Ravens sign former All-Pro punt returner as latest Lamar Jackson weapon

The Baltimore Ravens are adding a new weapon to their passing attack and special teams with the team announcing that it has inked former Buffalo Bills wide receiver and punt returner Deontay Harty to a deal. Harty’s deal with the Ravens is for one year worth $1.29 million, per his Spotrac profile.

This is some sort of a homecoming for Harty, who was born and raised in Baltimore, so he’s definitely not going to need much time in his new football environment. The 26-year-old Harty is coming off a one-year stint with the Bills in the 2023 NFL campaign in which he recorded 150 receiving yards and a touchdown on 15 catches and 21 targets.

However, he was also used by the Bills as a special teams weapon. While he only appeared in 15 percent of the Bills’ offensive snaps last season, Harty, who went undrafted in 2019, saw action in 17 percent of special teams snaps. Harty returned 26 punts in 2023 for 323 yards and a touchdown. That lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter of the Bills’ come-from-behind 21-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins on the road in Week 18.

“I blacked out,” Harty said following that game, per the Associated Press  (via ESPN). “I can’t tell you what happened. I’d just seen a crease. I hit it. And the next thing you know, I was free.”

Harty’s arrival in Baltimore fills a need for the Ravens after they lost versatile weapon Devin Duvernay, who is a two-time Pro Bowler, in NFL free agency to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2023, the Ravens finished first in the NFL overall with 417 total punt return yards, thanks to Duvernay and Tylan Wallace, who had 290 and 127 punt return yards, respectively. Wallace is still with the Ravens and can be expected to share the majority of the workload in returning punts with Harty, who led the league in 2019 with 338 punt return yards when he was still with the New Orleans Saints.

After not seeing his name get taken off the board in the 2019 NFL Draft, Harty received a deal with the Saints as an undrafted free agent. He took full advantage of that opportunity, as he made the final cut for the 2019 NFL season and even became a Pro Bowler and a First-Team AP All-Pro selection in his first year in the pros.

Harty, who played college football for Division II football program Assumption Greyhounds, suited up for the Saints until the 2022 season. After his stint with New Orleans, he signed a two-year contract with the Bills in 2023 but was released last March as a cap-clearing casualty.

Fans react to Harty’s deal with the Ravens