Should the Baltimore Ravens bring in Dez Bryant?

While he chose not to sign with the Baltimore Ravens back in 2018, but could the team bring in Dez Bryant for 2020 and beyond?

The idea of having Dez Bryant on your football team is an exciting one. Bryant is a big-bodied receiver who is one of the best red-zone threats of the last decade. Bryant is a true leader in the locker room and a guy who you can build your wide receiving core around.

All of that was true back in 2014… Now, things are different. Dez Bryant hasn’t suited up for a game since 2017 after sitting out the majority of the 2018 season before signing with the New Orleans Saints, only to tear his Achilles tendon the same week. Bryant then sat out all of 2019.

Even before that Bryant was a shell of the receiver he once was. The same Dez Bryant that scored 41 touchdowns in a three-year span from 2012-2014, including three 1,000-yard seasons in the same stretch, has played 16 games just once since then. Bryant has been constantly slowed down by injuries since 2015 and his prime is far behind him.

So to recap, Dez Bryant has essentially been out of football for two years and hasn’t recorded a 1,000-yard season since 2014. It seems like an open and shut case that the Baltimore Ravens shouldn’t sign the 31-year old receiver. In fact, Baltimore may still be scorned after Bryant turned down upwards of $30 million from the team back in 2018.

However, the NFL is a business, and teams can overlook all sorts of problems if it means bettering their team. In this case, the Baltimore Ravens have a need at wide receiver and Dez Bryant seems to be interested in playing for them:

Now I know what you’re thinking, “He turned us down back then, why would we want him now?” Well, in Bryant’s defense, he noted he simply wasn’t ready to commit to what the Baltimore Ravens were all about:

This is a very vague explanation, so we should take it with a grain of salt. But is he wrong? Dez Bryant has been known to be a bit of a diva at times and he’s matured a lot since the last time he saw a football field. So much time away from the game has likely humbled Bryant from the character that he used to be.

Things are different in Baltimore, too. Where once wide receiver didn’t flock to Charm City because of the ineptitude of their offense, now everyone wants to come here. Thank Lamar Jackson for that. The Ravens offense is electric now and it’s not a wonder why Dez Bryant listed them as one of his preferred teams.

Jackson just tossed 36 touchdowns in 15 games this season. 17 of those went to Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown, while the rest were scattered around. Imagine having Dez Bryant join Andrews and Brown to form a dynamic trio of unstoppable touchdown machines. The thought is enticing, and the Ravens would be wise to entertain the thought.

Dez Bryant isn’t the receiver he once was, but I’m willing to bet he still has quite a bit left in the tank. The Baltimore Ravens would be wise to take a flier on him considering the current state of their wide receiver group. He can’t be worse than what they have and he could prove to be worth every penny if he can be anything like what he once was.