Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke to reporters Wednesday for the first time since the team released longtime kicker Justin Tucker on May 5.
Tucker’s release came as the NFL investigated accusations of sexual misconduct against the 35-year-old kicker. He denied the allegations, calling them ‘simply not true.’
Harbaugh acknowledged releasing Tucker came at the end of ‘a complex decision-making process’ but continued to insist it was a football decision.
‘I mean, you’re talking about arguably the best kicker in the history of the game,’ Harbaugh told reporters after Baltimore’s second OTA session of the offseason. ‘And like we said, it’s multi-layered, it’s complicated. But in the end, it all comes back to what you have to do to get ready for your team to play the first game.’
‘I think if you step back and you take a look at all the issues and all the ramifications, you can understand that we’ve got to get our football team ready and we’ve got to have a kicker ready to go,’ Harbaugh added. ‘And that was the move that we decided to make. So in that sense, it’s a football decision.’
Tucker spent 13 total seasons as the Ravens’ top kicker after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He was named an All-Pro first teamer five times during his career and wrapped up his time in Baltimore having made an NFL-record 89.103% of his field goal attempts.
The Ravens are having two rookies – Tyler Loop and John Hoyland – compete to replace Tucker. Loop holds the distinction of being the first kicker ever drafted by the Ravens after they spent a sixth-round pick on the Arizona product. Meanwhile, Hoyland signed as an undrafted free agent out of Wyoming.
Harbaugh – who spent nine seasons as the special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1998 to 2006 before becoming Baltimore’s coach in 2008 – noted the Ravens are planning ‘to spend all of our focus and our time to get these kickers ready.’
‘We’ve got a competition going on and [we’ve got to] get these guys ready to make kicks,’ Harbaugh said. ‘So that’s all I’m thinking about. From my perspective, it’s like, ‘We have to have a kicker out there making kicks,’ and what’s the best way to get that done?’