Two players thought to be retained on the 53 man roster, quarterback Troy Smith and wide receiver Demetrius Williams were waived today by the Baltimore Ravens.
Today teams were required to cut their roster down to 53 players. This meant several players would be traded, waived or put on PUP or Injured Reserve.
Smith was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 draft by the Ravens after winning the Heisman Trophy his senior year in college. One he arrived in town he never really earned many chances to start. He started two games his rookie year because quarterbacks Steve Mcnair and Kyle Boller both got injured during the season.
After his rookie year, he was pretty much deemed a backup. The John Harbaugh regime began its reign in Smith's second year and in the same year quarterback Joe Flacco was drafted in the first round pretty much declaring him "quarterback of the future". This left 26 year old Smith in an unenviable position falling victim to a tonsil infection, losing the competition for the starting position in the process. From this point, Smith was sentenced to the back-up position and once the Ravens signed veteran Marc Bulger, he became expendable.
Now the team's choice to keep only Flacco and Bulger on the roster has left Smith without a job.
27 year old Demetrius Williams fell under a similar series of circumstances. He was once the chosen receiver when he first arrived in Baltimore because of his potential to create big plays. As time went on his potential remained just that, he never became the dominating force people expected him to be.
This offseason proven veterans at the wide receiver position were signed and younger players demonstrated their team value outshined his.
Other noteworthy players waived were: Shayne Graham, Justin Harper and KJ Gerard.
Where will these players end up is yet to be seen? There is no doubt a market for players of their talent is open and these players will be picked up soon to add depth at their respective positions.
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