The Green Bay Packers traded running back Ty Montgomery to the Baltimore Raven in exchange for a 2020 seventh-round pick, multiple media outlets reported Tuesday.
“Packers clearly wanted to move on, and so did Montgomery,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted.
Speculation that Montgomery might be traded followied his decision to return a kickoff late in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
With 2:05 left in the game, Montgomery took the kickoff out of the end zone instead of taking a knee for a touchback to take no time off the clock and give the Packers the ball at their 25-yard line. Head coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday that Montgomery had been told to take a touchback if the ball went into the end zone. Montgomery denied he had been given that instruction.
Montgomery then fumbled on his return, giving the ball back to the Rams instead of putting the ball in the hands of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Rams then ran out the clock and to remain undefeated with a 29-27 win.
“I made a split second decision on, I don’t know if this is going to land on the goal line, so I’m not going to take a knee on the goal line or the half yard line and take a chance at putting the game in the refs’ hands. Unfortunately I ended up fumbling the football. And I don’t think we would be having this conversation if I didn’t fumble the football, because you know how good our two-minute offense is, but I’ve never been a guy to completely disobey what I’m being told. I think you can ask a lot of guys in the locker room, that’s not what I do. That’s not the kind of man I am. That’s not the kind of person I am,” Montgomery said.
The Ravens rank 31st among the 32 NFL teams in yards per rushing attempt at 3.6. Only Arizona is worse. Alex Collins, the Ravens’ leading rusher, averages 44.8 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry.
Montgomery had 26 carries for 105 yards and an average of 4.0 yards per carry this season. He also had 15 receptions for 170 yards.
In eight games, including five starts, in 2017, Montgomery had 273 rushing yards and an average of 3.8 yards per attempt, and he caught 23 passes for 173 yards.
Montgomery was a third-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft and entered the league as a wide receiver and kick returner. This season he is averaging 21.0 yards per kick return.
