{"id":204188,"date":"2024-12-12T14:00:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T19:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=204188"},"modified":"2024-12-11T20:48:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T01:48:51","slug":"david-ojabo-cut-ravens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/12\/12\/david-ojabo-cut-ravens\/","title":{"rendered":"Ravens Second-Round Pick Could Be Cut, Might Revive Career With Saints, Chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>David Ojabo looked like a steal in the 2022 NFL Draft, but the Baltimore Ravens could cut him before he reaches the end of his rookie contract. Widely projected to be a first-round pick, the Michigan product tore his Achilles during his Pro Day, causing him to fall into the second round. The Ravens decided to make a high-risk, high-reward investment and bet on the upside of a great athlete and collegiate performer.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, that bet has not paid off, as the former Wolverine has not recaptured his pre-draft form at the professional level. Ojabo has recorded just three sacks since entering the league and is still not a consistent part of the pass rush despite being more than two years removed from the Achilles injury. A regular healthy scratch, <a  href=\"https:\/\/ravenswire.usatoday.com\/2024\/12\/07\/is-david-ojabo-nearing-the-end-of-his-time-in-baltimore\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Banks of\u00a0<em>Ravens Wire<\/em><\/a> believes the team could cut David Ojabo in the offseason.<\/p>\n<p>This sadly makes sense, as Ojabo is not a fit in Baltimore&#8217;s defense and has no guaranteed money remaining on his contract. However, this probably won&#8217;t be the end of the road for the once-promising prospect. Someone will take a shot on him, and the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs are the most likely destinations.<\/p>\n<h2>David Ojabo Could Land With Saints, Chiefs After Ravens Cut<\/h2>\n<p>Despite missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, the New Orleans Saints will not embrace a rebuild. The master of kicking the can down the road, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/10\/24\/new-orleans-saints-general-manager-mickey-loomis-is-on-the-offensive\/\" target=\"_self\">General Manager Mickey Loomis<\/a> will once again restructure a series of contracts to get under the 2025 salary cap. This means <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/11\/new-orleans-saints-fantasy-outlook-without-derek-carr\/\" target=\"_self\">quarterback Derek Carr<\/a> will likely return for another season and that the team won&#8217;t have the money to spend big in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>The Saints want to win football games right now, but they don&#8217;t have the financial resources to bolster the roster. With this in mind, they should pursue a low-risk, medium-reward pass rusher like David Ojabo, assuming the Ravens cut him. Cameron Jordan is over the hill and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/18\/chase-young-signs-contract-new-orleans-saints\/\" target=\"_self\">Chase Young will be a free agent<\/a>, so someone must start opposite Carl Granderson. Ojabo probably won&#8217;t turn into a starting-caliber player, but he might carve out a situational role under the Saints next head coach.<\/p>\n<h3>Rebuilding the Kansas City Defense<\/h3>\n<p>Don&#8217;t look now, but the Kansas City Chiefs defense has played like one of the worst units in football over the past few weeks. Since Week 8, the team ranks <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheFantasyPT\/status\/1866845011628978289\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">29th in EPA\/play allowed<\/a> despite their impressive 12-1 record. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/23\/can-the-kansas-city-chiefs-keep-winning-after-recent-injuries\/\" target=\"_self\">Jaylen Watson injury<\/a> decimated their secondary, and the Chiefs don&#8217;t have the pass rushers to compensate for the lack of reliable coverage options.<\/p>\n<p>Kansas City tried to address this weakness with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/29\/chiefs-acquire-pass-rusher-josh-uche-from-patriots-for-6th-round-pick\/\" target=\"_self\">Josh Uche trade<\/a>, but that move hasn&#8217;t paid off. Through five games, the former Patriot has recorded just two tackles and has yet to get after the quarterback. David Ojabo won&#8217;t help the Chiefs in 2024, but the cut candidate could fight for a job in 2025. Uche probably isn&#8217;t in the long-term plans, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/04\/06\/felix-anudike-uzomah-nfl-draft-profile-team-fits\/\" target=\"_self\">former first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah<\/a> looks like a bust, and veteran George Karlaftis can&#8217;t do it all by himself. Steve Spagnuolo is one of the best defensive coordinators in football, and he might be able to unlock some hidden talent in Ojabo.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Denny Medley &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Baltimore Ravens gambled on an injured David Ojabo, and they could cut the second-round pick after three seasons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":204296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,10,28],"tags":[7811,8918,7638,7659],"class_list":["post-204188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chiefs","category-ravens","category-saints","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-david-ojabo","tag-ravens-featured","tag-saints-featured"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204188"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204300,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204188\/revisions\/204300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}