Would the veteran receiver help the Baltimore Ravens win a championship?
When receiver Dez Bryant announced on social media Wednesday night that he was recovered from a torn Achilles’ tendon and was looking to join a team in the next two weeks, the… well, football Twitter went crazy.
Fans of nearly every team in the league began speculating about how Bryant could help their respective teams, while others simply poo-pooed the impact of Bryant’s return, suggesting that he is physically done. Ravens Twitter was pretty equally divided, from what I read.
Really, what it comes down to for the Ravens (currently sitting at 6-2 and a team that projects to be a championship contender at the midway mark of the season) is, “Can Dez Bryant improve their chances of winning the whole thing this particular season?”
This is not about the long-term. Not with a 31-year-old receiver who hasn’t played a game since 2017, and didn’t look particularly good throughout his last three seasons, failing to reach 1,000 yards in any of them, and missing 10 games in that stretch. The future is now for Bryant. Right now.
The Ravens should do their due diligence on Bryant, bring him in for a talk and work him out. If they feel that he can help, and he is willing to accept a role as a third-down, red-zone specialist, they need to bring him in. If he doesn’t impress them, and they don’t think he’ll bring one thing more than Miles Boykin, Willie Snead or Seth Roberts, they need to walk away.
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Leading or near the lead of the league in scoring offense, rushing yardage and total yards, the Ravens have a good thing going on that side of the ball. Bryant is not a dire need. He is not someone you sign now, thinking him and Marquise Brown will be your tandem for the next several seasons.
He is someone you sign only if you know from your talk with him that he’s fine catching two balls a game and blocking like crazy; if he’s proven to you in his workout that he can indeed catch those two important balls and block like crazy.
A one-year contract to a guy who has proven to you that he is healthy, able and willing to help is worth it. Bryant has proven to be a fierce competitor and extremely gifted contested-ball receiver, and could help this team in a key moment.
But only at the right price. If they get outbid, they get outbid. Now, if he was a pass-rusher…