NFL free agent guard Chester Pitts, one of the two original Houston Texans still in the league, has been trying to find a team for next season. Fans would love to see Pitts back in Battle Red and Steel Blue, but after a horrific injury forced him into season-ending microfracture surgery after week two, teams have been quite gun shy thus far in free agency. Yesterday word came in that he might not even make his original workout date of July 15th for teams:
↵↵↵The longtime Houston Texans guard said last month he planned to work out for NFL teams on July 15 and the Vikings were among five teams that had expressed interest.
↵However, according to NFL sources, no workout has been scheduled because Pitts still is recovering from microfracture knee surgery, and the Vikings haven't committed to attending whenever a workout does take place.
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Coming off of microfracture surgery is always risky business. It's still relatively new and something athletes tend to avoid doing unless they have no other options. Pitts is now around nine months clear of the operation and still hasn't even finished rehabbing.
↵I'm aware this could come off as rather speculatory, but I'm not sure there is an NFL career for Pitts to come back to at this point. He's got roughly a month until training camp starts, and a month after that until the season starts. He hasn't been able to keep his scheduled workout time, which gives teams even less notice to make a decision on bringing him into camp. At 31, he's no spring chicken, and rehab doesn't always mesh with the best workouts one could be doing to get in playing shape. If he's not ready to come back right away, a team signing him would have to be using a lot of projection for someone who would already normally be nearing the twilight of his career.
↵It's a shame this injury was hoisted on such a good guy, but the good news is that Pitts showed so much character as a TV analyst next year that he should have a career in the game even if he can't come back.
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