Getty Ravens WR Laquon Treadwell during wet and cold Week 18 against Steelers.
The Baltimore Ravens are gearing up for their playoff run to start in the divisional round. They made some room on their active roster on Monday, January 15, by releasing former first-round WR Laquon Treadwell from their team.
ESPN’s Field Yates posted on X (formerly Twitter), “The Ravens have waived WR Laquon Treadwell.” The Ravens later posted their own tweet confirming the release.
This is unfortunately another failed stop for Treadwell who has not lived up to his draft status.
The Ravens have waived WR Laquon Treadwell and placed DB Damarion Williams on injured reserve.
Treadwell was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings 23rd overall during the 2016 NFL draft. The Ravens are the fifth team he has taken a snap for.
Besides the Vikings and Ravens, Treadwell has played for the Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks.
The 6’2” receiver has never reached the 40-catch plateau (35 catch is season high) or eclipsed 450 receiving yards (434 yards is season high).
In his 8-year career he has 111 catches, 1,242 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns.
Treadwell signed with the Ravens prior to the season for a 1-year, $1.16 million contract. He has only been active for five games this season and only has a single catch for 16 yards.
The veteran receiver only played in 65 snaps for the offense and was buried in the depth chart behind WRs Zay Flowers, Odell Beckham Jr., Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor.
Laquon Treadwell’s Release Clears Roster Logjam
The release of Treadwell opens a spot on the roster that the Ravens are in desperate need of.
Yates posted, “With 2 open roster spots, the Ravens now have room for TE Mark Andrews and RB Dalvin Cook on the 53-man roster is those 2 are ready for the Divisional Round game against the [Houston] Texans or [Pittsburgh] Steelers.”
Cook was signed to the practice squad on Thursday, January 4, but it appeared likely he would be brought to the active roster for their playoff matchup.
Andrews returned to practice on Friday, January 12, from the IR after missing the last six games due to an injury he suffered against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11.
Both players are likely to provide more value and a larger contribution to the team in a playoff run than Treadwell could have as a fifth or sixth wide receiver.
However, the Ravens have not signed Cook to the active roster as of yet, and head coach John Harbaugh urged a cautious approach when it comes to Andrews.
Fans will be keeping a close eye on the team’s transactions and injury report this upcoming week to get a clue if either player will be ready for the divisional round.
Baltimore Ravens Make Additional Roster Move
Treadwell was not the only change made to the Ravens roster. Yates also reported, “Placed DB Damarion Williams on injured reserve.”
Williams being moved to the IR opens up the second spot that Yates believes could be used for Andrews or Cook.
The second-year cornerback was placed back on injured reserve after suffering an injury that has not been disclosed as of yet.
We have placed DB Damarion Williams on IR and waived WR Laquon Treadwell.
According to Heavy’s player news, “Williams spent the first 14 weeks of the season on injured reserve after undergoing ankle surgery in August.”
Williams was only able to play against the Steelers in Week 18 but did not record a statistic on special teams. The fourth-round pick will look to get back on track in 2024 as his season is now over.