First, little-used and oft-criticized Ravens offensive lineman Ben Cleveland unexpectedly found a permanent home on Baltimore’s special teams after blocking a field goal attempt in a win over the Washington Commanders last October. Now, surprisingly, he’ll be sticking around a bit longer.

The Ravens announced on Saturday that they have re-signed the 6-foot-6, 360-pound Cleveland, whose contract was up and was an unrestricted free agent. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move comes after Baltimore lost versatile lineman and last season’s starting left guard Patrick Mekari, who signed a three-year, $37.5 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and reserve guard/tackle Josh Jones, who landed a one-year deal for up to $4.75 million with the Seattle Seahawks, in free agency earlier this week. It also takes place despite Cleveland having seen his playing time cut sharply in recent years.

A third-round draft pick out of the University of Georgia by Baltimore in 2021, Cleveland, who will turn 27 in August, has appeared in 54 games across four seasons with just seven starts in that span.

Last year, he was never in serious contention during training camp for either of the two open guard spots or right tackle. He ended up playing just 49 snaps on offense, easily the fewest of his career after playing 367 on offense as a rookie.

He did manage to contribute on special teams, however.

After approaching special teams coordinator Chris Horton Jr. with the idea of joining the field goal and extra point block teams early in the season, he was inserted into the unit in place of injured defensive tackle Broderick Washington. Then came his heroics, with Cleveland blocking Austin Seibert’s 52-yard field goal try at the end of the first half of an eventual 30-23 Ravens win.

He stayed on the unit and logged a career-high 117 special teams snaps.

But last month, Cleveland was also arrested in Georgia on suspicion of driving under the influence.

According to Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun, he was stopped after police observed his black Ford F-250 “failing to maintain its lane” and “weaving in between the lines” and nearly going into a ditch. Cleveland told police that he was coming from a nearby country club and admitted to drinking “approximately 3-4 beers” but had not consumed any alcohol within two hours, according to the incident report.

When Cleveland was issued a breathalyzer at the scene, the result came back with a blood alcohol level of 0.178, police said, more than double the state’s legal limit of .08.

He was arrested and a second breath sample at a nearby jail returned a blood alcohol level of 0.161, according to police. Cleveland was issued citations for driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to maintain his lane.

While Daniel Faalele and Andrew Vorhees are expected to start at right and left guard and Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten at left and right tackle next season, Cleveland does at least provide depth and experience.

Baltimore’s only other offensive linemen currently on the roster are starting center Tyler Linderbaum and his backup Nick Samac, second-year guard Darrian Dalcourt and second-year tackle Corey Bullock.

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.