Before the Ravens signed Curtis Painter this spring, they had a few other quarterbacks in for workouts.
One of them was former Steelers backup Dennis Dixon, who got looks in a few other places without landing a job for the 2012 season. Now Painter is gone from Baltimore and Dixon looks like he’s coming to town. Jason LaCanfora of CBSSports.com reports that Dixon will sign with the Ravens as a member of their practice squad.
It seems odd that Dixon, who played in four games over four seasons with the Steelers, would have practice squad eligibility remaining, but his time as the Steelers’ third quarterback helps him in that regard. According to the CBA, “free agent players who were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during their only Accrued Season(s)” are eligble for the practice squad and Dixon’s pre-2011 work was mostly as a third quarterback which, at the time, didn’t count as being part of the Active List and he spent most of last year on the inactive list as well. If it still doesn’t quite fit that Dixon’s eligible for the practice squad, just remember that his presence on the Ravens practice squad means that he’s eligible in the eyes of the league.
Dixon’s first of three career starts came against the Ravens in 2009, a 20-17 Baltimore win that saw Dixon complete 12-of-26 passes for 145 yards with one running and one passing touchdown. Dixon started the first two games of the 2010 season while Ben Roethlisberger was suspended, but was lost for the season with a torn meniscus in the second of those games.
The Ravens kept only Tyrod Taylor behind Joe Flacco and he didn’t blow anyone’s doors off with his play during the preseason. That suggests the chances that Dixon could wend his way to the 53-man roster in Baltimore at some point this year aren’t so farfetched. Until that happens, Dixon will be making $5,700 a week on the practice squad.
That’s not quite as good as being on a roster in the first place, but it seems a good bit better than plying your trade in the UFL.