The Baltimore Ravens have a number of veterans who find themselves on the roster bubble entering training camp. One of those players is reserve offensive tackle Andre Smith.
A 12-year NFL veteran, Smith has actually never played a game with the Ravens despite being signed over a year and a half ago. For that reason, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that he finds himself fighting for a roster spot.
Bleacher Report’s Chris Roling released an article detailing eight veterans on the roster bubble this summer and Smith’s name was mentioned.
Smith will be fighting for one of the backup tackle spots on the team, but it’s far from a guarantee that he survives final roster cuts.
The Ravens could cut ties with Andre Smith this summer.
The sixth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Smith has had a productive NFL career that’s spanned over a decade. The majority of that time was spent with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Smith played a total of 10 seasons with the Bengals starting 86 career games during three different stints with the organization.
The former Alabama star battled injuries throughout most of his career, but he still served as a rock-solid starter at right tackle even if he never quite lived up to expectations.
He was released by Cincinnati for the final time in November of 2019 before being scooped up by the Ravens in early 2020 to play out the rest of the season in Baltimore.
Smith wouldn’t appear in a game, but he was expected to compete for one of the backup tackle spots in training camp. However, he chose to opt out of the 2020 season.
Now one year later, Smith finds himself in a similar situation. However, he likely isn’t considered the favorite this time around.
The Ravens have 2020 third-round pick Tyre Phillips who started eight games last season. The second-year pro has guard/tackle flexibility but it’s easy to see him winning the swing tackle role this summer.
There’s also versatile offensive lineman Patrick Mekari who started eight games last year. Mekari is primarily a center, but he has the versatility to play all over the offensive line — including at offensive tackle.
What’s working against Smith is the fact that he opted to skip out on voluntary OTAs this spring. And as Jonas Shafer of the Baltimore Sun said last month, he was “playing catch-up” at minicamp.
Andre Smith’s veteran experience could give him an edge, but he has some competition this summer. Don’t be surprised if he’s the odd-man-out come September.