The Baltimore Ravens have released veteran kicker Justin Tucker, the team announced on Monday (May 5).
Ravens Vice President and General Manager Eric DeCosta called the move a “football decision” in a statement shared on the team’s official website and social media accounts.
“Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances,” DeCosta said. “Considering our current roster, we have made the tough decision to release Justin Tucker. Justin created many significant and unforgettable moments in Ravens history. His reliability, focus, drive, resilience and extraordinary talent made him one of the league’s best kickers for over a decade. We are grateful for Justin’s many contributions while playing for the Ravens. We sincerely wish him and his family the very best in this next chapter of their lives.”
Tucker, 35, who has the highest field goal percentage in NFL history (89.1%), is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-low 73.3% field goal percentage in 2024. The decision also comes months after the kicker was accused of sexual misconduct by 16 female massage therapists at eight spas and wellness centers throughout the Baltimore area, the Baltimore Banner initially reported in January.
Three tweets shared by separate accounts in 2021 both specifically appear to accuse the kicker of wrongdoing at massage parlors, the Daily Mail reported that same day. Tucker previously shared a lengthy statement denying the allegations as “unequivocally false.”
“Throughout my career as a professional athlete, I have always sought to conduct myself with the utmost professionalism,” Tucker said. “I have never before been accuse of misconduct of any kind, and I have never been accused of acting inappropriately in front of a massage therapist or during a massage therapy session or during other bodywork. I have never received any complaints from a massage therapist, have never been dismissed from a massage therapy or bodywork session, and have never been told that I was not welcome at any spa or other place of business.
“In accusing me of misconduct, the article takes innocuous, or ambiguous, interactions and skews them so out of proportion they are no longer recognizable, and it presents vague insinuations as fact. This is desperate tabloid fodder.”
DeCosta previously addressed the allegations against Tucker for the first time publicly during his press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
“The allegations are serious and concerning, the amount of allegations are serious and concerning,” DeCosta said via the Ravens’ official X account. “I think we’re fortunate that the league is doing an investigation. We’ll wait as patiently as we can, for as much information as we can, and we’ll make our decisions based on that.”
DeCosta said the team had already planned to explore draft options at the kicker position even prior to the allegations against Tucker being made public.
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