Ravens' lone practice squad elevation leaves out key veteran ahead of Vikings clash
The Baltimore Ravens are expected to have a reformed defense entering Sunday’s matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. The secondary has started to turn a corner since acquiring safety Alohi Gilman from the Los Angeles Chargers last month. Now, with their latest addition of outside linebacker Dre’Mont Jones ahead of the trade deadline, their pass rush is looking to follow suit.
The trio of Kyle Van Noy, Mike Green, and Jones should start to cause some problems for opposing offensive lines, but they still need some depth. They signed that exact depth to the practice squad in October in veteran Carl Lawson, and while he was trending toward making his Ravens debut in Week 10, that will have to wait for at least another week.
Head Coach John Harbaugh made it sound like Lawson was on track to play, but the 30-year-old was not one of Baltimore’s practice squad elevations on Saturday. Defensive tackle Taven Bryan was the lone elevation, meaning Lawson will not be able to suit up in Minnesota.
Ravens set to be without Carl Lawson again on Sunday
While Lawson is not expected to be a game-changer on the Ravens’ defensive front, he has plenty of experience bringing down quarterbacks. He has 32 career sacks across seven seasons and 89 games played. That experience will not be brought to the table against the Vikings.
The Ravens are set to rely on Van Noy, Green, Jones, and possibly David Ojabo on Sunday. Baltimore will put Jones’ versatility on full display, allowing him to play on the interior more than he did with the Tennessee Titans, so they could find themselves in need of more pass rush help on the outside. That could set Ojabo up for a bigger role than expected in this matchup. If they continue to let Jones operate on the outside, too, then rookie defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles could suit up for the first time since the Ravens’ Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans.
While it is tough to be without Lawson’s services for at least one more week, maybe he will not have as big a role in Baltimore as soon as some initially expected. He was not signed until Week 8, and while Harbaugh said he was “probably ready to go,” he may need an extra week to get up to speed.
Micah Parsons trade: Cowboys included ‘poison pill’ to prevent deal from Packers to Eagles
The Dallas Cowboys shocked the NFL world when, after a difficult contract negotiation, they decided to trade Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers ahead of the season. Now, ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the deal included a “poison pill” to prevent him from being sent to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“ESPN Sources,” Schefter wrote. “Micah Parsons’ trade to the Packers included a poison pill that the Cowboys inserted to block a deal in the near future to the Eagles.”
At the time, this detail wasn’t known to the public. However, that poison pill is, in essence, that is designed to keep Parsons from playing with Philadelphia, a division rival, in the near future. It states that, if Green Bay tried to trade Parsons to an NFC East team, they would additionally owe Dallas their 2028 first round pick. That, obviously, becomes a major reason to de-incentivize that kind of trade. It also comes after the Eagles tried to trade for him last offseason.
“League sources said these poison-pill conditions clearly and smartly were put into place to block Parsons from winding up in Philadelphia, not far from where he grew up and one day wanted to play,” Schefter wrote. “The poison-pill conditions apply to this season and 2026, according to sources, meaning the Packers don’t have a clear path to trade Parsons to another NFC East team until 2027 at the earliest.”
The kind of poison pill found in the Parsons trade isn’t unheard of in NFL history. The Packers included one when they moved on from Brett Favre too, trying to keep him from ending up with the Minnesota Vikings within their division. Adam Schefter further reported that the other player involved in the trade, Kenny Clark, had a similar poison pill attached to him. If Dallas sends him to an NFC North team, they also send their 2028 first round pick to Green Bay.
Dallas has been making several moves involving picks lately, adding to the questions about how many future draft picks the Cowboys are going to have. A future first and second round pick went to the Jets, along with Mazi Smith, for Quinnen Williams. This comes after Dallas picked up two first round picks from Green Bay in the Parsons trade. Notably, however, neither team can trade their 2028 first round pick as a result.
Of course, the Packers don’t seem to want to trade the Parsons, to the Eagles or anyone else. They signed him to a four-year, $188 million contract shortly after the trade.
