The Baltimore Ravens waived veteran defensive end Derek Wolfe after reaching an injury settlement, head coach John Harbaugh announced Tuesday. Wolfe, 32, recently underwent his second hip surgery since sustaining the injury last summer. He had two years remaining on a three-year, $12 million extension that he signed in March of 2021.
The injury sidelined Wolfe for the entirety of the 2021 season. He announced Monday that he recently had a second hip surgery.
"We're going to try to get a full recovery here and try to live a normal life," Wolfe said on Instagram, via ESPN's Jamison Hensley.
His wife, Abigail, later clarified on Instagram (h/t The Baltimore Sun) that Wolfe's recent surgery was on his left hip while his first surgery, which occurred in January, was on his right hip.
Wolfe's injury occurred during a joint training camp practice with the Carolina Panthers. Harbaugh announced last November that Wolfe's injury would prevent him from playing in 2021. Without Wolfe and many other projected starters out, the Ravens went 8-9 and missed the playoffs after losing their last six games of the campaign.
Wolfe, 32, initially appeared to be up in the air regarding his NFL future before tweeting in March that he fully intended to play in 2022. Harbaugh expressed hope this offseason that Wolfe would be back in the fold for the upcoming season.
An Ohio native who played collegiately at Cincinnati, Wolfe was the 36th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. He spent his first eight seasons with the Broncos, where he started in each of his 108 regular season games. He tallied 5.5 regular season and 2.5 postseason sacks in 2015 while helping Denver capture a Super Bowl title. Wolfe tallied a career-high seven sacks during his final season in Denver before signing with the Ravens during the 2020 offseason.
The Ravens recently added to their defensive line by re-signing Brent Urban, who spent time with three others teams after breaking into the NFL with Baltimore in 2014. Baltimore also resigned fellow defensive lineman Michael Pierce, who spent the 2020 season with the Vikings, earlier this offseason.
