Why was the Ravens 53-man roster release so late?

The Baltimore Ravens are known for being extremely late to the annual roster release party. They did it again on Tuesday night, announcing their initial 2024 53-man squad long after the league’s supposed deadline.

Once again, Baltimore was among the last teams to announce, and NBC Sports Pro Football Talk has apparently uncovered the potential reason for this.

PFT’s sources told them there was an “apparent issue with the waiver wire, the league’s daily document listing all moves,” before explaining that

“Although the transactions appear in the league’s internal database, the teams haven’t announced the moves.”

We’re all familiar with the “deadline” of 4 p.m. EST, which is for the teams to communicate their roster moves to the league. There is no mandate for when they have to inform the public.

The Ravens weren’t alone in taking their sweet time on this, either. The reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Giants likewise dragged their feet on releasing the news of their final cuts to the public.