Tight End’s New Deal is a Win-Win
When word came out that the Ravens had restructured the contract of Dennis Pitta, my knee-jerk response was, “The Ravens have gone soft.” First they took a passive approach with an unproven safety paid like a corner (Lardarius Webb) and now this.
Like most of you, I’m a big Dennis Pitta fan. But I’m also a fan of the man and I hope the best for him and his family during their lives after football. I just worry that he’s placing the quality of such life in harm’s way by suiting up again on Sundays.
But it’s his life and if he and the Ravens medical staff are comfortable with the decision, who am I to argue with the rationale – or at least part of it.
What does bother me is that Pitta’s presence will take away from practice reps that could have gone to newly acquired Ben Watson or developing tight ends Crockett Gillmore, Maxx Williams and Nick Boyle. The Ravens didn’t spend money on Watson and high draft picks on Gillmore and Williams to have them collect dust on the sidelines. They also didn’t make all of these moves at the position while expecting Pitta to return.
TE Chase Ford who 3 weeks ago signed his restricted free agent tender offer of $1.671M, was released and the move, after considering the Rule of 51, created $1.071M in cap space.
Pitta’s restructured deal calls for a reduction in base salary from $5M to $1M thus creating $4M in cap space.
TE Dennis Pitta’s restructure did indeed reduce his base salary to $1M, creating $4M in Cap space. His ’17 & ’18 Cap numbers remain the same
— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) April 15, 2016
NOW the Pitta restructure makes sense for the Ravens.
The $1M in salary isn’t guaranteed and if the Ravens and/or Pitta conclude that the once promising tight end cannot get it done physically, they can part ways knowing they gave it their best shot.
(1/2) Ravens are now just under $12M under the Cap. Will need 4.24M of that to fit the draft picks under the Cap: https://t.co/PHITd3xEor
— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) April 15, 2016
Draft Day Drama
The first hour of the 2016 NFL Draft should be very intriguing. After what will prove to be a career-ending trade for Jeff Fisher to secure the first pick in the draft, what happens after Roger Goodell states that the “Los Angeles Rams are now on the clock” is anyone’s guess.
Fisher plans to keep the number one selection a mystery right until the final moments leading up to the first pick. Afterwards, do the Browns take the Rams’ sloppy seconds and hail their newest quarterback failure in waiting as the guy they wanted all along or do they go with Jalen Ramsey? With their newfound Moneyball brain trust, the Browns pick is very unpredictable.
Some might conclude (I know I have) that if the Browns were NOT going with a QB at No. 2, then they would have been a less expensive trade partner for the Rams.
At No. 3, the Chargers probably prefer Ramsey if he gets by the Browns but would settle on tackle Laremy Tunsil. If Tunsil falls to 4, then he’ll certainly fall to 5 because the Cowboys are already loaded across the offensive line. And the intrigue will continue…
The Jaguars signed tackle Kelvin Beachum this offseason. The former Steelers tackle and 2012 7th round pick is a decent player coming off a torn ACL in October of 2015. That doesn’t sound like a franchise blindside protectorate of the Jaguars’ franchise quarterback Blake Bortles. But Tunsil sure could be.
And that brings us to the Ravens.
In the wildest of scenarios where the first 5 picks go QB, QB, Tunsil, Elliott, Jack, the Ravens could end up with Jalen Ramsey. But the most likely scenario has either Tunsil or Jack on the board along with Joey Bosa and DeForest Buckner.
This promises to be the most exciting first hour of draft day drama since the team’s inception in 1996.
The next 2 weeks are going to be long ones…
