rory Parks

The Jaguars have signed veteran tight end Nick O’Leary, as his agency, SportsTrust Advisors, announced (Twitter link). O’Leary was cut by the Dolphins at the end of October.

Jacksonville hasn’t had much luck with its TE group this year, as both James O’Shaughnessy and Geoff Swaim have landed on IR. Though he played in only five games for the Jags, O’Shaughnessy still leads the club’s tight ends in receptions (14), receiving yards (153), and touchdowns (two).

Third-round rookie Josh Oliver got the first start of his career in Sunday’s loss to the Colts, but as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, Oliver suffered small fractures in his back during the game and could miss the remainder of the season. Plus, Seth DeValve sat out the Indianapolis game due to an oblique injury, leaving Ben Koyack as the only healthy TE on the roster prior to the O’Leary signing.

O’Leary, 27, was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2015 draft. He spent the first three seasons of his career with Buffalo, including a 2017 campaign where he hauled in a career-high 22 receptions for 322 yards and two touchdowns. The Bills cut him at the end of the 2018 preseason and he caught on with the Dolphins’ practice squad before being promoted to Miami’s 53-man roster. The Dolphins liked him enough to sign him to a one-year extension last December, but an ill-timed drop in the team’s Week 8 loss to the Steelers this year led to his ouster from South Beach.

In his career, O’Leary has played in 54 games (21 starts) and has 44 catches for 596 yards and three TDs.