Screw it: Ravens should go after Sammy Watkins again

The Baltimore Ravens don’t have much to lose at this point when it comes to shoring up their wide receiver unit. Why not take a chance on a former Raven?

Sammy Watkins joined the Green Bay Packers this past offseason and won’t get to finish a full season with his new team — he’s reportedly getting released with three games remaining and will hit waivers.

Green Bay wanted Watkins to serve the same role that the Ravens wanted him to serve back in 2021: a trusty, sure-handed pass-catcher who could elevate the passing attack.

Over the course of this season, the Packers found their answers elsewhere in rookies Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, but the Ravens don’t have that luxury. They need wideout help, and they need it now.

In 2022, Watkins has caught 13 passes for 206 yards and nine games for Green Bay, recording career-lows across the board in his ninth NFL season. The injury-prone receiver also missed a month of action due to a hamstring injury (sound familiar?) — the last time Watkins stepped onto the field for the Packers was in Week 13, and he played just seven snaps.

Claiming WR Sammy Watkins on waivers won’t hurt the Ravens in 2022

Watkins was hampered by injuries in his 2021 campaign in Baltimore, and he’s been suffering from the same afflictions this year. Since the Watkins experiment failed the first time around, why should Baltimore bother giving Watkins a second chance?

The short answer is that Baltimore are plumb out of options. Their passing game has reached a new low and currently ranks 26th in the league in passing yards per game. Their red zone production has sputtered as the Ravens have scored 17 passing touchdowns on the year, a far cry from the Cincinnati Bengals’ 31 touchdowns. Not to mention it’s been a whopping 11 games since Baltimore have seen a wide receiver catch a touchdown.

There’s absolutely no guarantee that signing Watkins would solve any of the aforementioned problems, yet he still poses as a low-risk addition who already has some familiarity with Baltimore’s offensive scheme.

Suppose — and there’s a very high likelihood — that Watkins gets injured in the next few weeks and has to miss time. So what? The Ravens are back where they started with Demarcus Robinson and Devin Duvernay trying and failing to move the sticks.

If opponents continue to successfully double-team Mark Andrews, Baltimore has to find a creative solution to extend its passing attack, and with the season winding down, the team really has nothing left to lose.

Bringing Watkins on won’t make the Ravens a serious postseason contender, yet something in the team’s passing offense is already broken. Watkins can’t make things worse.