On Monday, the Baltimore Ravens signed nine players from their practice squad to reserve/future contracts, one day after the NFL team’s season ended with a 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
The players ended the season on the Baltimore practice squad, which featured three Alabama football players: guard Tykeem Doss (Aliceville), guard Tashawn Manning (Auburn), and cornerback Christian Matthew (Samford).
A player signed to a reserve/future contract can be added to an NFL team’s roster when it expands from 53 to 90 players for the offseason on March 13, the opening day of the NFL’s fiscal year 2023. The recently signed players are now able to participate in offseason workouts, minicamps, and OTAs as team members.
Reserve/future contracts can only be signed by players who are not on the NFL active roster.
Doss and Manning joined Baltimore as undrafted rookies in the spring and signed with the practice squad after being released in August after the reduction from the 90-player preseason roster to the 53-player regular-season roster.
Doss transferred from Southern Miss, while Manning joined Kentucky in 2022 after five seasons at Auburn.
Neither Doss nor Manning appeared in a regular-season game as rookies.
Matthew did not join Baltimore’s practice squad until January 16, after the Chicago Bears’ season had concluded. Matthew began his second NFL season with 83 special-teams plays in four games for the Arizona Cardinals, who selected him seventh overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Bears signed Matthew to their practice squad two days after he was dismissed by the Cardinals on October 2. He received 14 more special-teams plays in two games with Chicago as a practice squad promotion before the end of the regular season. Matthew, whose contract was up at the end of the season, decided to extend it by joining the Ravens.
Twenty-seven Alabama high school and college players have signed reserve/future contracts since the completion of the 2023 NFL regular season. The other players are:
Chandler Brewer (Florence) is an offensive lineman with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
· Running back Spencer Brown (Mortimer Jordan, UAB, Carolina Panthers)
· Safety Shyheim Carter (Alabama), Tennessee Titans
• Defensive end DJ Coleman (Jacksonville State); Jacksonville Jaguars
Grant DuBose (Park Crossing, Miles) plays wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers.
D.J. Fluker, an offensive lineman from Foley, Alabama, plays for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Miller Forristall, a tight end from Alabama, now plays for the Los Angeles Rams.
Allan George (Andalusia) is a Cincinnati Bengals cornerback.
· Cornerback Zyon Gilbert (Jeff Davis), Green Bay Packers
· Tae Hayes (Decatur), cornerback for the New York Jets
· Keenan Isaac (Midfield, Alabama State) plays cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Shedrick Jackson (Hoover, Auburn) is a wide receiver with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cephus Johnson III, a wide receiver from Davidson, South Alabama, now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Terrell Lewis, an outside linebacker from Alabama, now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.
· Tight End Jordan Matthews (Madison Academy); Carolina Panthers
· Wide receiver Anthony Schwartz (Auburn), Miami Dolphins.
