The Baltimore Ravens launched embattled kicker Justin Tucker, who’s coming off the worst season of his profession amid a sexual misconduct allegation by the league.
“Generally soccer selections are extremely tough, and that is a kind of cases. Contemplating our present roster, we’ve made the robust choice to launch Justin Tucker,” Ravens govt vice chairman and common supervisor Eric DeCosta stated in a press release Monday.
“Justin created many vital and unforgettable moments in Ravens historical past. His reliability, focus, drive, resilience and extraordinary expertise made him one of many league’s finest kickers for over a decade. We’re grateful for Justin’s many contributions whereas taking part in for the Ravens. We sincerely want him and his household the perfect on this subsequent chapter of their lives.”
Tucker, 35, is a seven-time Professional Bowler and five-time All-Professional first teamer who’s coming off the worst of his 13 seasons, all with the Ravens. His points transcend the sector, nevertheless.
He’s accused of participating in inappropriate habits with a number of feminine therapeutic massage therapists. Sixteen girls have accused Tucker of misconduct at eight high-end spas within the Baltimore space from 2012-16. Tucker has twice publicly denied the allegations.
Group president Sashi Brown had beforehand stated the Ravens wouldn’t determine on Tucker’s future with the crew till the NFL’s investigation was full.
Nevertheless, the Ravens then spent a sixth-round choose in final month’s draft on former Arizona kicker Tyler Loop, making Tucker’s future in Baltimore appear much less sure.
Loop kicked for the primary time on the crew’s facility in Owings Mills, Md., on Sunday, when the Ravens started their rookie minicamp. Tucker was figuring out and practising kicking on the Ravens’ facility during the last couple of weeks.
Harbaugh was requested on Sunday how the crew will deal with the kicker competitors between the veteran and the drafted rookie.
“Each choice we make needs to be primarily based on soccer,” Harbaugh stated. “There’s loads of layers to that. You have obtained a rookie kicker and right here you took him within the sixth spherical, early within the sixth spherical. He is a proficient man. Simply from a soccer standpoint — wage cap, all of the various things that you just simply think about — no matter we determine to do over the following few weeks will likely be primarily based on soccer.”
Baltimore may acquire $4.2 million in wage cap house this 12 months, ESPN reported, if Tucker is designated as a post-June 1 lower, which splits $7.5 million in useless cash over two seasons.
Tucker, an undrafted free agent out of Texas in 2012, has turn out to be the league’s all-time chief in field-goal accuracy, making 89.1 p.c of his kicks. However he made a career-low 73.3 p.c (22 of 30) final season and was simply 11 of 19 from 40 or extra yards.
–Area Stage Media
