DONE DEAL: Ravens Sign Former All-Pro And Buffalo Bills Top WR As Lamar Jackson Special Weapon

The Baltimore Ravens are adding a new weapon to their passing offence and special teams after signing former Buffalo Bills wide receiver and punt returner Deontay Harty to a contract. Harty’s contract with the Ravens is for one year and $1.29 million, according to his Spotrac profile.
Harty, who was born and bred in Baltimore, will have little trouble adjusting to his new football environment. The 26-year-old Harty is coming off a one-year stint with the Bills in the 2023 NFL season, where he had 150 receiving yards and a score on 15 receptions and 21 targets.

However, the Bills employed him as a special teams weapon. While he only featured in 15% of the Bills’ offensive snaps last season, Harty, who went undrafted in 2019, played in 17% of special teams snaps. Harty returned 26 punts in 2023 for 323 yards and one score. That lone score came in the fourth quarter of the Bills’ 21-14 comeback win over the Miami Dolphins on the road in Week 18.

“I blacked out,” Harty stated after that game, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN). “I can’t explain what happened. I’d just noticed a crease. I struck it. And the next thing I knew, I was free.

Harty’s arrival in Baltimore fills a void left by the departure of versatile weapon Devin Duvernay, a two-time Pro Bowler, to the Jacksonville Jaguars during NFL free agency. In 2023, the Ravens led the NFL with 417 total punt return yards, owing to Duvernay and Tylan Wallace, who had 290 and 127 yards, respectively. Wallace is still with the Ravens and will likely share the brunt of the punt return duties with Harty, who led the league in 2019 with 338 punt return yards while with the New Orleans Saints.
After his name was not removed from the 2019 NFL Draft, Harty signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent. He took full advantage of the opportunity, making the final cut for the 2019 NFL season and became a Pro Bowler and First-Team AP All-Pro selection in his first year in the league.

Harty, a Division II football player for the Assumption Greyhounds, will play for the Saints until 2022. Following his time with the Saints, he signed a two-year contract with the Bills in 2023, but was released in March as a cap casualty.

Fans react to Harty’s contract with the Ravens.

Several fans have also reacted to the Ravens’ under-the-radar deal, as they finished 13-4 in 2023 and advanced to the AFC Championship Game.