Baltimore Ravens waive RB Melvin Gordon, elevate Dalvin Cook

Ahead of the Baltimore Ravens’ first playoff game on Saturday against the Houston Texans, the team executed a couple of key roster moves. First, the Ravens waived running back Melvin Gordon. The team signed Gordon in July and he contributed 21 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown this season.

Gordon notched single-season highs in nearly every statistical category during his time with the Chargers before signing with the Denver Broncos in 2020. He spent three seasons in Denver before signing to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad in November 2022, earning a Super Bowl LVII ring last season despite not playing a single snap.

Gordon was a former first-round draft pick out of Wisconsin, where he rushed for 2,587 yards in 2014 to rank second all-time in NCAA history for a single season. He was selected No. 15 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, where he’d spend the first five seasons of his career and earn two Pro Bowl selections.

By releasing Gordon, Baltimore opened up a spot on the 53-man roster. For the open spot, they chose to elevate another veteran running back, Dalvin Cook.

Ravens elevate Cook for divisional round vs Texans

The New York Jets released Cook with only one game remaining in the regular season, opening him up to sign with a playoff contender. He chose the Ravens in early January, and now he has the opportunity to make an impact this weekend.

While with the Jets, Cook carried the ball 67 times for 214 yards, a 3.2-yard average. He did not score a touchdown with the team. He exceeded 10 carries in just one game — the season-opening win over the Buffalo Bills (10-6). He had 33 yards on 13 carries in that outing. In his last appearance, the 22-20 defeat to the Miami Dolphins (11-5) on Dec. 17, Cook had one carry for four yards and one reception for six yards.

Cook and the Jets agreed in August to a one-year contract worth up to $8.6 million. It was the best payday of any free agent running back last offseason. Cook restructured his deal to forfeit remaining guarantees.

Cook was released by the Minnesota Vikings in June after six seasons with the team. He made the Pro Bowl each of the past four seasons with the franchise.

During that span, Cook rushed for over 1,000 each season. He has also added at least 224 receiving yards each season. His best year came in 2020 when he carried the ball 312 times for 1,557 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.

The Ravens kick off against the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game is in Baltimore and the Ravens are 9.5-point favorites over the CJ Stroud-led squad.

On3’s Kaiden Smith contributed to this report.