Ravens sign veteran WR Russell Gage; activate rookie OLB off Non-Football Injury list

The team brought in more depth at wideout and is getting some back on the edge of the defensive front.

The Baltimore Ravens had two newcomers on the practice field Tuesday after making a pair of roster transactions to bolster premium positions on both sides of the ball.

First among them was the activation of rookie outside linebacker Adisa Isaac from the Non-Football Injury list after he passed his physical and was cleared to practice by team doctors and the second was the signing of veteran wide receiver Russell Gage.

Both additions come on the week of the Ravens’ preseason opener when they will host the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday night and following some injury developments at their respective positions on the roster.

Last week the team lost second-year edge defender Malik Hamm for the entire 2024 season to a torn ACL and while veteran wideout Deonte Harty returned to practice on Tuesday after having missed time due to a minor soft tissue issue, fourth-year pro Rashod Bateman wasn’t practicing after he came up gingerly from making a catch in Monday’s practice.

Gage is a seventh-year veteran who spent the first six years of his career in the NFC South after being originally drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of LSU and spent the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He accumulated 244 receptions for 2,491 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first five seasons before a torn patellar tendon he suffered in training camp last year caused him to miss the entire 2023 season.

The 28-year-old recorded 770-plus yard receiving seasons in his final two seasons with the Falcons and hauled in a career-high five touchdowns as a strong possession receiver in his first year with the Buccaneers.

Gage joins a receiver group that is short on a wealth of NFL experience but is still choke full of talent including Bateman, Harty, second-year pro Zay Flowers, fellow veterans Nelson Agholor and Keith Kirkwood, another fourth-year Tylan Wallace, rookie Devontez Walker and several undrafted free agents signed over the past two years. He will have stiff competition for one of the final roster spots on the receiver depth chart with the top five pretty much solidified.

Isaac was selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Penn State and has been out of commission since rookie minicamp with a nagging hamstring issue that he had been dealing with since the pre-draft process. He rejoins an outside linebacker depth chart looking to replace the production and impactful playmaking ability the Ravens lost when three-time Pro Bowler Jadeveon Clowney signed elsewhere in free agency following his career-best year in 2023 in which he finished with a career-high 9.5 sacks—second most on the team.

In college for the Nittany Lions, he was a consistently and highly disruptive pass rusher and run defender. Isaac recorded 14.5 sacks in college, the bulk of which came over his final two seasons including a career-high 7.5 as a senior in 2023. He will look to carve out a role for himself in the Ravens rotation on the edge behind his friend and former college teammate Odafe Oweh who is listed two spots ahead of him on the initial depth chart with David Ojabo in between.