Wide receiver Dez Bryant hasn’t played in the NFL since he was released by the Dallas Cowboys following the 2017 season. He had the proverbial cup of coffee with the New Orleans Saints in 2018, tearing his Achilles tendon during his second day with the team. Since then, all has been silent.
But Bryant hasn’t given up on an NFL return. On Twitter, he identified three “dream” teams he’d like to play for, and the Baltimore Ravens were among them.
Bryant clearly finds the prospect of playing with the presumptive league MVP, quarterback Lamar Jackson, an attractive one, as many wide receivers around the NFL should.
Bryant would bring a great pedigree with him. Between 2010 and 2017, Bryant amassed 7,460 receiving yards, which was the seventh-most in the NFL. He also had a well-developed nose for the end zone. Bryant’s 73 touchdowns in the span mentioned trailed only Rob Gronkowski.
The Ravens could certainly stand to upgrade their wide receiver corps ahead of the 2020 season. Rookie Marquise Brown (46 receptions for 584 yards) was the only wide receiver with more than 31 receptions and 500 yards last season. Baltimore’s wideouts were targeted 181 times, the lowest of any NFL team.
However just because the team needs a wide receiver does not mean it should sign Bryant. After all, this is a player who has been out of the league for two years, and he wasn’t exactly at the peak of his powers during his last days in Dallas.
In 2017 he offered practically nothing after the catch, with only 31% of his 839 yards coming that way. Bryant was also far from sure-handed, dropping 9% of his catchable targets. The Ravens have more than enough players to drop passes on the roster already — the AFC divisional-round loss to the Titans showed that. Plus, in an impassioned plea to the Cowboys, Bryant offered to come in and run the routes that 37-year-old tight end Jason Witten ran last season. If Bryant is offering his services as a tight end, then the Ravens’ interest should end there. Tight end is an area they are fairly set at with Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews still on rookie contracts and with Nick Boyle signing a three-year extension last year.
There are quite a few other free agent options set to be available this offseason if the Ravens feel the need to add a veteran to the lineup. Of course, the 2020 draft class is considered to have one of the deepest wide receiver groups in recent memory. We should not forget Miles Boykin, who fits a similar role Bryant would be looking for. Boykin will be heading into his second season in 2020 and showed flashes in 2019 in limited opportunities.
There are a host of opportunities for the Ravens to get younger and better at wide receiver. Bryant definitely would not help them get younger, and I’m not sure he’d help them get better, even if they’re a dream destination for him at this stage in his career.
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