The Baltimore Ravens have officially lost their best offensive player for the remainder of the season. As Joe Flacco struggles to make something out of nothing for the team this year, things just got a lot harder as the Ravens will be without Steve Smith for the remainder of the year. Baltimore is lacking for healthy players and could turn to the free agent market for help in the remainder of the season.
Smith is officially out for the season after he suffered a torn Achilles in Week 8 play. Head coach John Harbaugh confirmed the news via ESPN.com which means the Ravens are now without their leading receiver of the season. The injury comes in a year in which Smith was planning on retiring. However, the season-ending injury changes that for the veteran. According to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, Smith intends to return for the 2016 season instead of retiring like he originally stated. Smith had told the media several times that he would done after 2015 despite having a solid year with the Ravens. The receiver is signed through 2017 which makes the return much easier for Smith.
While that is good news for 2016, the Ravens are still short-handed for this year. According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens are without three of their six opening-day receivers. The door is still open on Breshad Perriman. After injuring his PCL, the first-round draft pick has not played a down for the Ravens, but is not ruling out a return for the 2015 season. However, Perriman did admit that he has a long ways to go before he is fully healthy. That leaves Kamar Aiken, Chris Givens and Jeremy Ross as the best players for Flacco to work with. That was enough to get the Ravens their second win of the year.
On the free agent market, the Ravens could look at players like Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks or Wes Welker as short-term rentals to get through the year. They will not be making any big moves for players like Calvin Johnson or Roddy White, but signing an available receiver on the market would be an easy move for healthy bodies.
According to ESPN, Aiken will be the No.1 receiver now moving forward. Adding someone like Nicks or Wayne would be a huge help to the offense that has a run game set with Justin Forsett. While the Ravens are likely not becoming playoff contenders this year, they still need players to complete and right now depth is lacking.
