Ravens Trade C.J. Okoye To Giants, Finish Preseason 3-0
Baltimore dealt DL C.J. Okoye to John Harbaugh's Giants a day after finishing a perfect preseason with a 41-3 win over Washington, while kicker Tyler Loop's missed field goals have him on notice heading into the opener.
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The Ravens turned the page on the preseason before the confetti had settled, trading defensive lineman C.J. Okoye to the Giants on Saturday morning for a 2028 seventh-round pick — barely twelve hours after Okoye had recovered a fumble in Friday's rout of Washington. Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport both broke the deal, and Pro Football Talk confirmed it shortly after. Okoye, a 6-foot-6, 365-pound lineman who came into the league through the International Player Pathway program, reunites in East Rutherford with John Harbaugh — the coach who brought him to Baltimore and coached him through his rookie season before leaving for the Giants job this offseason.
The #Ravens are trading defensive lineman C.J. Okoye to the #Giants in exchange for a 2028 7th round pick, per me and @MikeGarafolo. An intriguing DL addition from the Nigerian player who signed through the International Player Pathway Program.
For a rotational piece up against Sunday's 53-man cutdown, this is mostly business: Okoye was worth more to Baltimore as a seventh-round asset than as a camp body who wasn't a lock to make the final roster anyway, and Harbaugh clearly still likes what he saw enough to go get him, per Baltimore Beatdown's breakdown of the deal. It's a small trade in draft-capital terms, but Okoye — who spent his lone season in Baltimore playing for Harbaugh — now gets a fresh shot with the coach who found him in the first place.
Ravens close the preseason 3-0 with a 41-3 rout of Washington
Friday night wasn't close. Baltimore finished its exhibition slate 3-0 by putting 41 points on Washington at M&T Bank Stadium, and Tyler Huntley set the tone early — four-for-four passing for 61 yards and a touchdown, plus 14 rushing yards on two carries, exactly the clean half that explains why the Ravens brought him back on a two-year deal as insurance behind Lamar Jackson.
Commanders41-3
Vikings13-3
Eagles24-7The backfield made its own case for final-roster spots. Adam Randall turned five carries into 25 yards and caught three of four targets for 45 more, a complete game good enough that the team's own account had him breaking down his stiff-arm from the win the next morning. Rasheen Ali added nine carries for 28 yards and three catches of his own, and the receiving corps chipped in quietly underneath — Devontez Walker caught three of five targets for 22 yards, while tight ends Josh Cuevas and Matthew Hibner combined for four catches on five looks.
With the preseason now finished 3-0, the cut to 53 is next, and it's exactly this tape — Randall's and Ali's complete games out of the backfield — that decides who's still around to see it.
Tyler Loop is on shaky ground after missing two more kicks
The one sour note from Friday's blowout was Tyler Loop, who made kicks from 51 and 24 yards but missed from 51 and 58 — and got booed at M&T Bank Stadium for it. That leaves him 5-for-8 on field goals this preseason, and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio didn't soften it: Loop is "suddenly on shaky ground in Baltimore," with fans who haven't forgotten the miss that cost the Ravens a playoff berth last January turning on him again.
After two missed field goals on Friday night (and boos from fans who surely haven't forgotten a miss that cost the Ravens a playoff berth), K Tyler Loop is suddenly on shaky ground in Baltimore. t.co/61icWz3sYP
Head coach Jesse Minter, who talked up Loop's progress all summer, was noncommittal this week on whether Baltimore brings in competition before the September 13 opener, per ESPN.com. Nothing on the roster has actually changed yet, but a kicker who was already carrying baggage from last January now has three weeks to answer with his leg — not with more misses in exhibition games nobody remembers by October.
Next up: a Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis, against a Colts team still picking a quarterback
The regular season opens Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis, against a Colts team that finished its own preseason 0-1-1 and got run off the field 34-6 by the Falcons in the middle exhibition — Anthony Richardson went 3-of-9 for 24 yards with two sacks in relief that day, per ESPN.com. Indianapolis has been auditioning arms all August: Riley Leonard started the Falcons loss, Richardson has rotated in behind him, and Daniel Jones — still working back from a broken leg and a torn Achilles — hadn't taken a preseason snap as of last week, with head coach Shane Steichen expecting to finally play him in the finale, according to Colts.com. Whoever's actually starting at quarterback by September 13 is still an open question on the other sideline.
The board reflects that uncertainty. Baltimore opened as 3.5-point favorites at Lucas Oil Stadium, and the total was set at 48.5 — a high number for a Week 1 game against a team that hasn't settled its quarterback room. The Ravens will find out fast whether three preseason wins means anything once the games count, but for now the line says this one leans Baltimore's way before a snap is played.