BmoreBird22

Really not pulling for him and wonder how he'd fit with Castillo. Doesn't Pitt use a man blocking scheme?

Shanahan has a second interview today, so hopefully he's our next OC

I agree there are several unknowns, but it's not like that offense was totally devoid of talent. They had some solid offensive lineman (not all, but three at least), a young Vernon Davis and Frank Gore who had over 1600 yards. The scary thing is that every player dropped off in statistics and they went through like four quarterbacks. I'd much rather have Shanahan who turned Schaub into the leading NFL passer, Matthew slater into a 1000 yard rusher, didn't he turn arian foster into the leading rusher? RGIII was also the second coming of God and even when he was hurt, he was top 10 in offense. Not to mention Morris coming out of nowhere.

It might mean he's more fit for a specialized role than one that accounts for all facets of the offense. Not all great coordinators make great head coaches. Same could be true here.

If Hostler gets hired, that's the way I'll feel about all of these interviews

I keep hearing people say that Hostler might not be bad because he had a hand in helping the offensive game plan already, but given the fact that Caldwell was a first time OC, isn't it likely that Hostler had a huge impact on the offensive game plan? If so, we may already have a slight glimpse of what the offense would look like next year if Hostler is promoted. No thank you. That also deters me from wanting Kirby. He has no offensive coordinator experience, never had a run game in the top 10, and only two in the top 16 during his tenure, and it would be likely that Hostler would have a hand in the offense again. Not something I'd prefer.

He'd be an ED system guy if he coached under Bellichek tree.Also, the playbook stayed the same. Caldwell emphasized that, but said he added new wrinkles.

I think what bothered people the most is the fact that Gore went from being the focal point of the offense and one of the leading rushers in the NFL to not used hardly at all. It also hurts your cause when players on your team call you out in press conferences.

I feel this is a wrong assessment, but that guy is a fan. Obviously RGIII extending plays helped at times, but I watched many of those games, since I live in VA, and the read option and routes that Shanahan had the receivers run meant that RGIII always had a guy open. Shanahan tailored the offense to RGIII and it worked by giving him open receivers. Teams were forced to respect the run so much. RGIII had to run to be successful. When RGIII couldn't run, we saw the results. That offensive line wasn't bad, and I didn't see a total problem in play calling, just a lot of bad mistakes by RGIII. He's not a pocket passer and isn't very accurate, so not being able to always have an open receiver hurt him a ton. That offensive line also was not that bad. It was actually one of the better offensive lines in the NFL. RGIII just had a problem with holding onto the ball and not getting the ball out when he needed to. With Joe, he'd have a great pocket passer who can make tough throws when he needs to. Shanahan does an excellent job of tailoring the offense to his quarterback and getting the most out of them, as seen with Schaub. If he can be totally onboard with the ZBS (something likely required of our new coordinator given Castillo), maybe it'll bring Rice back to form. After all, he did turn a no name in Morris into a household name, for the most part. I like the idea of bringing in his west coast offense. It allows the ball to get out quicker and Joe wouldn't get murdered so much. I'm pulling for him.

I haven't heard the same hype around Dennis Pitta. Are other teams finally wishing up?

Oh I saw it coming, but I didn't think it was worth it at all. I remember all my non Ravens friends talking about how great he was or how much the Ravens were going to miss him. I was always just like, "Seriously?" And they were. I guess that must be how it is for other teams when they view Ravens players.

I think it honestly depends on how they classify his position. Does he push to be a WR like Jeremichael Finley and Jared Cook? That automatically pushes his price range up, without a doubt into the $7 million range just by the nature of the position. If he's going to be paid as a tight end, I see a deal around Martellus Bennett's. Here's to hoping for that hometown discount.

Given the evolution and how much tight ends are starting to be used in the slot, starting to wonder if he would pursue being paid like a wide receiver, not a tight end. All I have to say is I'm glad I'm not making these decisions for the Ravens.

I was gonna say that $6.9 million seemed really low when I first saw that.

I'm looking at spotrac.com and they have him at $6.9 million. If it was an extension, and not an entirely new deal, I wonder if they're factoring in the entire rookie contract as a part of that. Edit: They're factoring in the last two years of his rookie contract.

Walker was fairly decent with a really crappy quarterback situation down in Tennessee. Carlson... just no comment on him. Zach Miller may not be the red zone threat that Pitta is, but he is a superior blocker, by far. I still maintain that Martellus Bennett would be the best comparison. Jared Cook, in my opinion, got paid so much because he was basically a tight end, often splitting out wide and playing in the slot. I realize that Pitta lines up a lot in the slot, but he also lines up as a traditional tight end a fair amount. Now, if we were to start to classify Pitta as a receiver over a tight end, obviously his pay day goes up, but that would be a case for the NFLPA to decide, likely only to happen if the Ravens seek to use the franchise tag.

If Pitta does somehow get Graham/Gronkowski money from another team, I will come back here and eat my words. I promise that much.

I have also presented you with contracts and evidence. Pitta is not a game changing tight end who presents a match-up nightmare for opposing teams. The Patriots showed that getting physical with him is a way to silence him. He is also a piss poor blocker. Those two facts hurt him a lot. I presented contracts for the top tight ends, ones he will not touch. Those are the upper $6 million and $7 million dollar contracts. Do we think he deserves as much as Antonio Gates, who is making $6.6 million? Probably not. Gates has a much better track record and is easily one of the best receiving tight ends in the NFL, putting up wide receiver like numbers consistently. That right there means his ceiling should be about $6 million. The next three down on the list are Heath Miller, Owen Daniels, and Martellus Bennett. Dennis Pitta puts up comparable receiving stats and is probably on the receiving level of all three, although he doesn't present the match-up problems that Bennett does. All three, though, are much better blockers, and have proven to be capable blockers. Pitta's value could lie in with theirs. The next one's down are John Carlson, Brent Celek, Delanie Walker, and Greg Olsen. They're all making in the $4 million range, and this is where Pitta most likely fits. He fits right in with them as a receiver and is the safety valve for his quarterback, much like Greg Olsen is to Dennis Pitta. Not as good of a blocker as Celek, but probably close to Walker and Olsen. That puts his value right in between the $4-$5 million range, but given that we only have one "good year" to bank on. The best guy to compare him to would be a Greg Olsen. A guy who can go out and catch 60-80 passes for 600-800 yards and 6-8 touchdowns a year, but not a reliable blocker. That would put Pitta right about $4.5 million. Better for you?

I just personally see a $3-$5 million per year contract, falling somewhere in the $4 million annually, unless it is a low guaranteed money contract with lots of incentives.

He also said the floor was $5 million, so I'm not sure what exactly he's shooting for since there isn't much wiggle room between $5 million and what those two will get paid annually.

Fine, take into consideration all his stats and see how he has never had outstanding stats in a single season, never broken double digit touchdowns, or proven he is a great receiver, the one job he is pretty much asked to do. When looking at average contract value, Gronkowski doesn't even make $7 million. He makes $6.9 million. Jason Witten and Vernon Davis are sitting at $7.4 million and $7.1 million, respectively. Tell me, do you really think he deserves to be paid at the same level as those three? You're ridiculous if you do. He deserves a Martellus Bennett contract at best, which would put him right around $5 million. I personally say a Brent Celek type deal is more realistic, which would put him around $4.2 million per year. Tell me, though, what reason would I have to not want him to get paid?

Michael Oher is trying to get all the money he can, but does that mean he should? I realize that puts him with the likes of a Zach Miller or Heath Miller, but both those two do something that Pitta doesn't do very well at all: Block. They're also fairly capable receivers when called on to be one. In Pitta's "breakout season" he had like 670 yards and seven touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns and around 120 yards came in garbage time against the Denver Broncos when the game was well away in the fourth quarter. He's not a tight end who can takeover a game, be counted on to block, isn't a match-up nightmare, I mean, I don't see him getting this huge contract. I think people are being naive by saying all of this because they let their fandom get in the way.

I will, but we don't have much reason to believe he will unless it is a one year deal with virtually no guaranteed money

Those 20 passes are likely due to the fact that Joe loves to force feed the ball to Pitta. He had the most targets in that time frame. I don't understand the hype around Pitta. I think he is a $3-$5 million dollars a year type guy, not this player who will make $7+million a year like so many are suggesting.

This is something I tried to preach all year long. In several games like Green Bay, Pittsburgh, etc. where the opposing team made this long drive to win the game because the defense couldn't get off the field, TOP was heavily favored by the Ravens before those final drives. I think it would be demoralize for the offense to not score, but that defense was not tired.