Chris Carr and Haruki Nakamura both say they would like to be back with the Ravens next season, but neither are certain that will be the case.
“I don’t know; we’ll see,” Nakamura said when asked whether he expects to return.
“I might be here, might not be here,” Carr said. “Just have to wait and see.”
With a deep stable of up-and-coming young cornerbacks, and a special teams unit that struggled at times this season, the two defensive backs may find themselves on other teams next season.
Carr dealt with injuries and dropped down the depth chart late in the season. He missed seven games during the regular season because of back and thigh injuries and started just one game.
He finished the season with 19 tackles, one sack, three passes defended and no interceptions.
Carr signed a reported four-year contract before the 2011 season, but only the first year was guaranteed money, he said, so the Ravens could waive the seven-year veteran in favor of some of the younger cornerbacks like Lardarius Webb, Cary Williams, Jimmy Smith and Danny Gorrer.
“I was injured a lot this year and we have a lot of young guys who can play and play well,” Carr said. “You just don’t know what the future is exactly.”
Unlike Carr, Nakamura is an unrestricted free agent.
The former sixth-round pick has been with the Ravens since 2008, primarily playing on special teams and as a backup safety. Nakamura was on punt and kick coverage teams, and played defense on some third-and-long situations.
He was a restricted free agent last year when the Ravens opted to bring him back for his fourth season, but he recognizes that anything could happen this year.
“It will be interesting to see how it works out,” Nakamura said. “It’s a different world. Being restricted last year, you basically knew exactly how it was going to go, at this point in time, you don’t know. This is the idle period. You wait until March and figure out where you’re going.”
Nakamura played in 15 regular-season games this year and finished with 12 tackles – nine coming on special teams – and two passes defended.
“It would be great to be back here, but it’s the business and we’ve got to figure out what’s going on,” Nakamura said.
