The Baltimore Ravens have plenty of defensive line depth as they enter the 2022 season. They have a great balance of veterans and young players that can contribute at a high level, each of which has a skillset that can be valuable to the team.
Despite their depth, one player that won’t be suiting up in Baltimore next season will be Derek Wolfe. The veteran and the team reached an injury settlement, ending Wolfe’s tenure with the team after just two years. When asked about the settlement, defensive lineman Calais Campbell shared his thoughts.
“It’s one of those things where it’s part of the game. It happens every year. You’re always going to have changes and stuff, and we had a really good run that one year [in 2020] where he stepped in and played really huge for us, and we had all kinds of injuries and stuff. [He] played his butt off, and the way he is, he’s a Raven at heart. It sucks to see him go through tough times and different injuries and stuff, but it happens, it’s part of the game. It’s just the way football is. It’s always going to be different, [and there’s] always going to be some change. But we had a lot of fun together, and I always will enjoy being his teammate. I’m going to talk to him a bunch in the next few months, [while] his recovery comes around and hopefully … I don’t know if he’s going to keep playing football, or if he’s going to retire now – we’ll see how it goes – but it was definitely a joy being his teammate.”
Campbell and Wolfe were both brought over to the Ravens during the 2020 offseason. They provided a much needed veteran presence on the defensive line, and seemed to greatly enjoy each others company as teammates.
Wolfe only played for one season out of the two he spent with the Ravens, as he missed all of 2021 with multiple different ailments. However, he was one of the best run defenders in the NFL during the 2020 season, showing his value as a key member of that defense.