Baltimore Ravens 5 Burning Free Agency Questions
Jan 10, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) looks on prior to the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
How will the Ravens free up cap space?
Well, Ngata’s future will obviously have bearings on the Ravens’ salary cap. But what other moves can general manager Ozzie Newsome make to free up some money?
Joe Flacco is set to account for $14 million of the 2015 cap. They will want to avoid restructuring his deal, because he is already due to cost the Ravens $28.60 million, $31.20 million and $24.80 million on the cap from 2016-2018 respectively. Adding to that would cause more problems than it would solve.
Cornerback Lardarius Webb will currently eat up $12 million of the cap. The Ravens have asked him to take a pay cut:
#Ravens are asking starting CB Lardarius Webb to reduce his 2015 salary, which is $8M. Cap hit is $12M, though. Unclear what he’ll decide.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2015
Unfortunately, if Webb declines the request, the Ravens don’t have an obvious solution. Cutting Webb would only save them $2 million in cap space, and they would still pay $10 million in dead money.
The Ravens might be forced to cut a player such as guard Marshal Yanda or cornerback Jimmy Smith. Releasing Yanda would make a $5.5 million cap saving; Smith would free up $6.90 million.
The problem the Ravens have is that they have little room to free up a big amount of cap space. This will make it challenging to retain the services of free agents such as Torrey Smith and Justin Forsett.
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