Ravens waive DT Daylon Mack to get below revised roster limit requirement
On Saturday the Baltimore Ravens released a pair of players to get below the 80-player training camp roster limit in accordance with the NFL’s revised COVID-19 protocols. The two players that got waived were defensive tackle Daylon Mack, a 2019 fifth-round selection out of Texas A&M, and reserve punter Dom Moggio, a 2020 undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest. The Ravens now sit at 79 players on their roster, one under the required limit.
Moggio was going to likely serve as a camp leg to spell Pro Bowler Sam Koch and perform clean up duty in the preseason but since there won’t be one this year and the team only has a little over a month to get in football shape before the regular season rolls around after a virtual offseason, his services are no longer required but he’ll likely stay on their call list just in case.
Mack was set to enter his second season with the team and was viewed as one of the players on the roster bubble heading into camp. He made the team as a rookie but was inactive for the majority of his first season and was placed on injured reserve in early November.
In the one game that he did appear in, Week Four, he logged nine snaps on defense and one on special teams. He didn’t make an impact in the plays he did get and that just so happened to be the same game day that the Ravens’ defense got gashed for nearly 200 yards on the ground by the Cleveland Browns.
At 6-foot-1 and 340 pounds, he resembles the type of interior defensive linemen that the Ravens coveted for years and after run-stuffing specialist Michael Pierce signed with Minnesota Vikings in free agency, it seemed like Mack would have a chance to earn more playing time or at least provide quality depth at the position.
However, General Manager Eric DeCosta not only restocked but he reshaped the interior of the team’s defensive line by adding more athletic players at the defensive tackle and defensive end position that play several different positions and possess more of a pass rush presence.
They acquired five-time Pro Bowler Calais Campbell via trade, signed Derek Wolfe in free agency, resigned Jihad Ward and Justin Ellis, and picked up a pair of defensive linemen in the draft including Mack’s former Aggie teammate Justin Madubuike in the third round and the other was Broderick Washington Jr., in the fifth round out of Texas Tech.
His main competition for a roster spot had the Ravens retained him would’ve likely been Ellis who at 6-foot-2 and 350 pounds, is also built like a big-bodied run stuffer. Ellis was signed in November and provided solid depth behind Pierce and Pro Bowler Brandon Williams, playing 60 snaps on defense in four games. He will enter camp as the favorite to back up Williams at nose tackle this year.
While teams don’t typically give up on fifth-round picks after just one year, this isn’t the first time in recent memory that the Ravens have done just that. In 2015 they selected offensive guard Robert Meyers in the fifth round out of Tennessee State. He was released during the final cuts, later signed to their practice squad then signed off the practice squad by the eventual Superbowl champion Denver Broncos in December of his rookie season.
While Mack had limited opportunities to prove himself in his first stint with the Ravens, he could still get brought back at a later date if something develops since he’s familiar with the system but as of now he won’t be hitting the field with the team when they resume limited football activities in Owings Mills in the coming week.
