In need of pass-rush help, the Baltimore Ravens announced on Friday that former Auburn standout Carl Lawson had signed with the NFL team’s practice squad.
With eight, the Baltimore defense is tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the fewest sacks in the NFL in the 2025 season. After the Ravens traded outside linebacker Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 7, outside linebacker Tavius Robinson, who has two of Baltimore’s sacks, broke his foot in the next game.
During the 2024 season, Lawson had five sacks and 15 quarterback hits while playing 401 defensive snaps in 15 games, with three starts for the Dallas Cowboys.
Lawson had been an unrestricted free agent since March 12.
“I’m always going to have a chip on my shoulder,” Lawson said on Friday, “but there were opportunities that I didn’t think were the best fit for me. I’ve always been in a rush for certain things, so it wasn’t necessarily -- I didn’t know how long the process was going to take. I just knew it was going to happen, and I knew I was going to take time to sharpen my ax instead of sitting there worrying about what-ifs and whatnot. It’s like, ‘OK, well you’re not here today. Work tomorrow, work the next day and enjoy life,’ and just be with my fiancée and family.”
Every NFL team can elevate two members of its practice squad to active status for each game.
The Ravens play the Chicago Bears at noon CDT Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Because Lawson practiced with the Ravens for the first time on Friday, he won’t play in Sunday’s game, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. After the Bears, the Ravens play the Miami Dolphins at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“Looks like he’s in good shape,” Harbaugh said on Friday. “It won’t be this game. He just got here today. But he’ll be on the practice squad, and that’s a good spot for him to get ready to play. Looks like he is in good shape. Short week next week, so we’ll have to see how that goes.
“But we’ve played against him a lot, and we have a lot of respect for him. Really good guy, too, so smart and an experienced player, so that’s a good thing.”
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Lawson began his NFL career as an AFC North rival of the Ravens when the Cincinnati Bengals selected him from Auburn in the fourth round of the 2017 draft.
That season, Lawson led the NFL’s first-year players with 8.5 sacks and made the Professional Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team. Over the next two seasons, Lawson missed 13 games with injuries and totaled six sacks.
In his fourth season, Lawson recorded 5.5 sacks and ranked second in the NFL with 32 quarterback hits in 2020.
That landed Lawson a three-year, $45 million contract with the New York Jets as an unrestricted free agent. But before he played a game for New York, Lawson suffered a torn Achilles tendon during a joint training-camp practice with the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 19, and the injury sidelined him for the 2021 NFL season.
In 2022, Lawson started every game for the Jets and recorded seven sacks and 24 quarterback hits.
But in 2023, Lawson hardly played. He appeared for 101 defensive snaps in six games with New York and began the next season on Dallas’ practice squad before being promoted.
Lawson said he stayed ready for his 2025 opportunity.
“It’s been really good,” Lawson said. “It’s been a lot of blessings. I can’t really complain. It’s just been training and then getting really, really healthy. I got a full healthy offseason, so I was really excited about that. My dad passed, but he’s in a better place. It was a great celebration of life, so I really, really, really appreciate the time I’ve had on this Earth, and I get another chance to play football, so I get a chance to make him proud, so I’m very happy about that.”
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