Ravens TE Dennis Pitta Could Be A Cap Casualty

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media mentions that one situation worth watching for the Ravens is the $5.5 million owed to veteran TE Dennis Pitta for the 2017 season. According to Garafolo, it’s possible the Ravens could release him and allow him to test the open market.

The Ravens have some notable free agents to address this offseason, so picking up some cap room by releasing Pitta could help them retain some of their priority free agents.

Some thought Pitta’s career could be over after multiple hip injuries, but he managed to work his way back and played in all 16 games for the Ravens last year.

Pitta, 31, is a former fourth-round pick of the Ravens back in 2010. Pitta is currently in the fourth year of his five-year, $32.5 million contract that includes $16 million guaranteed and set to make base salaries of $5.5 million over the final two years of the contract.

According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Pitta would free up $3.3 million of available cap space while creating $4.4 million in dead money. However, the Ravens could improve those figures to $5.5 million of cap space and $2.2 million of dead money by designating him as a post-June 1 release.

In 2016, Pitta appeared in all 16 games for the Ravens and caught 86 passes for 729 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 47 tight end out of 63 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Pitta and the Ravens as the news is available.