The Baltimore Ravens are looking into the possibility of signing Owen Daniels, formerly of the Houston Texans, hoping to make him a backup or someone who features a lot in a two tight end formation, which we’ll probably see more of from them this season.
Adding Gary Kubiak to the coaching staff is probably the main reason for looking at Daniels, who played only five games last season because of an injury. The Texans released Daniels two weeks ago, and he’s been entertaining a couple of offers since then.
Daniels has been in the league since 2006, all of them with the Texans, all of them under Kubiak, who joined the team in the year Daniels was drafted. He has 385 career receptions in 100 games for 4617 yards and 29 touchdowns, usually featuring in multiple TE sets over the last few years.
Dennis Pitta hardly played for the Ravens last season because of a knee injury, allowing him to come back for only four games late in the season. Ed Dickson filled in for him as the team’s main tight end, but didn’t really make an impact in his 16 games. The Ravens signed Pitta to a five-year, $32 million deal last month, which means they see him as a meaningful part of their future, and Daniels, if he does join in, is probably going to get a role as the number 2 guy on the depth chart, maybe squeezing out Dickson from the rotation.
Pitta has been with the Ravens since 2010, being a big part of their Super Bowl in the 2012 season. He has a total of 122 receptions in 47 career games for 1244 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Ravens missed out on a title defense last season, not making the playoffs after a collapse in the final weeks of the season. The Texans did much worse, winning the first two games in 2013 before losing 14 consecutive games to end the season, leading Kubiak to leave and join the Ravens as the offensive coordinator.