Ravens to tentatively give Breshad Perriman one last chance
Breshad Perriman can be declared a draft bust, but the Baltimore Ravens seem set to keep him around this season.
Through his lengthy tenure as Baltimore Ravens general manager, and now entering his final season in the job, Ozzie Newsome’s significant draft misses can probably be counted on one hand. Wide receiver Breshad Perriman, the No. 26 overall pick in 2015, goes down as one with 43 career catches for 576 yards as he has missed 21 of a possible 48 games.
Injuries can’t be predicted, and ongoing knee issues cost Perriman his entire rookie season. After a bit of promise in 2016, as he averaged over 15 yards per catch, things went back off the rails last year with five more missed game and just 10 receptions for 77 yards.
The Ravens made an obvious decision not to pick up Perriman’s fifth-year option for 2019 this offseason. But he’s due a roster bonus just shy of $650,000 on Saturday, the third day of full training camp, which brings another decision day for the team.
But according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN, that roster bonus will be picked up.
Ravens will pick up Breshad Perriman's $649,485 roster bonus that's due on Saturday. Perriman, the disappointing 2015 first-round pick, still has a battle to make Baltimore's season-opening roster. As training camp opens today, he's not among the top... https://t.co/1jDe27bKAp
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) July 19, 2018
Hensley adds Perriman will still be battling for a roster spot, which got a lot tougher after the Ravens spent the offseason adding to their wide receiver depth chart.
Michael Crabtree, John Brown and Willie Snead were added in free agency, and Baltimore used mid-round draft picks on Jaleel Scott (fourth round) and Jordan Lasley (fifth round). 2016 fourth-round pick Chris Moore is in the mix too. Perriman seems likely to be competing with Moore, Scott, Lasley and maybe even DeVier Posey or Quincy Adeboyejo (leg-PUP list) for two or three roster spots.
Perriman looks the part, at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds. He also has physical tools to burn, with 40-yard dash times in the 4.2-second range at his pro day and a 36.5-inch vertical jump at the 2015 combine. But his struggles to stay on the field have been added to by issues with the finer points of playing wide receiver in the NFL.
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Newsome made an obvious statement back in early March about this being a make or break year for Perriman. Then the Ravens followed shortly after by re-shuffling their wide receiver mix, with a net result of adding bodies. Perriman may be able to capture another team’s attention with a healthy run through the preseason, but his stint in Baltimore is all but officially over right now.