Ravens officially sign veteran WR Dez Bryant to active roster

The comeback story of Dez Bryant reached another significant milestone less than a week after catching his first catches in a regular-season game in nearly three years when the Baltimore Ravens officially signed the veteran wide receiver to the active roster on Saturday.

Bryant first signed with the team on the practice squad on Oct.27 and was promoted to the active game-day roster twice.

One of those call-ups was a COVID replacement so the Ravens still had another “free” callup they could’ve exhausted but Bryant showed enough in practice and in limited playing time to give the Ravens a good enough glimpse to elevate him permanently.

While his first call-up from the practice squad was anticlimactic and only saw him play two offensive snaps with no catches or even targets thrown his way, his second was much more fruitful and impressive.

Against the Titians in Week 11, Bryant hauled in four of his five targets for 28 yards, including a 16-yarder late in the fourth quarter that set Baltimore’s offense in position to score a go-ahead touchdown before they ultimately ended up kicking a game-tying field goal to force overtime.

“Of course being on the field is exciting, but I’m a natural competitor,” Bryant said following the game against the Titans. “I’m extremely happy to be a part of the Baltimore Ravens, and that’s the only thing that matters, is wins and losses. I don’t really care about anything else – I just want to win.”

Now that he on the active roster full-time, the 32-year old former three-time Pro Bowler will have a chance to prove himself in more consistent game action and potentially carve out a larger role for himself in a Ravens’ offense that has lacked consistency and dependability from the receiver position from a pass-catching standpoint for most of the season to date.

The Ravens are 6-4 and fighting for their playoff lives amidst an outbreak of COVID-19 within the organization that has been picking off starters, key rotational pieces, depth player, and even those on injured reserve every day following their loss to the Titans.

Bryant will get to be apart of the greatest rivalry in all of sports when the Ravens face off with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST on NBC and then a week later he’ll get his first crack at his former team of nearly 10 years when the Dallas Cowboys come to town for a primetime matchup the following Monday at 5 p.m. EST on FOX.

Baltimore made another roster addition on Saturday when veteran cornerback Pierre Desir passed all of his COVID protocol procedures and was officially signed to the practice squad.

New York Jets cornerback Pierre Desir (35) warms up before an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The 30-year-old appeared in nine games with the New York Jets this season before being waived on Nov.17. He made eight starts and recorded three interceptions, including one that he returned 35 yards for a touchdown.

The Ravens cornerback depth chart behind starters Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters and stud Jimmy Smith was ravaged by injuries in the first half of the season and the team has been replenishing their ranks with quality veteran talent ever since with the signing of Tramon Williams to the active roster on Nov.10 and now with the signing of Desir to the practice squad.

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