New Ravens DE Honors Recently Retired Teammate with Jersey Number Selection
Veteran Brent Urban has returned to Baltimore. Technically continuing his second stint with the Ravens, the fourth-round defensive end out of Virginia has only signed one-year deals outside of his four-year rookie contract in 2014. Preparing to enter his fourth year in his second stint with the team that drafted him, there is a face that he will not be lining up next to: DT Michael Pierce. The duo nicknamed “The Fun Bunch” lost half of the fun when Michael Pierce retired after the 2024 season. In Urban’s return after testing the market, Urban chose to wear 58, to honor his good friend and former teammate who wreaked havoc on offensive lines in Baltimore for seven non-consecutive years.
Urban was initially drafted in the second round of the 2013 CFL Draft to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and they retained his signing rights if he chose to play for the CFL. Instead, Urban opted to play his senior year at Virginia and test his luck in the NFL. Due to his injury history and ankle surgery after the 2013 college football season, Urban dropped to the Ravens in the fourth round. Urban then tore his ACL in his rookie season training camp, missing the entire year. Urban came back to give the Ravens one of their five wins of the 2015 season, blocking Cleveland’s potential game-winning field goal, allowing Will Hill to return the kick for the walk-off game-winning touchdown. In 2016, Urban played in all 16 games for the Ravens as a backup DE, but then suffered another season-ending injury in 2017. Urban signed a one-year extension in 2018, playing in all 16 games again, but would sign a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans in 2019.
Urban would play in four games with the Titans before being cut and signed by the Chicago Bears just two days later, playing in the last nine games of the season, replacing the injured Akiem Hicks. In 2020, Urban re-signed with the Bears on a one-year deal, starting the second half of the year as a replacement for another injured starter. Urban tested free agency again in 2021, this time signing with the Dallas Cowboys on a one-year deal, but only started in four of the six games, again due to injury. During the 2022 offseason, the Ravens brought Urban back for his second stint with the team, reuniting the defensive end with Michael Pierce. At the time, Pierce was recently released by the Vikings, making 2022 the beginning of his second stint with Baltimore. Urban stayed relatively healthy and contributed when needed for the Ravens, recording 63 tackles and four sacks in 46 games.
Pierce retired, and Urban was a free agent yet again. However, in early August 2025, the Ravens decided to sign the 34-year-old veteran to another one-year deal, making this contract Urban’s fourth time inking a deal to return to Baltimore. Urban’s number from last year was given to C.J. Okoye, who signed a future/reserve contract with the Ravens in 2025, opening a great opportunity to honor a former teammate. Number 58 remained unclaimed as of the signing and was quickly selected by Urban and seen wearing the number in his first appearance at Ravens 2025 training camp. Urban steps in along with other returning defensive linemen Nnamdi Madubuike, Travis Jones, and Broderick Washington, and joins incoming veteran John Jenkins and rookie Aeneas Peebles.
