John Harbaugh explains the Ravens’ reasoning behind releasing Justin Tucker.

WATCH: John Harbaugh’s first comments since Ravens cut kicker Justin Tucker.

Called it “complex” decision and multi-layers. Added they have a kicking competition now with rookies Tyler Loop and John Hoyland. pic.twitter.com/ffRu0PSjzW

— Morgan Adsit (@MorganAdsit) May 28, 2025

For more than a dozen seasons, there was rarely a reason to discuss placekicking when mentioning the Baltimore Ravens. There was never really a reason to. They were home to one of the best, so unless Justin Tucker’s brilliance was the topic of conversation, he typically went unmentioned.

Few moments in football were as automatic as the Ravens‘ special-teams unit lining up for a field goal or extra-point try. Of course, Justin was going to come through. He always did, and after 13 seasons, he was the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.

Something wasn’t right during the 2024 regular-season campaign, though. Something shifted. Tucker wasn’t as automatic, and the ‘sure thing’ regressed into a weekly conversation about kicking woes.

Tucker only converted 73% of his field goal attempts, the worst percentage of his career. He was released on May 5th. Now, the discussions involving the Ravens and kicking involve a battle between a sixth-round draft choice and an undrafted guy they signed after a rookie minicamp workout.

We all knew head coach John Harbaugh would be asked about this fairly often, and that’s been the case. Recently, the media caught up with him again at OTAs.

Ravens head coach digs deeper into the circumstances involving Justin Tucker’s release.

A “complex decision-making process” is how Ravens head coach John Harbaugh described Justin Tucker’s release. A “football move” is how it was explained, but it came during the NFL’s investigation into some recent and unfortunate accusations. Tucker has publicly denied all allegations. Baltimore has chosen to move forward without him.

Tucker’s 13 seasons in the NFL produced five First-Team All-Pro nods, three Second-Team All-Pro mentions, and seven trips to the Pro Bowl. He’s a Super Bowl champion and a member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team, but Baltimore will spend its summer evaluating a competition between Tyler Loop and John Hoyland.