RAVENS SIGN FA CB ROCK YA-SIN ON ONE YEAR, $6 MILLION DEAL
The Baltimore Ravens have signed former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, the team confirmed.
As per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Ya-Sin signs on a one-year, $6 million deal, hours after undergoing a physical at the Ravens facility. Baltimore waited until after the NFL compensatory pick formula deadline passed before finalizing the signing.
Ya-Sin, still only 26 years old, is now on his third team in 3 years after being traded from Indianapolis to Las Vegas last offseason. Over the past two years, his 70.9 coverage grade in press coverage ranks 23rd in the league and his 0.67 yards per coverage snap ranks fifth.
The 2019 second-round pick was the top available defensive back free agent this offseason and will now compete for the second cornerback position opposite All-Pro Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey. The soon-to-be 27-year-old limited opposing quarterbacks to an 82.5 passer rating when targeted last season and ended up being the Raiders’ top cornerback in 2022.
Ya-Sin signed his new contract on Wednesday. On what convinced him to sign with Baltimore, Ya-Sin said, “Great players. On offense and on defense. I think we’re primed to win now. The right kind of culture, the right fit for me. It’s the right play-style, aggressive, the kind of division I want to play in, the kind of football I want to play. I think it’s the right fit for me.”
The former Temple Owl arrives in Baltimore having started nine of 11 games last season with the Las Vegas Raiders, recording 45 total tackles, 37 solo tackles and seven passes defensed. Ya-Sin has recorded 183 tackles in his three years in the league, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions.
The Ravens had been on the market for a veteran cornerback since starter Marcus Peters hit free agency this offseason, and defensive back is a position that the team truly covets. Baltimore struggled with depth in the secondary in 2022, and finished the year seventh-worst in the league allowing just shy of 4,000 passing yards and a 13th-worst 6.7 yards per pass.
“I tell you, that’s an important position,” said General Manager Eric DeCosta during the draft last month. “… As you guys all know, you’ve seen us, we realize the value of that position and we’ll continue to address that via the draft, [and] via other means. There’s a lot of opportunities out there for us to get better at that position and the draft is certainly a part of that.”
The team used one of its six eventual draft picks on a cornerback, selecting Stanford CB Kyu Blu Kelly in the fifth round and are expected to still add to that position if an opportunity arises. Veteran cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Kyle Fuller, who were with the Ravens for the past four and one year respectively, and Shaquill Griffin are still available and could still land in Baltimore.
While the team has plenty of young talent at the position including third-year corner Brandon Stephens and last year’s fourth-round rookie selections Jalyn Armour-Davis, and Pepe Williams, experience is something that’s a need if the Ravens intend to be successful well into the postseason.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.