It’s been a tough year for the folks who run the Baltimore Ravens’ PR. While K Justin Tucker remains under investigation for numerous sexual harassment claims, the Ravens re-signed offensive lineman Ben Cleveland despite his DUI arrest earlier this season.
The Ravens’ Twitter/X account announced the news Saturday afternoon, surprising even their own fans who replied in the comments.
Last month, Cleveland was arrested in Georgia for DUI, allegedly blowing a .178 BAC. The Georgia legal limit is .08.
A third-round pick of the Ravens in 2021, Cleveland’s career has been below expectations. He’s started just seven career games and lost battles to crack the Ravens’ front five, a backup wire-to-wire in 2024. Last year, he logged more snaps on the field goal unit than he did offensively.
It makes the decision to re-sign him a curious one. Even assuming the money is cheap and knowing finding offensive line talent can be difficult, there was little incentive to add Cleveland now. He’ll add depth behind a re-tooled Ravens’ offensive line that’s largely been sorted out. Center Tyler Linderbaum is one of the league’s best, they re-signed Ronnie Stanley, while they’ve invested early draft picks in Roger Rosengarten at right tackle, kicking the mammoth Daniel Faalele inside.
It helped power Baltimore to one of the NFL’s strongest offenses as RB Derrick Henry ran wild and QB Lamar Jackson nearly won his third MVP, narrowly losing to Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.
Admittedly, scanning their depth chart shows virtually zero o-line depth and perhaps that was the incentive. Bring back a player who knows the system and scheme. But the optics of the decision don’t make the Ravens look great even if a successful season is the cure-all to any off-field headline. And per the NFL’s policy, Cleveland could be subject to a league suspension of up to three games, meaning the Ravens could still be scrambling for depth help to begin their season.
