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The slow march towards what’s looking to be a strange and uncertain training camp period continues, and the Ravens used some of their time on Saturday to further shape their roster up for it to begin. That included the decision to waive two players, one of whom wasn’t much of a surprise, while the other certainly raised a few eyebrows:
We have waived DT Daylon Mack and P Dom Maggio.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 1, 2020
With De’Anthony Thomas and Andre Smith opting out and Parker Ehinger being brought in to replace the latter, two cuts were required to get Baltimore to the cut down number of 80 (the new magic number to open camp with in the age of COVID). Maggio shouldn’t necessarily come as much of a surprise given he’s a lower pedigree player at a position of low need, but Mack at least had some things going for him entering 2020.
While he didn’t see the field much in his rookie year, the 2019 fifth round defensive tackle from Texas A&M seemed to possess all the physical prowess needed to play along the D-Line in the AFC North. Evidently the Ravens didn’t see it that way though, opting to bring in both Justin Madubuike and Broderick Washington in the draft a few months ago, which of course came after the acquisitions of Derek Wolfe and Calais Campbell (different positions from Mack technically, but bodies along the line nonetheless).
Ultimately, this probably doesn’t speak especially ill of Mack, who didn’t get much of an opportunity to develop in Baltimore; rather he appears to be a victim of circumstance as Eric DeCosta’s draft board fell in such a way that not one, but multiple potential replacements for him wound up on the roster within a year of him being picked.
Mack didn't show the Ravens much last year as a rookie, but he also didn't get much of an opportunity. As things stand, veteran Justin Ellis the favorite to back up Brandon Williams at nose tackle.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) August 1, 2020
The above tweet essentially captures the pickle that Mack found himself in. Brandon Williams is going nowhere, Ellis was brought back for a reason, and now with Madubuike and Washington in the picture, he’s automatically edged out (always remember, tie goes to the rookie).
Hopefully for Mack’s sake he’s able to land on his feet in what is an unequivocally strange time to be looking for work as an NFL player. Regardless, it looks like that won’t be happening in Baltimore, when it was just last year that there was some excitement about what his physicality could one day bring to the table - oh, how quickly things change in the NFL.