Ravens sign veteran CB Tramon Williams to active roster
The Baltimore Ravens were already razor at the cornerback spot behind starters Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey and primary backup Jimmy Smith before undrafted rookie Khalil Dorsey suffered a dislocated shoulder in their 24-10 win over Indianapolis.
With Dorsey now on injured reserve for at least three weeks, the team added some experienced reinforcements by signing 13-year veteran cornerback Tramon Williams on Tuesday to fill his spot on the active roster.
The Ravens brought Williams in for a workout last week, so he has already been in town and in the building. Since he had the follow all of the free-agent COVID-19 health protocols in order to participate in the workout, he will be immediately eligible to practice and play in the team’s Week 10 primetime matchup with the New England Patriots this Sunday.
He went undrafted in 2006 out of Louisiana Tech and signed with the Green Bay Packers where he spent the first eight and the last two years of his career with a two stint with the Cleveland Browns and a one season with Arizona Cardinals wedged between.
Williams’ best season as a pro came in the 2010 season where he earned his lone career Pro Bowl and helped the Packers win Superbowl XLV (45).
At 37-years-old, he won’t be expected to start or even be leaned upon to play a large role on defense, but he will add experienced depth to a Ravens secondary that has been decimated by injuries prior to Dorsey’s and will likely be heavily involved on special teams.
The Ravens now have a total of 10 players on injured reserve and nearly half are cornerbacks with two of them [Tavon Young and Imam Marshall] out for the season with torn ACLs. Dorsey and third-year pro Anthony Averett are expected to be back some time later this season.
The team desperately needed to make a move to fortify the position and Williams brings positional versatility, 153 career starts worth experience, and 53 career turnovers to the table even if he is a bit long in the tooth.
Baltimore also added some additional depth at cornerback and offensive tackle, their other depleted position group, to their practice squad by bringing in cornerback Nate Brooks and offensive tackle R.J. Prince.
Brooks went undrafted free out of North Texas in 2019 and spent time with the Cardinals, New England Patriots, and Miami Dolphins.
Prince went undrafted out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has positional versatility to play both guard and tackle. He originally signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out of college but spent last season on the Ravens practice squad.
