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Dennis Pitta

Dennis Pitta Won’t Play This Season

November 11th, 2015 at 8:22am CST by Luke Adams

After missing nearly the entire 2013 and 2014 seasons, Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta will sit out for the year again in 2015, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Pitta, who started the season on the PUP list, began practicing three weeks ago, so he would have had to be activated to the 53-man roster today in order to avoid being placed on season-ending IR.

Pitta, who has suffered multiple major hip injuries, has been advised by doctors that it’s not safe to return to the NFL at this point, sources tell Zrebiec. Although Pitta hoped to return anyway, Ravens officials and the coaching staff wanted him to follow the advice of those doctors, to avoid risking re-injury.

While he won’t play this season, Pitta isn’t announcing his retirement from the NFL just yet, suggesting he’s hoping he can make a comeback in 2016. However, his contract with Baltimore will no longer feature any guaranteed money after this season, so his place on the roster won’t be secure, and the 30-year-old has previously suggested his career might be over if he can’t return this season.

Since recording career-best marks in receptions (61), yards (669), and touchdowns (7) in 2012, Pitta has appeared in just seven games for the Ravens, having seeing his career derailed by health issues. It was only about 20 months ago that the Ravens signed Pitta to a five-year, $32MM contract extension, which included $16MM in guaranteed salary. Needless to say, Pitta hasn’t been able to provide much production over the life of that contract so far, and with his cap hit set to jump to $7.2MM next year, he seems unlikely to continue playing in Baltimore.

Extra Points: Gabbert, Pitta, Archer

November 9th, 2015 at 8:39pm CST by Zachary Links

No surprise here, but 49ers coach Jim Tomsula announced that Blaine Gabbert will start for SF once again when the Niners take on the Seahawks in Week 11, as Taylor Price of 49ers.com writes. Gabbert completed 15 of 25 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in Sunday’s Week 9 home win over the Falcons and, at least for now, it sounds like former starter Colin Kaepernick should make himself comfortable on the bench.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • A decision will be made by Wednesday on whether tight end Dennis Pitta makes a comeback this season from his second serious hip injury, as Clifton Brown of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. According to Ravens coach John Harbaugh, the decision comes down to Pitta’s long-term health, not his ability to play again. “He did look good in practice,” Harbaugh said. “We had a tough time covering him. He was doing stuff for the look team and made a bunch of plays out there. He just kind of looked like his old self out there. But don’t construe that as saying that he’s ready to go, because it’s not about that. The doctors are going to take a hard look at that, and help him decide, is this safe? It’s going to be based on how the hip is responding to the practices.” Pitta, 30, enjoyed his best season in 2012 when he helped the Ravens win a Super Bowl, catching 61 passes for 669 yards and seven touchdowns during the regular season, followed by 14 catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns during the playoffs.
  • The Saints worked out former Giants wide receiver Preston Parker on Monday, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Parker, 28, has 85 career receptions for 1,057 yards and five touchdowns.
  • Running back Dri Archer has passed on ten offers to join practice squads, including an offer from the Steelers, a league source tells Mike Florio of PFT. Archer, a third-round pick in 2014, instead plans to wait and see whether any opportunities arise to join a 53-man roster. Florio speculates that his opening might be with the Patriots now that Dion Lewis is done for the year.

North Notes: Finley, Levy, Robinson, Pitta

October 21st, 2015 at 3:01pm CST by Luke Adams

In an interview with Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, former Packers tight end Jermichael Finley discussed his decision to retire, explaining that some time away from the game helped him put things in perspective.

“Just watching games, the game is getting violent,” Finley said. “Every week you see something. In high school, you see a kid dying in a football game. I see someone in the NFL getting another neck injury or an ACL. Outside looking in, it’s not all that it’s made it to be. We’re so locked in as football player, it started to become our reality in life.”

While Finley wouldn’t confirm whether he was able to collect the $10MM insurance policy he took out before suffering his 2013 neck injury, he said he’s in a good place financially.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s North divisions:

  • Lions head coach Jim Caldwell told reporters today that linebacker DeAndre Levy underwent surgery on his hip and is doing fine. However, the team has yet to make a decision on whether or not Levy will go on IR, ending his season (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press).
  • Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson, who opened the season on the physically unable to perform list, is returning to practice this week, which means the club will have a three-week window in which to activate him, tweets Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
  • Another player who opened the year on the PUP list, Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta, returned to practice today, as Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tweets. Baltimore now has a three-week window to either activate Pitta and shut him down for the year, so the tight end – who admits that some people have urged him not to play again – will see how his hip feels and consult with family and doctors before making a decision (Twitter links via Zrebiec).

PUP, NFI Players Soon Eligible To Practice

October 19th, 2015 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

Week 6 of the NFL season will come to an end after Monday night’s game between the Giants and Eagles, and when teams begin preparing for Week 7, many clubs could be welcoming injured players back to practice. Six weeks into the NFL season, players who were placed on the physically unable to perform list or the non-football injury list prior to Week 1’s games will be eligible to return to the practice field.

Of course, just because those players are able to return to practice doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be healthy enough to do so. Players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player currently on the PUP list could return to the field for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest.

The rules for NFI players are similar to those for PUP players. If a player on either reserve list doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, his 2015 season will officially be over.

Here are the players currently on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list who can begin practicing as soon as this Tuesday:

And here are the players currently on their teams’ non-football injury or illness lists, who are also eligible to begin practicing this Tuesday:

  • Arizona Cardinals: WR Damond Powell
  • Buffalo Bills: CB Leodis McKelvin
  • Cincinnati Bengals: T Cedric Ogbuehi
  • Cleveland Browns: DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, TE Randall Telfer, RB Glenn Winston
  • Dallas Cowboys: LB Mark Nzeocha
  • Houston Texans: T David Quessenberry
  • Kansas City Chiefs: QB Tyler Bray
  • San Francisco 49ers: WR DeAndre Smelter
  • Seattle Seahawks: DT Jesse Williams

In addition to monitoring players on the PUP and NFI lists, it’s worth keeping an eye on players who have been placed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Teams can use this IR-DTR spot on one player per season, placing him on the injured reserve list without necessarily ruling him out for the season. As we explained in an earlier post, players given this designation can begin practicing after six weeks and can return after eight weeks.

That means that a player who was placed on IR-DTR prior to Week 1 can begin practicing on Tuesday, though he won’t be eligible to return to game action until Week 9. A player who was placed on IR-DTR after Week 1 will have to wait until next Tuesday – October 27 – to return to practice, while other IR-DTR players will have to wait until November to practice.

Here’s the list of players currently on IR-DTR who can begin practicing as soon as Tuesday:

Ravens, Bengals Cut Down To 75 Players

September 1st, 2015 at 11:02am CST by Luke Adams

Two AFC North rivals, the Ravens and the Bengals, have reduced their rosters to 75 players in advance of this afternoon’s deadline, the teams announced today.

The Ravens confirmed in a press release that they’ve officially placed Dennis Pitta on the reserve/PUP list, a move we heard weeks ago was coming. The club waived offensive lineman De’Ondre Wesley to get down to 75 players on the active roster, and also cut tackle Darryl Baldwin, who had been on the reserve/NFI list.

As for the Bengals, their roster had been at 78 players after they cut Denarius Moore and eight other players on Monday. Cincinnati’s final three roster moves, according to the team (via Twitter), were placing offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi on the reserve/NFI list, placing linebacker Sean Porter on the reserve/PUP list, and waiving wide receiver Onterio McCalebb with an injury designation.

Ogbuehi and Porter will now have to sit out at least the first six weeks of the regular season, while McCalebb will land on the Bengals’ IR list if and when he clears waivers.

Dennis Pitta To Start Season On PUP List

August 18th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta will start the 2015 regular season on the physically unable to perform list, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed today (Twitter link via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com). When it becomes official, the move will ensure that Pitta will remain on Baltimore’s reserve list for at least the first six weeks of the season.

After Week 6, players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player on the PUP list could theoretically return for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest. If the player doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, he’ll revert to season-ending injured reserve.

Pitta, 30, is trying to return from a fractured hip he sustained in Week 3 of last season. He suffered the same injury during training camp in July 2013, and this time around, his career could be in jeopardy. While the Ravens would welcome him back if he can return to the field later this season, the team likely won’t be counting on him to contribute down the stretch.

In parts of five seasons with the Ravens, Pitta has racked up 138 catches and 11 touchdowns – including career highs of 61 and seven, respectively, in 2012. The veteran tight end is entering the second season of a five-year, $32MM contract he signed with Baltimore last year.

Ravens Place Dennis Pitta On Active/PUP List

July 24th, 2015 at 4:21pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Ravens have placed injured tight end Dennis Pitta on the active/physically unable to perform list, ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports (via Twitter). Now that he’s on the PUP list, Pitta will have to partake in training camp at some point in order to be eligible to play during the first six weeks of the regular season. If he doesn’t, he won’t be able to make his 2015 debut until Week 7 at the earliest.

Pitta is trying to return from a fractured hip he suffered in Week 3 of last season. He suffered the same injury during training camp in July 2013, and this time his career could be in jeopardy, the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson wrote earlier this week.

In parts of five seasons with the Ravens, the 30-year-old has racked up 138 catches and 11 touchdowns – including career highs of 61 and seven, respectively, in both categories in 2012. He signed a five-year, $32MM contract to remain in Baltimore last year.

North Rumors: Packers, Pitta, Browns

July 21st, 2015 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Packers president Mark Murphy wasn’t thrilled to see his a handful of his players at the center of off-field incidents this offseason, with Datone Jones having been suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, while Letroy Guion and Andrew Quarless were each arrested and could be suspended as well. However, the team still doesn’t have any plans to release any of those players to send a message, as Murphy tells Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“While we’re disappointed in all the situations, we have to let the process play out and see exactly what happens in each situation,” Murphy said.

As we wait to see how Quarless’ legal situation plays out, and whether or not Guion receives discipline from the NFL, here are a few more items from around the league’s two North divisions:

  • Although Dennis Pitta has made “significant progress” in his recovery from a fractured and dislocated right hip, his NFL future is still up in the air. According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens tight end will likely begin the 2015 regular season on the physically unable to perform list, which would sideline him for at least the first six weeks. Pitta, who will earn a guaranteed $4MM base salary this year whether or not he plays, has yet to be medically cleared to practice.
  • In his latest piece for ESPNCleveland.com, Tony Grossi highlights the departure of former Browns director of player engagement Jamil Northcutt, suggesting that the so-called mutual parting reflects a “seeping rift” between head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer. Sources have told Grossi that Northcutt was a recipient of Farmer’s illegal in-game texts that earned the GM a four-game suspension, though another source says that’s not accurate.
  • The Vikings don’t have interest in free agent guard Evan Mathis, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that the team wants to see what it has in its young players. Minnesota could consider revisiting Mathis later if the club’s guard play is an issue.
  • U.S. Magistrate Judge Janie Mayeron has ordered the NFL and the Players Association into settlement negotiations in their battle over Vikings running back Adrian Peterson‘s suspension, writes Dave Campbell of The Associated Press. The legal fight stems from the NFLPA claiming that the league “deliberately ignored” Judge David Doty’s ruling when Doty sided with the union in rejecting arbitrator Harold Henderson’s decision to uphold Peterson’s suspension.

North Notes: Yanda, Bears, Ravens

June 16th, 2015 at 8:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Marshal Yanda told reporters, including Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter), that he’s not worried about working out a new contract with the Ravens.

“We’ll get it done when we get it done,” Yanda said.

The 30-year-old is entering the final season of his contract, a five-year, $32MM deal signed in 2011. Yanda’s +43.8 Pro Football Focus grade (subscription required) placed him atop the guard rankings in 2014 and was nearly double that of the next highest guard. Recently, PFR’s Dallas Robinson looked at Yanda and left guard Kelechi Osemele as extension candidates. Here’s more from the North divisions..

Ravens Notes: Pitta, Allen, Arrington

May 16th, 2015 at 2:30pm CST by Zachary Links

Dennis Pitta, who has suffered two serious hip injuries, believes that he’ll be back on the field in 2015. “I’m optimistic,” the Ravens tight end said, according to Ryan Mink of BaltimoreRavens.com. “I feel good. But obviously it’s a process. I have an idea in mind of where I’d like to be in a couple months, but at the same time you don’t know. I know what it felt like to do this one time. I’ve never known what it felt like to do it twice.” Recently, coach John Harbaugh said that Pitta has a chance to play this season, depending on how his surgically-repaired hip holds up. More on the Ravens..

  • It’s too early in the offseason to know anything for sure, but Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com took a stab at projecting the Ravens’ 53 man roster. At wide receiver, Hensley can see sixth-round pick Darren Waller getting bumped in favor of DeAndre Carter if he wins the team’s kick returner job. Meanwhile, former second-round pick Arthur Brown could be on the bubble with four talented inside linebackers ahead of him.
  • Hensley feels that Ravens rookie Buck Allen has the potential to be a starting running back in the NFL. The USC product has the ability to catch the ball as well as run it and that’s key in Marc Trestman’s offense.
  • Clifton Brown of CSNBaltimore.com looked at the Ravens‘ cornerback situation following the addition of Kyle Arrington.
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