The Baltimore Ravens are reportedly engaged in trade talks involving rookie cornerback Shaun Wade, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
With a deep and talented secondary, the Ravens could look to move Wade before he even plays in a regular-season game with the team. This, of course, comes as a bit of a surprise.
Wade has impressed the team this summer and appeared to be a lock for the 53-man roster. A fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, Wade was expected to be the primary backup slot cornerback behind the oft-injured Tavon Young.
Even in a crowded secondary, Wade was assumed to be safe. That might not be the case.
The Ravens could be on the verge of trading rookie cornerback Shaun Wade
A standout at Ohio State, Wade was considered to be one of the best cornerbacks in college football before a troublesome 2020 season tanked his draft stock.
Once seen as a potential first-round pick, Wade fell all the way to pick No. 160 in the 2021 NFL Draft where the Ravens scooped him up.
They planned to move him back to the nickel cornerback position he found the most success at in college. And by all accounts, he had played well this summer.
However, the Ravens have quite the logjam in their secondary and there might not be a roster spot for Wade.
Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Young, Jimmy Smith, and Anthony Averett are locks for the 53-man roster. The same is true for Chuck Clark, DeShon Elliott, and Brandon Stephens.
Anthony Levine seems like a probable given his special-teams experience. Meanwhile, others such as Chris Westry, Ar’Darius Washington, and Geno Stone have all had excellent summers.
The Ravens were going to have to make some difficult cuts. And even if they do trade Wade, they’ll still have to make tough choices.
If Wade were to be traded, that might open up a spot for someone like Washington who has impressed playing in the slot (and at safety) this summer.
The compensation in any Wade trade is currently unknown, but you have to speculate that it could be more than just draft pick compensation. Perhaps it’s a rare player-for-player swap (swing tackle is a major need).
This is a situation worth monitoring. Certainly a surprising development.