The Baltimore Ravens officially placed DT Michael Pierce on the reserve/retired list on Monday, per the NFL transaction wire.
They filled the open roster spot by signing DT John Jenkins, also per the wire.
Both moves have been expected for some time. Pierce announced his retirement but the Ravens waited until now to save a little extra in cap space and reworked his contract back in March as well.
The team elected to wait to sign Jenkins as well so as not to cut another player.
Pierce, 32, wound up signing on with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent out of Samford in 2016. He played out the final year of his three-year rookie contract before returning to the Ravens on a second-round restricted tender.
He was testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career when he signed a three-year, $27 million deal with the Vikings in 2020.
Pierce was slated to make a $3 million, fully guaranteed base salary in 2020 before opting out due to the pandemic. That total was tolled to 2021. The Vikings released him in 2023, and he signed with the Ravens.
Baltimore later signed Pierce to a two-year, $7.5 million extension. Pierce played for seven of his nine total seasons with the Ravens.
For his career, Pierce has appeared in 99 games and made 59 starts, recording 238 total tackles, nine and a half sacks, three forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, six pass deflections, and one interception.
Jenkins, 35, is a former third-round pick of the Saints back in 2013. Jenkins spent three years in New Orleans before he was waived during the 2016 season.
From there, Jenkins played for a number of teams including the Seahawks, Giants, Dolphins and Bears. Chicago re-signed him to a one-year deal in 2020 before Jenkins signed with Miami in 2021. He re-signed to the Dolphins on a one-year deal in 2022 before joining the Raiders in 2023 and returning to Las Vegas last year on another one-year contract.
In 2024, Jenkins appeared in all 17 games, making 17 starts for the Raiders and recording 46 tackles, one sack and two pass defenses.
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