BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The Baltimore Ravens made yet another addition to the secondary on Tuesday, signing cornerback Kyle Fuller to a one-year contract, the team announced.
A two-time Pro Bowl selection, the 30-year-old Baltimore native spent last season with the Denver Broncos after six years with the Chicago Bears. During his seven years in the league, Fuller has played in 112 games, 104 of them starts, and intercepted 19 passes. He was named first-team All-Pro with the Bears in 2018, when he pick off seven passes and defended 21.
Fuller played high school football at Mount Saint Joseph High School before heading off to Virginia Tech.
In a season where the Ravens were plagued by injuries, the cornerback room was among the hardest-hit units. Marcus Peters went down before the season with a torn ACL, and Marlon Humphrey missed the final five games of the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
Elsewhere in the secondary, the team lost safety DeShon Elliott for the year after he tore a pectoral and bicep muscle in the team’s Nov. 7 overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings.
After Humphrey’s injury, the Ravens entered Week 14 with three of their top starters in the defensive backfield sidelined by injuries.
With a playoff spot on the line, the Ravens were competitive in four of their final five games, losing those contests by a combined seven points. But cornerback depth continually proved to be an issue, such as when all five cornerbacks on the depth chart were listed as questionable before a Dec. 5 game in Pittsburgh. The Ravens ended the 2021 season giving up a league-worst 4,742 passing yards.
In the offseason, longtime slot cornerback Tavon Young was released, freeing up $5.8 million in cap space, and Anthony Averett, the de facto No. 1 after Humphrey went down, signed with the Las Vegas Raiders. Baltimore also lost depth pieces when Chris Westry signed with the Carolina Panthers and Khalil Dorsey joined the New York Giants.
Executive vice president and general manager Eric DeCosta has spent a considerable amount of money and draft capital trying to build the secondary back up.
After bringing back safety Tony Jefferson, who played in the final four games of 2021, the Ravens made a splash in free agency by inking safety Marcus Williams to a five-year deal. And in something of surprise, DeCosta used the 14th overall pick in the draft to add yet another safety, taking the versatile Kyle Hamilton out of Notre Dame.
The Ravens had six selections in the fourth round of the draft, and the front office used two of them on cornerbacks.
Now, with the addition of Fuller, it would appear DeCosta has another important addition in his effort to replicate the success of the 2019 defense that limited opponents to 3,315 yards through the air and intercepted 13 passes. That team finished the year 14-2.