Tag: Dez Bryant

Report: Ravens to sign WR Dez Bryant to the practice squad pending workout

The Baltimore Ravens are bolstering their offense, adding veteran wide receiver Dez Bryant to the practice squad pending a workout.

Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta must have had an extra-large coffee this morning. After pulling off a trade for Pro Bowl pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue, DeCosta and the Ravens are set to sign former All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant to the practice squad, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Baltimore had brought Bryant in for a workout earlier this season but failed to sign him at that time. But with the Ravens’ offense struggling, ranking No. 31 in passing yards this season, it’s clear they needed the extra help. However, it’ll be interesting to see just how capable Bryant still is at nearly 32 years old.

In his prime, Bryant regularly topped 1,200 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns a season with the Dallas Cowboys. But Bryant hasn’t played a down of football in the regular season since 2017, his last year with the Cowboys. Coming off an Achilles injury in a very short stint with the New Orleans Saints, many are wondering just how much Bryant still has in the tank.

The Ravens don’t have much room to scoff, however. Beyond wide receiver Marquise Brown and tight end Mark Andrews, Baltimore isn’t getting much from their current roster of receivers. Second-year wide receiver Miles Boykin hasn’t lived up to his offseason hype. Bryant would be the ideal replacement for Boykin if healthy and still capable of beating defenders on the field.

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Report: ‘No connecting dots’ between Dez Bryant, Saints

The New Orleans Saints have not expressed interest in ex-Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, and that hasn’t changed after Michael Thomas’s injury.

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Knowing that the New Orleans Saints would have superstar wide receiver Michael Thomas on the mend for a few weeks, some have wondered if the team would consider bringing Dez Bryant back to town for another shot after his 2018 debut was derailed by an Achilles injury. Bryant has remained a Saints fan and rooted for them to beat his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, in last year’s matchup.

Those fires were stoked when Bryant was spotted working out at a public park in a New Orleans Pelicans jersey (Zion Williamson’s, of course). He obviously took to the city and team culture right away, but Saints coach Sean Payton has reacted mildly when asked if a reunion with Bryant could be in the cards.

And now a report from NFL Network’s Jane Slater may have put this speculation to rest. Slater is tight with both the Cowboys and the Saints, frequently representing NFL Network at training camp, and after inquiring with her sources she reported that there isn’t any interest here.

That shouldn’t shock anyone. The Saints are in a much better position to play without Thomas now than the last time he missed a game, thanks to free agent investments like Emmanuel Sanders and Jared Cook. Their wide receivers depth chart is still fairly deep even without Thomas at the top, and Sanders has a history of impressing against their next opponent, the Las Vegas Raiders.

There are reasons to feel optimistic that Thomas being sidelined is a storm the Saints can weather, and Bryant’s presence would not change that. Hopefully he finds his way back to the NFL sooner or later, giving his impressive Cowboys career the coda it deserves. It just may not happen with the Saints.

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Could the Saints call up Dez Bryant after the Michael Thomas injury?

The New Orleans Saints are going to be without superstar wide receiver Michael Thomas for a few weeks. Could they reunite with Dez Bryant?

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There’s no sugarcoating this: the New Orleans Saints are going to miss Michael Thomas. Like every other receiver on the depth chart, he had a clear and defined role, and him missing time with a high-ankle injury will be a challenge for all involved. While more targets are going around, this isn’t exactly an opportunity for less-talented teammates to step up into new responsibilities.

Fortunately, the Saints have eight receivers under contract as it is, including veterans on the practice squad like Bennie Fowler, Austin Carr, and Lil’Jordan Humphrey. It’s not exactly an inexperienced group. Now, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t consider all options.

And one option to keep in mind is Dez Bryant. The longtime Dallas Cowboys star hasn’t played a down since 2017, having gone down with a torn Achilles in his first practice with the Saints in 2018. But he’s diligently worked his way back into the NFL’s orbit, earning a tryout with the Baltimore Ravens back in August. Baltimore didn’t sign him to a deal, but it’s not impossible to think the Saints might give Bryant a call.

Still, it feels more realistic for the Saints to keep the ship steady by spreading targets around to players already on the roster; expect big-time free agent acquisition Emmanuel Sanders to draw more looks in Week 2, facing off against a familiar opponent (he’s played the Las Vegas Raiders 13 times in his career, averaging 53.2 yards per game). The Saints defense must also continue to play well after doing so much heavy lifting in the season-opener.

So the Saints are equipped for life without Thomas, at least for a few weeks. But it shouldn’t shock anyone if Saints coach Sean Payton is willing to give Bryant another shot, even if he was lukewarm on the prospect the last time it came up.

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Dez Bryant says he doesn’t care about targets, he just wants to win

Seemingly trying to assuage fears, free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant indicated he doesn’t care about targets, only winning.

The Baltimore Ravens decided to bring free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant for a workout. If anyone was concerned Bryant had any of that primadonna attitude he displayed earlier in his career, they might be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Bryant has been called a distraction earlier in his career for antics including yelling at teammates and coaches for a lack of targets. But seemingly looking to assuage any fears about his attitude, Bryant has been active on social media talking about how he’s matured. Just before he gets a tryout with Baltimore, Bryant once again took to social media indicating he doesn’t care how many targets he gets, he just wants to win.

Bryant has been out of football since the 2017 season with the Dallas Cowboys. He tore his Achilles in 2018 with the New Orleans Saints before getting to play in a game there and wasn’t signed last year.

But when Bryant has been on the field, he’s been an outstanding wide receiver. Even his last season with the Cowboys, one of the worst of his career by most metrics, Bryant still put up 838 receiving yards and six touchdown catches. At his peak, Bryant caught 88 passes for 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2014 — the last in a stretch of three years where he topped 1,200 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.

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But with two years away, Bryant is at the point of his career where he needs to prove himself, both physically and mentally. The Ravens are undoubtedly going to put him through his paces to see if he can still perform on the field but they’re likely going to see if he’s really matured like he claims and can remain a pleasant teammate and mentor for a young wide receiver room. If Bryant is everything he says he is, he’ll look good in purple and black in 2020.

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Ravens work out WR Dwayne Harris, along with QB and punter

In addition to free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant, the Baltimore Ravens brought in Dwayne Harris, a quarterback, and a punter for workouts

The Baltimore Ravens are bringing in free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant for a workout this week. But he’s not alone.

According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Baltimore officially had wide receivers Dwayne Harris, Dez Bryant; punter Johnny Townsend; and quarterback Kenji Bahar in for tryouts. The workouts come a day after the Ravens placed cornerback Iman Marshall on injured reserve and coach John Harbaugh said wide receiver Chris Moore would miss a few weeks with a broken finger.

Harris has been in the league for quite some time, entering his 10th year in the NFL and looking for his fourth team. While Harris is listed as a wide receiver, he hasn’t really done much since 2016. Since that time, he’s caught eight passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. However, Harris has seen quite a lot of playing time on special teams and has been quite effective there.

Over his nine years in the league, Harris has returned 180 punts for 1,825 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also returned 163 kickoffs for 4,204 yards and a touchdown. He earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2016 after posting an impressive 10 yards-per-punt-return average and a 28.7 yards-per-kickoff-return average.

While Bryant has been the primary focus of these workouts, the addition of Harris points to Baltimore wanting to add yet another special teams player to the mix. The Ravens currently have several players fighting for the return specialist job and with Moore missing time, Baltimore could be looking for another productive gunner as well. Bryant has rarely played on special teams and likely isn’t interested in taking on that role at this stage of his career. But with only one roster spot currently available, that lack of versatility might mean Bryant needs to really impress in his workout to get a contract.

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Should the Ravens sign WR Dez Bryant?

If Dez Bryant has even a fraction of the talent of his prime, he makes an awful lot of sense for the Baltimore Ravens to sign.

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The Baltimore Ravens are set to bring in free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant for a workout. After Chris Moore broke a finger at training camp, causing him to miss several weeks, Baltimore suddenly has a vacancy that needs filling and Bryant has been eager to don the purple and black for a while now.

Looking on social media, Ravens fans are split on the idea. Some hate the thought of a player who previously turned Baltimore down getting another chance. Some fans love the idea of the team getting a proven pass catcher who was once one of the best in the league. In reality, it’s far more complicated than either of those extremes, which is why he’s being worked out rather than immediately signed.

While Bryant looks great in Instagram workouts, they’re not really indicative of how good of a player he actually is. Bryant will first have to prove to Baltimore’s coaching staff that he can still be a weapon in the NFL. At nearly 32 years old, Bryant’s undoubtedly not the same player who eclipsed 1,300 receiving yards or put up 16 touchdown receptions in a single season. That doesn’t mean he can’t play a more niche role in an offense full of niche players but it does mean he needs to be happy with what that likely means.

Even if Bryant is in his prime still, the Ravens’ offense has rarely been a high volume scheme that sees wide receivers have the best seasons of their careers. Since he’s coming in for a workout, Bryant likely already knows where he stands and what to expect in this regard. But since he hasn’t been known for swallowing his pride throughout his career, it’s still a hurdle they’ll have to get over if Baltimore likes what it sees.

Beyond the on-field aspect of the game, the Ravens are going to thoroughly check out Bryant’s maturity level, work ethic, and passion for the game. While Bryant has been a very talented player, he’s also had his fair share of off-field drama too. Since the Ravens have completely avoided the types of players who exude drama and distraction — including the supremely talented but troubled Antonio Brown — Bryant is going to have to pass muster here as well. He’s kept his name out of the headlines for a while now, which is a credit to Bryant’s claim that he’s matured, but Baltimore is going to leave no stone unturned all the same.

If Bryant checks all the boxes — physical and mental — it seems like a no brainer to ink him to a cheap, one-year deal.

Baltimore has Willie Snead in the wide receiver room, which is nice, but Bryant has been at a completely different level. If in the correct headspace for it, Bryant can be a great mentor to young players like Marquise Brown, Devin Duvernay, James Proche, and Miles Boykin. He can talk to them about handling their business off the field as well as the intricacies of the position and how he got to the top of the league on the field. Small things like knowing how to make more precise cuts or how to read a defensive back during a play can turn a good wide receiver into a great one.

Bryant still has his uses on the field too. At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Bryant has the size to block down in the run game. If he still has a little speed to him, Bryant’s experience and route-running savvy could make him a natural to play the type of role Anquan Boldin found so much success with in Baltimore. Even if he doesn’t live up to that, Bryant is practically the same size as Boykin and would be the perfect insurance policy behind him.

Regardless of how good Bryant looks in his workout with Baltimore, he’s not likely going to command much more than the veteran minimum, and he seems fine with that. Maybe he’s chasing a ring or he just wants to continue playing a game he loves, but he seems excited and dedicated. At this point in his career, Bryant has all the makings of a low-risk, high-reward signing that might not necessarily take the Ravens to the next level but would be a welcome addition nonetheless.

But first, Bryant needs to impress enough to get a contract put in front of him.

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AFC North roundup: Bad injury hits the Bengals and a Dez Bryant sighting

AFC North roundup: Bad injury hits the Bengals and a Dez Bryant sighting in Baltimore

The Cleveland Browns aren’t the only team excited to kick off padded practices in the AFC North. Here’s what is going on in Baltimore, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh as those Browns foes begin to take the field.

Bengals

One of the Bengals big-ticket offseason additions is likely to miss most of the 2020 season. Cornerback Trae Waynes has a torn pectoral muscle that required surgery.

The free agent signed for $42 million over just three years to leave the Minnesota Vikings and join the Bengals. Waynes was expected to start for the Bengals, who are thin on experience at cornerback behind Mackensie Alexander and William Jackson.

Ravens

Remember two offseasons ago when the Browns were seriously courting free agent WR Dez Bryant? Now the veteran wideout is trying to take what might be left of his talents to Baltimore. Per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, Bryant is going to work out for the Ravens this week.

Bryant hasn’t played since his final season in Dallas in 2017. He hasn’t topped 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 2014 and had a catch rate of just 50 percent in his final three, injury-damaged seasons.

Bryant’s audition with the John Dorsey-led Browns in the summer of 2018 did not lead to a deal

Steelers

Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster would like a new contract with the team as he enters the final season of his rookie contract. And because the Steelers do not do any contractual business during the season, it’s close to now-or-never time for Smith-Schuster to get locked up.

In a media session on Monday, the fourth-year wideout said he wasn’t going to talk about any contract stuff. He’s coming off a down season where he caught just 42 passes in 12 games, though Pittsburgh had QB issues more than WR issues in 2019.

Keep an eye on what happens here, even if neither Smith-Schuster nor the team want to talk about it. If they don’t get a deal done this summer, keeping Smith-Schuster might become financially impossible for Pittsburgh after the season.

Report: Dez Bryant expected to work out for Baltimore Ravens

Will Dez Bryant become another receiving target for Lamar Jackson in Baltimore?

The Baltimore Ravens are turning to a former Pro Bowl WR for a workout to see what he has left. It isn’t the NFL-suspended Antonio Brown. Rather, former Dallas Cowboys star Dez Bryant.

Per NFL.com:

NFL Network’s Jane Slater and Tom Pelissero reported Monday that Bryant is expected to travel to Baltimore this week for a workout with the Ravens, per sources informed of the situation.

Slater added that Bryant reached out to Ravens coach John Harbaugh before April’s draft about a potential workout and planted the seed again recently. Bryant has continued to work out in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including catching passes from Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes this offseason.

The former first-team All-Pro hasn’t played a regular-season snap since 2017. The Dallas Cowboys cut Bryant in the spring of 2018. He signed a one-year deal in New Orleans in Nov. 2018, but tore his Achilles tendon two days later, landing on injured reserve. He did not sign with a team last year.

Bryant compiled 7,459 yards and 73 TDs in eight seasons.

Report: Dez Bryant talking to clubs about a tryout, Ravens named as possibility

The former Cowboys WR has been working on his comeback; now with tryouts open again, he may get that chance with the Baltimore Ravens.

Former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant may indeed get his wish for a return to the National Football League. Cowboys fans hoping for a reunion with his former club, however, may be out of luck.

NFL insider Josina Anderson is reporting Bryant may be close to securing himself some workouts, now that the league has eased up on regulations put in place regarding free agent visits. Bryant, of course, has been lobbying hard to make a comeback after an Achilles tear ended his tenure with the New Orleans Saints after literally a matter of days. Anderson reports that Bryant is now in talks with the Baltimore Ravens “and some other teams” about an in-person tryout.

UPDATE: Bryant is confirmed to be working out for the Ravens this week, via NFL Network’s Jane Slater.

Bryant was a first-round pick for Dallas in 2010. After eight successful seasons and three Pro Bowls, he was cut prior to 2018’s training camp.

He sat out the first half of the 2018 regular season, reportedly spurning an offer to play in Cleveland. He was signed by the Saints in November of that year, but ruptured an Achilles tendon in just his second practice with the team.

After a grueling rehab that he often documented on social media, Bryant announced his desire to return to the NFL. He focused on a small handful of clubs, including his former employers in both Dallas and New Orleans.

There had been legitimate hope of Bryant returning to Dallas, with owner Jerry Jones even fanning the flames on more than one occasion. The selection of Oklahoma wideout CeeDee Lamb in the 2019 Draft threw some water on that fire. When Jones then talked Lamb into wearing Bryant’s old jersey number, the last ember seemed to be extinguished.

The league had shut down free agent visits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but announced just last week that they were lifting those restrictions.

Coincidentally or not, Bryant tweeted the following two days after that news release:

It will be hard for many Cowboys fans to see Bryant finally suit up for another squad after so many memorable moments in Dallas. But he’s worked his tail off to even be in a position to talk realistically about a comeback, especially at a position where most players see their skills fall off the edge of a table and never return. Bryant deserves the chance to go out and prove himself, and maybe even throw up the X a few more times.

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Report: Dez Bryant in talks with Ravens for workout

The Ravens are interested in expanding their wide receiver room with veteran Dez Bryant, potentially letting him work out for the team.

The Baltimore Ravens are in training camp, preparing for the 2020 regular season with their eyes set on Super Bowl LV. What’s a little extra help, especially from a Pro Bowl wide receiver? According to Josina Anderson, former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant has been talking with the Ravens about a potential workout.

If Baltimore really does have Bryant come in for a workout and like what they see, it would have the potential to be a low-risk, high-reward deal. Bryant last played football in 2017 for Dallas, meaning he’s been out of the game for two full seasons. But based on how he looks on Instagram, Bryant has been working hard to return to the field in some capacity.

As many might remember, Bryant turned down Baltimore’s advances back in 2018. Though the Ravens offered him a pretty big contract, Bryant instead signed with the New Orleans Saints before a torn Achilles ended his season before it began.

However, Bryant recently changed his tune. Earlier this offseason, Bryant called joining Baltimore one of his “dream goals.” He’s also retweeted photos of quarterback Lamar Jackson throwing the ball at training camp. When questioned by fans on Twitter about turning down the Ravens previously, Bryant said he hadn’t been mentally prepared to join a team like Baltimore at that time.

In his prime, there was no denying Bryant was a special player. Bryant eclipsed 1,200 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in each season between 2012-2014. Over eight years with the Cowboys, Bryant accounted for 7,459 receiving yards and 73 receiving touchdowns.

While Bryant might not be in his prime any longer, he is a big-bodied receiver with some speed and tons of experience. Not only could he still be force with Jackson throwing him the ball, but he could also be a well of knowledge for the younger receivers to learn from. In such a young wide receiver room, Bryant could be a great on-field mentor for the likes of Devin Duvernay, Marquise Brown, and Miles Boykin.

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