Ravens Rumors: D.J. Fluker Agrees to Contract After Seahawks Release

The Baltimore Ravens reportedly agreed to a contract with free-agent offensive lineman D.J. Fluker on Tuesday pending a physical, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. 

Rapoport noted that Fluker could be a replacement for eight-time Pro Bowler and longtime starting right guard Marshal Yanda, who retired this offseason.

Fluker spent the past two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks as their starting right guard, but Seattle officially released him Monday.

Fluker entered the NFL as the No. 11 overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft by the then-San Diego Chargers. After a standout college career at Alabama, the Chargers initially gave Fluker a chance to be their starting right tackle.

He was then moved to right guard during his third NFL season and spent two years as the starter at that spot for San Diego before being released and signing a one-year deal in free agency with the New York Giants.

After one year in New York, Fluker signed with the Seahawks prior to the 2018 season and spent two seasons in Seattle.

The now-29-year-old Fluker has started 88 of the 92 regular-season games he has appeared in during his NFL career with most of those starts coming at right guard.

Since the Ravens are fairly set at the tackle spots with Ronnie Stanley and Orlando Brown, Fluker will almost certainly vie for a starting job at guard. Bradley Bozeman and Ben Powers are penciled in as the starters, but the Ravens also selected a pair of guards in the 2020 NFL draft, taking Tyre Phillips in the third round and Ben Bredeson in the fourth.

With regard to the Ravens' incumbent guards, Fluker has a significant experience edge. Bozeman is a 2018 sixth-round pick with 17 games of starting experience, while Powers is a 2019 fourth-round pick who appeared in just one game as a rookie and made no starts.

Since Bozeman seems locked in at left guard after starting all 16 games last season, Fluker will likely compete with Powers, Phillips and Bredeson at right guard.

If Fluker wins the job, he will be a starter on an offense that set the record for the most rushing yards in a single season in NFL history in 2019.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Mark Ingram will once again spearhead the attack in 2020, but the Ravens also added another dangerous weapon in Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.

There are big shoes to fill at right guard because of how good and consistent Yanda was for so many years, but if the Ravens value experience, Fluker could have a leg up on the job entering 2020.