Jason

Pierre-Paul

The appearance will be the first regular season game for the soon-to-be 37-year-old veteran in a over two years. It’ll come in a must-win, divisional showdown with the Panthers. The two teams play twice in the final three weeks of the regular season to decide who will represent the NFC South in the playoffs.

JPP hasn’t played an NFL snap since 2023. The 36-year-old pass rusher spent four seasons with the Buccaneers from 2018 to 2021 and split time with the Saints and Dolphins in his last season. If he’s elevated to the active roster, JPP wouldn’t serve as anything more than a situational pass rusher.

Per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, “Pierre-Paul still believes he can help a team, that he can be a veteran closer.” The 36-year-old has continued training to remain NFL-ready despite failing to find a suitor for the 2024 season. He logged 22 defensive snaps, playing for both the Saints and Dolphins in 2023. His last sack occurred as a Raven, in a Wild Card Weekend loss to the Bengals in the prior season. Sitting at 94.5 career sacks, Pierre-Paul hopes to reach 100 as a part-time player in 2025.

Pierre-Paul signs with the Dolphins after LB Jaelan Phillips tore his Achilles in Week 12. Pierre-Paul had three sacks last season with the Ravens and signed with the Saints’ practice squad earlier in November. The Dolphins will try to use him to plug the void left by Phillips, who has to turn his sights to next season.

This was to be expected after the Saints hosted the veteran linebacker for a visit earlier in the day following reports that the team was in the market for a pass rusher after ranking 28th in the league in sacks through 10 weeks. Nothing is official currently, but the ball seems to be in Pierre-Paul’s court at the moment.

Pierre-Paul popped up with the Ravens in late September of last season and went on to play in 14 games. The two-time Super Bowl champion and former All-Pro has a lot of wear on his proverbial tires, but can still help a team as a situational pass rusher. He totaled three sacks and five TFLs for the Ravens on more than 550 defensive snaps.

The Ravens signed Pierre-Paul last week after losing three linebackers to IR. They’ll be without OLB Justin Houston (doubtful, core) Sunday, leaving them thin at the position. Pierre-Paul should step into a starting role and is in line for a high snap rate in his 2022 debut.

Pierre-Paul finished 2021 with the worst PFF rating of his career, in large part because of a shoulder injury that needed offseason surgery. He’ll likely be pretty plug-and-play for the Ravens after Steven Means’ injury, with both Justin Houston and Odafe Oweh pushed into nearly every-down roles due to depth issues. Baltimore will eventually get Tyus Bowser and (maybe) David Ojabo back, but this signing was a necessity for how thin they’d gotten at the position.

Our last blurb on Pierre-Paul was ... when he visited the Ravens in June. Baltimore will likely see how his shoulder is faring after offseason surgery. After an embarrassing defensive performance against Miami, Baltimore is apparently looking for reinforcements. A healthy Pierre-Paul could be their best non-Odafe Oweh EDGE.

Pierre-Paul had shoulder surgery in February and looks questionable to be ready in camp. He’d been connected to the Cowboys in March, but nothing materialized there. The Ravens have Odafe Oweh and Tyus Bowser coming off a torn Achilles on the edge for now.