Ravens Re-Sign Bajema and Release Stokley

With the Baltimore Ravens’ week five game against the Miami Dolphins less than 24 hours away, the Ravens have released veteran wide receiver Brandon Stokley and re-signed veteran tight end Billy Bajema.

Earlier this week, the Ravens had cut Bajema to fit newly acquired left tackle Eugene Monroe on the roster after he was traded for.

Mainly a blocking tight end, Bajema played with the Ravens last season as their number three tight end. He was re-signed this offseason and cut on the final roster cutdown. However, this only occurred because the Ravens needed to keep tight end Dennis Pitta on the active roster a few more days to place him on injured reserve with a designation to return.

Courtesy of ICON SMI

Active in all four games so far, Bajema has one catch for 18 yards which came against the Cleveland Browns in week two.

Playing in three games this season, Stokley had nine catches for 79 yards and five of those catches resulted in first downs. He missed last week’s game against the Bills with a groin injury and was listed as questionable for this week’s game and didn’t practice yesterday due to this injury. This groin injury is a strain and isn’t considered to be serious.

This was Stokley’s second stint with the Ravens as they drafted him in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft out of Louisiana-Lafeyette. He was a key player for the Ravens in their Super Bowl XXXV victory as he caught three passes for 52 yards and one touchdown. His touchdown catch was from 38-yards out and was the first score of the game.

Stokley rejoined the Ravens in August as the receiving corps was struggling and Pitta had just gone down with a bad hip injury.

Since Stokley is a vested veteran, his entire contract ($940,000) became fully guaranteed when he made the 53-man roster at the beginning of the season.

The release of Stokley is expected to be a temporary move according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. What will likely happen is an offensive lineman will be cut as the Ravens currently have 10 on the roster. Since Monroe was acquired mid-week, the Ravens probably want to keep an extra lineman around for tomorrow in case Monroe isn’t ready to play yet.

The receiving corps now consists of Torrey Smith, Jones, Brown, Thompson, and Tandon Doss. At tight end the Ravens now have Ed Dickson, Dallas Clark, and Bajema.