Reeling Ravens Revamp Battered Secondary With Gilman Trade, Gardner-Johnson Signing

The Ravens are down six players in their secondary alone, and 10 players in total on defense.

A Baltimore Ravens helmet sits on the grass before the start of the Ravens and Houston Texans game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Oct. 5, 2025. Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Baltimore Ravens acquired a few reinforcements for their battered secondary.

The Ravens are down six players in the secondary and 10 players total on defense. To help shore up the back end, they traded edge rusher Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers for safety Alohi Gilman and signed former Texans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the practice squad.

According to a write-up on the Ravens’ website, the full trade sends Oweh and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Chargers for Gilman and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick.

Gilman was drafted by the Chargers out of Notre Dame in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He appeared in 15 games as a rookie, mostly on special teams, though he had one start at the end of the season; he had seven total tackles. He played 11 games as the primary backup and special teamer in 2021 due to injury, but made three starts, accumulating 42 total tackles, a pass defended, and an interception.

He again won the job as the first backup in 2022 and appeared in all 17 games with five starts. He had 58 total tackles, three pass defenses, and a pick, to go with a forced fumble and two recoveries.

Gilman finally won the starting free safety spot in 2023. He started 14 games for LA, missing several weeks with a foot injury. But he had career highs in every category: 73 combined tackles, 10 passes defended, two picks, three forced fumbles, and two recoveries. He was named the starting safety again in 2024, but played only 11 games due to knee and hamstring injuries. Still, he totaled 50 tackles, a sack, four pass defenses, and an interception. Through five games this season, Gilman has 22 total tackles and three pass defenses.

Gilman provides reinforcements to a Ravens defense in desperate need of them. Two-time All-Pro and Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton is dealing with a groin injury; Ar'Darius Washington is dealing with an Achilles injury; and cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Chidobe Awuzie are out with injuries; rookie corners Bilal Kone and Robert Longerbeam are on injured reserve. The Ravens recently signed veteran corner Amani Oruwariye to the practice squad to shore up their depth on the outside.

Elsewhere on the defense, linebacker Roquan Smith is out with a hamstring; linebacker Adisa Isaac is on injured reserve due to a dislocated elbow; defensive lineman Broderick Washington is on injured reserve with an ankle injury; fellow DL Nnamdi Madubuike is out for the season with a neck injury.

Oweh was drafted by the Ravens out of Penn State with the 31st overall pick in the 2021 Draft. He appeared in 15 games with two starts during his rookie year, racking up 33 total tackles, five sacks, three forced fumbles, two recoveries, and a pass defended. In 2022, he appeared in all 17 games with six starts, had 43 total tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He had another five-sack campaign in 2023 and added 23 total tackles and two fumbles forced in just 13 games with five starts. In 2024, he appeared in 16 games with 10 starts and had 34 tackles, and a career-high 10 sacks, and a fumble.

But through five games this year with two starts, Oweh has just 10 tackles and has yet to get to the quarterback.

For Oweh, the trade is a change of scenery—he will still be under a head coach named Harbaugh, since Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is the brother of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh—but a chance to contribute along a potent Chargers defensive line. L.A. ranks 7th in the NFL in total yards allowed per game, 5th in passing yards allowed, and 7th in sacks, though it ranks 18th in rush yards per game.

In addition to trading for Gilman, the Ravens signed veteran C.J. Gardner-Johnson to their practice squad. Gardner-Johnson was acquired by the Houston Texans in an offseason trade with the Philadelphia Eagles to add a veteran presence to a young but promising secondary. But a series of miscommunications and mistakes in big moments prompted the Texans to release the veteran safety in late September.