The Baltimore Ravens parted ways with a former third-round draft pick of theirs on Monday and it will now be interesting to see if the Pittsburgh Steelers attempt to add that player to their offseason roster due to previous interest they had in him.
Released on Monday by the Ravens was wide receiver Miles Boykin, a former 2019 third-round draft pick out of Notre Dame. For his NFL career, Boykin has been very disappointing as he’s caught all of 33 passes for 470 yards and seven touchdowns to date.
Last season, a hamstring injury started Boykin on injured reserve and he wound up dressing for just eight games in total, primarily on special teams. He had one catch for six yards in 2021.
Why would the Steelers have any interest in Boykin? Because they showed interest in him ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft. In fact, the Steelers had Boykin in for a pre-draft visit that year. The 2018 Citrus Bowl MVP had declared for the 2019 NFL draft as an underclassman after the 2018 season was over.
Boykin, who measured in at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine at 6036, 220-pounds, ran his 40-yard-dash in 4.42-seconds while in Indianapolis. He also registered a vertical jump of 43.5-inches, a broad jump of 11’8″ and ran the short-shuttle in 4.07-seconds. Boykin’s 3-cone was also impressive at 6.77-seconds.
During his college career at Notre Dame, Boykin, who mostly played the X receiver position, registered 77 total receptions for 1,206 yards and 11 touchdowns in the 37 games that he played in. 59 of those receptions for 872 yards and 8 touchdowns came in his final college season. 37 of his college catches gained 15 yards or more and 11 of them resulted in gains of 25 yards or more.
Why are the Ravens parting with Boykin now? they reportedly attempted to trade him this offseason and there were no takers. With Monday being the start of their offseason program, and with Boykin scheduled to earn $2.54 million in 2022 after qualifying for the NFL’s Proven Performance Escalator, the team probably didn’t want to risk him getting injured at that price. That’s likely why Monday is the day he was waived.
Boykin will now be subject to waivers, and he might clear due to him being set to earn $2.54 million in 2022. If he clears waivers, he will be a free agent and thus free to sign with any team. Don’t be shocked if the Steelers attempt to sign him as they could use another wide receiver on their roster that has some pedigree.
