The Ravens have traded defensive end Chris Wormley and a 2021 seventh-round NFL draft pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2021 fifth-round pick, the team announced Friday. The deal is pending the passing of a physical.
Wormley was set to enter the final year of his rookie contract with a diminished role on defense. Over the past week, the Ravens have traded for Jacksonville Jaguars Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell and agreed to sign Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Michael Brockers to a three-year deal.
On Friday, the Ravens also finalized one-year extensions for defensive end Jihad Ward and defensive tackle Justin Ellis, making Wormley expendable. With the trade, the Ravens have cleared some salary cap room as they seek upgrades elsewhere on their roster. Wormley was set to make $2.1 million this season.
A third-round pick in 2017 out of Michigan, Wormley leaves Baltimore after 39 appearances, including 13 starts over the past two seasons. Last year, he played 45.7% of the Ravens’ defensive snaps and 36.3% of their special teams snaps and finished with 33 tackles and 1½ sacks, both career highs. He was rated the No. 63 overall interior defender by Pro Football Focus.
“Always humble. Always hungry,” Wormley wrote on Instagram. “Thank you Baltimore for taking a chance on a kid from Toledo. You’ll always have a special place in my heart.”
This is only the second time in franchise history that the Ravens have completed a trade with their AFC North foes. In 1997, they traded a seventh-round pick to Pittsburgh for offensive lineman Bernard Dafney, who played in just one game for the Ravens.
The teams’ rivalry played out on social media soon after the trade was first reported Friday, if somewhat facetiously. After Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward tweeted at Wormley, “YES SIR! Let’s go,” Ravens outside linebacker Matthew Judon replied, telling Heyward, “He doesn’t like you cam. He doesn’t.”
Wormley had the final word, telling Judon, a teammate for three years, “Yes I do. It’s you who I don’t like anymore.” He added the hashtag “#enemy.”