Nick

Boyle

Sure, catching touchdowns is fun, but have you ever tried snapping a ball longer than a normal snap? Boyle hasn’t done so at the professional level but is reportedly snapping long snaps through his kids’ Fisher Price basketball hoop -- and occasionally out into the road -- in hopes of an NFL holder one day appearing to catch said snaps. A veteran of the league who has served primarily as a blocker, Boyle has logged 90 regular season games in his career but saw a significant drop in playing time last season. A former high school long snapper, Boyle is attempting to re-learn the sweet science of long snapping and could earn an invite to training camp if he impresses at OTAs.

Boyle was waived from the Ravens in January after spending the past eight seasons with them. Limited to 17 games the last two years from a knee injury that required multiple surgeries, Boyle worked as a long snapper for teams at Maryland. The 30-year-old blocking tight end will need to prove he’s healthy to resurface this offseason.

With Baltimore since 2015, this is an inglorious to blocker Boyle’s Ravens tenure. He just has not been the same since wrecking his knee in the 2020 season. Approaching 30 with close to zero production over the past two years, Boyle unfortunately may not get a second chance with a different franchise.

Boyle’s salary of $5 million was lowered to $1.12 million with a $2.63 million signing bonus, and an additional million of his 2023 salary was changed to a roster bonus. The move creates $2.56 million in cap space and could be a predecessor to a Ravens move for one of the remaining available free agent wideouts. The Ravens also could be preparing for life without Boyle after spending two fourth-round picks on tight ends this year.

Boyle missed the second half of the 2020 season and spent the first 10 weeks on IR last year recovering from a knee injury that required two surgeries. The 29-year-old was never at full strength when he returned, casting some doubt over his career. The Ravens can’t count on Boyle at his pre-injury form and will likely bring in competition for the blocking tight end role this offseason.

Boyle, who missed the second half of 2020 with a knee injury and opened the year on IR, made his debut in Week 11. It’s possible his absence from practice was rep management, but three straight DNPs isn’t a good sign for his status. Mark Andrews would see a few extra snaps if Boyle sits this week.

Boyle has yet to play this season due to a knee injury he suffered almost a year ago to the day. He opened the year on injured reserve and returned to practice three weeks ago. Boyle is a skilled blocker and has four red zone scores over the past two seasons.

The Ravens opened the 21-day window for Boyle to be activated from injured reserve. He was spotted in a large knee brace and is still likely a week or two away from making his debut. Boyle suffered a season-ending knee injury late last year and opened the 2021 season on IR while recovering from the injury and subsequent surgeries. Although not a fantasy option, Boyle is a meaningful contributor to the Baltimore ground game. He is one of the league’s better blocking tight ends and has four touchdowns, all of which came in the red zone, over the past two years. His return will also shift Baltimore into more 2TE sets.

Boyle was activated from the PUP list a couple of weeks ago, but he’s evidently not all the way back from the gruesome knee injury that ended his 2020 season. He’ll be out for a minimum of three weeks as he continues his recovery.

Boyle’s status for Week 1 against the Raiders was unclear following a clean-up procedure stemming from his gruesome knee injury last November, but the 28-year-old passed his physical and should begin participating in practice (at least on a limited basis) as early as this week. Even so, Mark Andrews’ outlook as the overall TE4/5 in fantasy remains unscathed given his career-high snap rate in year one without Hayden Hurst in 2020.