[News] Ravens Sign Wide Receivers Joe Morgan, Chuck Jacobs

[BR News]

Baltimore added Morgan to the active roster after placing Steve Smith Sr. on injured reserve.

View the full article

[RavensVAfan]

I take this as a pretty solid signal that Pitta isn't coming back. Clearly they are not the same position but now if Pitta does come back, and they want to hold 4 TEs, someone has to go and there aren't a lot of options.

Edited November 4, 2015 by RavensVAfan

[trevorsteadman]

With receivers it doesn't matter how fast a player is or where they are drafted. They need to run routes and know the system and how to make adjustments mid-game when necessary even if it isn't in the game plan going into that week. Maybe this system will fit them. I hope they succeed here in Baltimore we need playmakers and these could be the guys.

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Givens and Morgan go deep to take off the top coverage and allow Aiken, Ross and the TE's to work more shallow routes. Now they just have to catch and hold onto the ball.

[Tdot.to.Bmore]

Great...another player that nobody else wanted is on our 53 man roster. Just great.

[iluvpurple]

All I can say is, sounds to me like good signings....... Welcome to Baltimore Joe and Chuck, Play Like A Raven!!

And now Joe has another Joe to throw to......

I am gonna have a really hard time for awhile seeing IR next to Smith Sr's name, though......

Edited November 4, 2015 by iluvpurple

[Bob21043]

If Pitta comes back, I like what someone else suggested and throw him in as a slot receiver, not a TE. I think we are set at TE now (he probably knows it too). He'll probably end up on IR, try out next year, but retire. Too bad, he and Joe really made some nice plays; could've used him the last 2 years

[callahan09]

More former undrafted WRs. That seems to be our MO The only healthy drafted WR on the team (including practice squad) was 4th rounder Chris Givens (who has been impressive to me so far for a guy who couldn't get snaps in St Louis the last 2 years!). Oh well, we'll take what we can get (and *afford*) I suppose.

[johnmike72]

Great...another player that nobody else wanted is on our 53 man roster. Just great.

What do you expect? A team to release their top receiver so the Ravens can sign them?

[baltimore1975]

I'll be honest my first and only reaction is...Who are these guys? I've never heard of them.

Edited November 4, 2015 by baltimore1975

[chuchu707]

ross can take the top off; everyone stop complaining, i have faith in us! throw givens and morgan on the outsides and let aiken and ross eat up the posts and slants! NO MARLON BROWN

[RavensAllDay1987]

Tdot.to.Bmore

32 minutes ago

Great...another player that nobody else wanted is on our 53 man roster. Just great.

SMH

[fusuymada]

What do you expect? A team to release their top receiver so the Ravens can sign them?

No, I don't expect anyone to help the Ravens but I do expect them to help themselves.  We value draft picks as though we were picking in 2005.  Things aren't the same with drafting as they were 10 years ago with the Ravens.  If I knew last year that we were going to waste a 4th round pick on Trey Walker who cant get on the field or a 5th rounder on Robert "Snacks" Myers who couldn't make the team, I would have said trade them for a legit receiver.  You're not going to get a Calvin Johnson but at least you would get a solid guy who at least we would have heard of.  Based on our recent draft history, and I cited last year but there is a litany of errors recently, I would have had no problem trading next years 4th and 5th draft pick for a receiver this year before the trade deadline.  Our drafting strategy has been failing since 2009, look it up, and I can't believe Bisciotti is going to continue to accept the types of drafts we have been having.  I am not blaming anyone, but the stats are real and the facts are facts, we are no longer are the best drafting team in the league and that is documented so use those picks to get known commodities.  No different than the stock market, if you have been failing investing in speculative stocks, you stop and go with known commodities that produce year after year.

[rmcjacket23]

No, I don't expect anyone to help the Ravens but I do expect them to help themselves.  We value draft picks as though we were picking in 2005.  Things aren't the same with drafting as they were 10 years ago with the Ravens.  If I knew last year that we were going to waste a 4th round pick on Trey Walker who cant get on the field or a 5th rounder on Robert "Snacks" Myers who couldn't make the team, I would have said trade them for a legit receiver.  You're not going to get a Calvin Johnson but at least you would get a solid guy who at least we would have heard of.  Based on our recent draft history, and I cited last year but there is a litany of errors recently, I would have had no problem trading next years 4th and 5th draft pick for a receiver this year before the trade deadline.  Our drafting strategy has been failing since 2009, look it up, and I can't believe Bisciotti is going to continue to accept the types of drafts we have been having.  I am not blaming anyone, but the stats are real and the facts are facts, we are no longer are the best drafting team in the league and that is documented so use those picks to get known commodities.  No different than the stock market, if you have been failing investing in speculative stocks, you stop and go with known commodities that produce year after year.

I'm unaware of what "solid guys" were available to even trade for.

 

I think fans pretend like the NFL is MLB or NBA, where there's quality players traded year after year. It really doesn't happen that way. 

[ravenwildman]

After the quality Givens and Ross pick up I ain't going to question anything OZ and crew does. OK, Groovy! Let's play some football! GO RAVENS!

[steelraven]

Why are they showing a video from 2012? That was 3 years ago.

[Prino61]

Is there something that i dont know about Daniel Brown? why are we not giving him a shot? Marlon(DropThe)Brown has been given chance after chance and continue to disappoint, why not give D.Brown a shot?

[PerpetuallyBored74]

Signing 2 guys is also a clear sign that Perriman is not close to returning to action.

So, why they just don't IR the guy already...smh. They did the same thing in 2013 with Jensen even though we really needed every roster spot because of all the injuries that year.

You'd think they'd learn from that mistake as it was just 2 years ago...smh again.

Btw, they cut the TE Reuland from the PS, yet again, to make room for Jacobs. Guess he's this seasons PS version of Bajema.

From Wikipedia, note they still haven't updated his entry that he was released today:

"Reuland was signed onto the Baltimore Ravens practice squad on November 12, 2014. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Ravens.[5] On September 6, 2015, he was signed to the Ravens' practice squad.[6] On September 8, 2015, Reuland's practice squad contract was terminated by the Ravens.[7] On October 13, 2015, the Ravens re-signed Reuland to the practice squad.[8]"

[Purplepowers88]

The bottom of the wide receiver barrel has officially been scraped

Edited November 4, 2015 by Purplepowers88

[Puntit]

I see no reason this season not to keep turning over rocks hoping we find a diamond in the rough. We are unlikely to be playoff bound and so a lot of this is seeing who we have to build around when we actually do get to pick higher in each round of the draft.. If we have Smith Sr and Perriman healthy next year, even if we add another WR we probably have three spots to fill with the dogs with the least fleas from this season. If Morgan is an upgrade as number 4 or 5 WR, it was worth it. Nobody was going to release a Megatron for us to pounce on and we wouldn't have the money to do it if they did.

[blitzking33]

Go get RJ Harris!!!

[Tdot.to.Bmore]

I'm unaware of what "solid guys" were available to even trade for.

 

I think fans pretend like the NFL is MLB or NBA, where there's quality players traded year after year. It really doesn't happen that way. 

Of course this is not the MLB or NBA but you cant deny that our roster moves over the past couple years have been pretty bad. There were several WRs in the summer that were free agents that we should have traded our middle round picks for. Our 4th and 5th round picks this year are developmental players, which one of them was cut earlier this year. There was Crabtre, brandon marshall, golden tate, cecil short, the list goes on. Now were pick up players off the streets to compete in games. I have always been a fan of Ozzie and i will still be behind him till the end, but you cant argue that there have been some horrible decisions over the past couple years that have put us in the position.

[ravenpic]

Let's hope the current WR's can stay healthy. If the Ravens defense doesn't shape up none of this will matter. 

[ksk316]

What is with us and the love for undrafted WR's?

Ross, Brown are also undrafted. None of the starting receivers have been drafted by the Ravens.

Crazy!

Ozzie probably looks at the resume and says "You had me at 'undrafted'".

[cec327]

Givens has looked pretty good. Wonder what happened to Tom Nelson and Dan Brown -- thought that they looked good in pre -season.

[rmcjacket23]

Of course this is not the MLB or NBA but you cant deny that our roster moves over the past couple years have been pretty bad. There were several WRs in the summer that were free agents that we should have traded our middle round picks for. Our 4th and 5th round picks this year are developmental players, which one of them was cut earlier this year. There was Crabtre, brandon marshall, golden tate, cecil short, the list goes on. Now were pick up players off the streets to compete in games. I have always been a fan of Ozzie and i will still be behind him till the end, but you cant argue that there have been some horrible decisions over the past couple years that have put us in the position.

Pure hind sight though. These comments are only being made after seeing that Steve Smith is out for the year, that your 1st round pick hasn't gotten on the field, and all of the young guys that fans were clamoring for more of basically are terrible.

 

Nobody realistically said in the summer that guys like Crabtree or Shorts (who aren't impressive to begin with even now) are guys who were going to transform our receiving core into something special. At the time, they were, AT BEST, the 3rd or 4th WR on this team, which is a position that rarely sees much production in a typical Ravens offense.

 

Its only NOW, AFTER we get to see what occurs, that these statements are being brought up.

[cushrinada1986]

The big play ability is exactly what we need right now. 2015 is pretty much a tryout for the 2016 season at this point and if he can prove that he can give us the play we are looking for, he may just carry over into 2016. I kinda like what OZ is doing here. Getting speedy pass catchers that can go deep and make contested catches. speed and the ability to catch and make solid routes is a trait our ravens WR have missed outside of SSS. Having a young group of guys that can show all three will give us what we need to make a SB run next season. The more pieces we can get taken care now, the less draft picks we use next offseason. Smart move OZ.

[EliteRavens]

Lets see what they can do

[birdseye]

We signed this guy because he is fast and can get deep. We dont need any more possession receivers, Marlon, Aiken, Williams, Boyle, Ross, are all possesion type receivers, now we have Givens and Morgan to stretch the field. I like the pick up, You cant just conjure up impactful players at this stage, if they were playing in the NFL they'd be on a roster already and we ain't convincing Randy Moss or TO to come play for the 2-6 ravens. Lets trade for Anquan? Why? so we can give up a draft pic for a half season rental, with no playoff shot? Were not signing anybody this late in the game to come be the long term solution. Our FO realized that were lacking speed (albeit 4 months too late), the last three receiver moves, Givens, Morgan, and to some extent Ross, bring much needed speed to our offense.

[TheConquerorWorm]

Of course this is not the MLB or NBA but you cant deny that our roster moves over the past couple years have been pretty bad. There were several WRs in the summer that were free agents that we should have traded our middle round picks for. Our 4th and 5th round picks this year are developmental players, which one of them was cut earlier this year. There was Crabtre, brandon marshall, golden tate, cecil short, the list goes on. Now were pick up players off the streets to compete in games. I have always been a fan of Ozzie and i will still be behind him till the end, but you cant argue that there have been some horrible decisions over the past couple years that have put us in the position.

I don't agree. Every team hits and misses. You failed to mention that Ozzie "hit" on SSS, Dumervil, Will Hill, Justin Forsett, Lawrence Guy, etc. Those moves are not "pretty bad", in fact, I would say they are pretty impressive. We picked up Forsett "off the street". 

Crabtree only wanted a 1 year "prove it" deal. Marshall is a 31 year old WR making $9 million per. Tate is not worth $6 million per and Shorts (at $3 million per) is no better than Aiken ($ minimum).

Injuries happen in the NFL. If this team had a healthy Pitta, SSS, Perriman then this would be a non issue. The Ravens are handcuffed with over $25 million in dead money - that's almost 20% of available money. That's why we are signing guys off the street to replace injured guys. Even if you were to trade for a guy, you still have to fit him under the cap. Which 6 guys do you cut to fit Boldin's $7 million salary? McClellan is the only "bubble" guy that would save $1 million (the highest total) if you cut him - you only have 6-7 more guys to cut.