Re-signing TE Dennis Pitta

[jazz1988]

If we use the franchise tag on him, I will be upset. He isn't Jimmy Graham, Gronk, Tony Gonzalez, Julius Thomas, etc. The reason we need him so much is Joe likes to stare down look his way a lot. Talent wise he isn't worthy of the 11 million dollar tag. We will have to look elsewhere for a security blanket for Joe.

 

In other news, Boldin is looking to be getting a 2 year deal with San Fran. Glad to see he is posting solid stats again. His numbers in Baltimore were terrible. Didn't get enough targets.

 

Boldins production in Baltimore had nothing to do with targets but more  to the fact that our offensive coordinator(Cam) didnt use him properly or should I say he was a better fit for a west coast offense( a offensive system we didn't run until now).  The last time Pitta was fully healthy as a starter he had 669 receiving yards and seven touchdowns and theres no way in the world anyone can convince me it's not possible for him to have even better production than his 2012 season with Gary Kubiak as the offensive coordinator.  I'm not saying he's worth 11 million dollar franchise tag but he definitely should be re-signed

[PolishRifle]

If we use the franchise tag on him, I will be upset. He isn't Jimmy Graham, Gronk, Tony Gonzalez, Julius Thomas, etc. The reason we need him so much is Joe likes to stare down look his way a lot. Talent wise he isn't worthy of the 11 million dollar tag. We will have to look elsewhere for a security blanket for Joe.

 

In other news, Boldin is looking to be getting a 2 year deal with San Fran. Glad to see he is posting solid stats again. His numbers in Baltimore were terrible. Didn't get enough targets.

 

Take more shots at Flacco, please. God knows we don't have enough posts on that topic.

[T3hRaven]

Pitta is not worth the higher tag number, and we simply can't afford it.  Let him walk and move on.

[Inqui]

Take more shots at Flacco, please. God knows we don't have enough posts on that topic.

Every Joe Flacco discussion takes us somewhere new and exciting, and I especially love how brisk they can be. I mean, I'd be thoroughly sick of those arguments if they took up 30+ pages of every thread they touched or re-hashed the exact same same points every time, but I love how they never get that way.

[T3hRaven]

If the Cowboys are forced to cut Jason Witten for cap reasons, he's a better player than Pitta even at his age and he's going to be cheaper.

[Inqui]

They were saying on NFL Live that while both parties want the deal, they're not that close to it.

 

I obviously hope we hang onto him, but he's not worth putting too much money into. I'd almost be tempted to say let him walk and pick up Amaro at 16/17 if he asks too much. Especially if Jimmy Graham gets that monster contract first.

[PolishRifle]

Every Joe Flacco discussion takes us somewhere new and exciting, and I especially love how brisk they can be. I mean, I'd be thoroughly sick of those arguments if they took up 30+ pages of every thread they touched or re-hashed the exact same same points every time, but I love how they never get that way.

 

Hahaha, nice one. You can build a stand up routine around this!

 

Pitta is not worth the higher tag number, and we simply can't afford it.  Let him walk and move on.

 

"I don't answer to Tom Brady" - Robert Kraft after Tom Brady complained about the Patriots failing to sign Wes Welker.

[Alexir]

Take more shots at Flacco, please. God knows we don't have enough posts on that topic.

 

Do you deny it? It's true. He's joes security blanket. He isn't as talented as the top 10 tight ends in this league but we are trying to keep him because Joe is constantly looking for him.

[T3hRaven]

They were saying on NFL Live that while both parties want the deal, they're not that close to it.

 

I obviously hope we hang onto him, but he's not worth putting too much money into. I'd almost be tempted to say let him walk and pick up Amaro at 16/17 if he asks too much. Especially if Jimmy Graham gets that monster contract first.

 

Pitta isn't even half the player Graham is.  Graham is a Bugatti Veyron, Pitta is a Ford Mustang.  Not worth that sort of money at all.

[T3hRaven]

"I don't answer to Tom Brady" - Robert Kraft after Tom Brady complained about the Patriots failing to sign Wes Welker.

 

Say what you will about them, the Pats don't let themselves get burdened by sentiment (unlike the Ray Lewis and perhaps the Terrell Suggs deal, we'll see in a few years) and they always have their ducks in a row.

[The Raven]

The problem with letting Pitta go is that, while he isn't one of the league's best tight ends, he is our most reliable receiving threat who isn't Ray Rice.

 

Who do we have after him? Torrey? That's it really. Pitta is our only real threat on third down and in the red zone.

[PolishRifle]

The problem with letting Pitta go is that, while he isn't one of the league's best tight ends, he is our most reliable receiving threat who isn't Ray Rice.

 

Who do we have after him? Torrey? That's it really. Pitta is our only real threat on third down and in the red zone.

 

That's a really valid point. The Ravens don't really have any guy outside of Pitta with reliable hands. Even Torrey had problems to haul in some catchable passes. Dickson has stone hands and Jacoby usually needs his whole body to make a catch.

 

Another way, the Boldin trade screwed us over. With Boldin, there was really an alternative to Dennis.

 

 

Do you deny it? It's true. He's joes security blanket. He isn't as talented as the top 10 tight ends in this league but we are trying to keep him because Joe is constantly looking for him.

 

How is it "staring him down", though? Pitta is the most reliable receiver we have. Who else, did Flacco have on 3rd downs, when Boldin was out of picture, who did we have in the red zone?

Pitta is an important part of offense, because he is easily the best pass catcher we got (I blame more our FOs lack of talent evaluating the WR position for that).

 

That doesn't justify a huge payday, though. I agree with that.

[Inqui]

Pitta isn't even half the player Graham is.  Graham is a Bugatti Veyron, Pitta is a Ford Mustang.  Not worth that sort of money at all.

I'm not saying he is, but I do think Pitta's agent would be looking at it as a basis for his own deal, and possibly push up Pitta's price too far.

[jazz1988]

There are 15 players way higher ranked . 4 qbs clowney, barr watkins are 100 percent certainties to be top 14 picks. I am certain ebron will be there for us at 16. Also plenty of indemand o linesman. In such a loaded draft no doubt ebronwill be there. I dont think the patriots will trade up 13 places.

 

I think it depends on how the combine goes and if Ebron has a great combine then his stock goes up. He's already being compared to Vernon Davis and  theres a possibility that a team like the Falcons or Bills drafting him but overall all I'm saying is anything can happen. The draft is always full of surprises but we shall see .

[T3hRaven]

I'm not saying he is, but I do think Pitta's agent would be looking at it as a basis for his own deal, and possibly push up Pitta's price too far.

 

The point remains the same, they're not even close in terms of ability.  I bet Emmanuel Sanders understands he's not getting Megatron money.

[PolishRifle]

The point remains the same, they're not even close in terms of ability.  I bet Emmanuel Sanders understands he's not getting Megatron money.

 

That's not how contract talks work, though. You never start low, when you negotiate as a player. As far as Pitta's agent is concerned, he's the second coming of John Mackey,

[BmoreBird22]

The one thing we should be blaming this on is the salary cap not increasing consistently despite record viewership and all the new cable contracts.

In all seriousness, I don't think the Ravens would ever seriously break the bank for Pitta. I think Joe would be much happier if that money was used to sign Monroe and a veteran center to keep him clean (or what ever other pieces we need). Tom Brady usually does fairly well despite a revolving door set of targets. Why? Because he always has tons of time to pass the ball

[Alexir]

I was looking at spotrac for possible cuts we could make to free up some cap space.

 

It sickens me that Jah Reid makes more money than Justin Tucker....

 

Tucker scored 140 points for this team, Joe right behind him with 120, AND WAYYY behind him is Ray Rice with 24 points.

 

Let Pitta walk, Tucker could easily catch 100 balls, 20 touchdowns, 1500 yards in his place.

 

 

 

Another reason why Pitta might be considered a must sign. Furstenburg and Overbay are only tight ends on our roster right now.

[PolishRifle]

The one thing we should be blaming this on is the salary cap not increasing consistently despite record viewership and all the new cable contracts.

In all seriousness, I don't think the Ravens would ever seriously break the bank for Pitta. I think Joe would be much happier if that money was used to sign Monroe and a veteran center to keep him clean (or what ever other pieces we need). Tom Brady usually does fairly well despite a revolving door set of targets. Why? Because he always has tons of time to pass the ball

 

I agree with that 100%. I absolutely believe, that Flacco's great playoff run had more to do with the OL playing uncharacteristically well (especially for McKinnie), than any receiver Joe was throwing the ball to.

 

The Ravens OL was so bad last season, that the coaches and FO will have alot of work cut out for them, just to get that unit back to being average. So, there is really no way Pitta should receive a contract, that would make it more difficult for the Ravens to give their 120 million dollar investment (and his knee) proper protection.

 

It's much easier for the Ravens to find a TE of Pitta's caliber in the draft than a LT, that is as good as Monroe.

[Gordo52]

For some weird reason I'm not that attached to Pitta. I'd love to have him back but I'm OK with him walking. He wants a big contract, rightfully so, and if Oz or Pat don't think he's worth it, so be it.

It would hurt our offense, and Joe for sure, but I rather not overpay for him. TE would become a bigger need than WR IMO.

If it comes down to Monroe or Pitta, I'd choose Monroe over him 10 times out of 10

[BmoreBird22]

 

I agree with that 100%. I absolutely believe, that Flacco's great playoff run had more to do with the OL playing uncharacteristically well (especially for McKinnie), than any receiver Joe was throwing the ball to.

 

The Ravens OL was so bad last season, that the coaches and FO will have alot of work cut out for them, just to get that unit back to being average. So, there is really no way Pitta should receive a contract, that would make it more difficult for the Ravens to give their 120 million dollar investment (and his knee) proper protection.

 

It's much easier for the Ravens to find a TE of Pitta's caliber in the draft than a LT, that is as good as Monroe.

I have always maintained 100% that it doesn't matter what receivers you have out there if you are flat on your back or running away one second into the play. 

A receiver will break free from coverage if you give him four or five seconds, but a quarterback will rarely make a good throw off his back foot with a linebacker in his chest after one.

[52520Andrew]

The one thing we should be blaming this on is the salary cap not increasing consistently despite record viewership and all the new cable contracts.

 

That brings up an interesting topic as well. The revenues for the new CBA factor in for the 2014 salary cap. However according to Robert Craft(a guy who apparently did a lot of work getting this CBA done and probably knows about it as much as anyone) says that the cap will have more of a smooth growth over the rest of the CBA since the TV revenue increase also comes incrementally. So I don't think there will be a magic increase but apparently it will be by a few mil per year until the CBA ends and we have a decent sized cap at that point. It is kind of complex so these articles are some good ones if you are trying to figure it out. Don't expect some magic spike in the cap numbers however.

 

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2012/3/25/2900655/nfl-salary-cap-2014-dallas-cowboys-bob-kraft-new-england-patriots-jerry-jones

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/23/kraft-cautions-against-a-cap-spike-in-2014/

[52520Andrew]

I have to agree with everyone here. O-line comes first and I think Monroe is our top guy. If we have space for Pitta to come in and he wants a reasonable deal, then we can go with that. If not, we will either sign another TE(Brent Celek possible cap cut maybe?) or draft a guy. 

[Ravenslifer]

Monroe should be priority number 1 for 2 reasons: 1) he plays a position that's much harder to draft no matter what the year, and 2) I happen to think this year's class at tight end is very good.  After that I'd go Pitta, which is what the front office seems to be thinking.  If we lose Pitta, though, I don't see it being the end of the world like a lot of people do - we were all worried about losing Derrick Mason and Todd Heap in the same offseason, and then Pitta and Torrey stepped right in.  The players are there in the draft this year, we just need to draft them.  I'd love to have Pitta back, but every player has his price.

[ratedr]

Love Pitta but if he wants too much, Jace Amaro COME ON DOWN *cue music*

[waxytaxi]

i just know hed end up in new england if we let him go. But if he wants too much then let him go 

[BloodRaven]

An 8-8 team with ageing overpriced veterans like ours needs more contracts that represent long term value for money, thats how we stay competitive on the field, that means rebuilding. So considering Pitta's age, recent injury and our tight cap situation we might have to move on but as we saw last season it's easier said than done.

[Guest Mr. Nobody]

If the Cowboys are forced to cut Jason Witten for cap reasons, he's a better player than Pitta even at his age and he's going to be cheaper.

don't I just know it lol...

[Ravenseconbeast]

Same people that hyped flacco to get a ridiculous deal are asking the same for pitta.

Please do everyone a favor and shut UP..

[Ravenslifer]

The problem with letting Pitta go is that, while he isn't one of the league's best tight ends, he is our most reliable receiving threat who isn't Ray Rice.

 

Who do we have after him? Torrey? That's it really. Pitta is our only real threat on third down and in the red zone.

 

That's a good point, but how much of that is a product of spending 1 second rounder and 2 third rounders on receivers and tight ends in the last 7 drafts?  If the front office is serious about drafting a top target early, they may be more inclined to let Pitta test the market.