4 Ravens dangerously close to the chopping block before roster cuts

If you run an NFL franchise, let me tell you one thing: you never have enough warm bodies and you better have some veterans in insurance-policy roles as injuries can pop up any minute.

The Baltimore Ravens know this better than anyone, and they proved it once more this offseason considering their summer signings via free agency.

The list is endless and packed full of former (and current, for some of them) great football players: Ronald Darby, Melvin Gordon, Odell Beckham, Jadeveon Clowney, and Nelson Agholor just to name a few.

With rosters getting cut in size to feature only 53 players on Tuesday, here are four aging veterans that are in a perilous situation following the closure of the preseason schedule last Saturday when the Ravens dropped their second game in a row against Tampa Bay.

Safety - DeAndre Houston-Carson

The Ravens signed DAHC to bolster an injury-ravaged cornerback room a few weeks ago from the Chicago Bears.

The veteran, a staple on his former franchise's defense and special teams, was expected to at least fight for a position in the final 53-man roster to be named on Tuesday, Aug. 29.

That might no longer be the case, though, following another subpar performance in the preseason that kept on adding (or not, perhaps better said) to his resume with the Ravens through the mid-summer circuit.

Houston-Carson logged more than 1,000 snaps on defense with the Bears and manned the dime safety role for them, but not even that versatility (nickel corner/dime safety) seems to be enough for him to make the cut.

Rookie Kyu Kelly has struggled all summer long but he bounced back a bit against the Bucs, and the emergence of Ar'Darius Washington (a similarly versatile and capable CB/S) has him locked into the nickel corner position.