Baltimore Ravens: Dennis Pitta a Factor This Season?

Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta has been impressive in offseason workouts, according to reports. What would be his role with this team?

It was only two months ago that we wondered if Dennis Pitta would even make the team. It sounds he is defying the odds and has a good shot at doing so.

The Baltimore Sun provided their list of winners and losers of the offseason program. They listed Pitta among one of their winners, saying he “looks like he can be a significant contributor.”

Here is the complete analysis on Pitta:

“Given what he’s been through in recent years, Pitta deserves to be listed for just getting back onto the field and getting through the program healthy. He did much more than that, and was one of the more active and productive offensive players for the past couple of weeks. Pitta is moving well and caught just about everything thrown in his direction. He’s always going to be at risk of reinjuring his hip, but for now, Pitta feels good and looks like he can be a significant contributor.”

The first thing some are going to pay attention to is that he is catching everything. His hands have always been one of his strengths, and are arguably the best at the position. Maxx Williams, Crockett Gillmore and Ben Watson are all good in their own right, but Pitta in his prime would be the best option.

The numbers game is going to make it difficult for the Ravens to make a decision on his future. If the Ravens keep all of them, they will have four tight ends on the roster, something you don’t see from most NFL teams. Nick Boyle is also still around, though he is suspended for the first 10 games of the season.

The Ravens are not contractually obligated to Pitta. He was scheduled to make $5 million this year, but the two sides agreed to a new deal in which he will make $1 million with the opportunity to make up some of that money in incentives. Even with that, he has no more guaranteed money on his contract so he has to make the team to earn any money.

The concern will always how fragile is Pitta’s right hip. The team also made him sign an injury waiver if he re-injures his hip again. Every time he goes down, their will be a collective holding of our breath.

It’s no secret that Joe Flacco and Pitta have a bond. If he is healthy, Pitta could be the best option on the roster. Watson is coming off the best season of his career, but that was with Drew Brees as his quarterback.

Next: Episode 4 of our Podcast BMore Wired

It would be great to see Pitta be a contributor on this team. We wish him the best as he attempts to make this improbable comeback.