Baltimore Ravens: Cleaning House Starts with Lardarius Webb and Elvis Dumervil
By Dan Salem
The Baltimore Ravens have a ton of dead money clogging their salary cap with lots of holes to fill on their roster. Cleaning house is the only answer, as the team says goodbye to its veterans.
We’re tackling each team in the league, traveling alphabetically to debate their biggest offseason issues. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.
TODD:
Kicker Justin Tucker is a free agent. How can the Baltimore Ravens recover if they lose his leg? Okay, in all seriousness, Baltimore has a few more pressing issues this offseason than who will start for at kicker in 2016. Namely, the team has a lot of ground to make up after last year’s debacle and essentially zero cap room coming to it! The Ravens have the oldest roster in the NFL to boot. Things aren’t looking up.
Joe Flacco needed lots more help on the offensive side last season. He will finally get wide receiver Breshad Perriman on the field in 2016, but that won’t be enough. The main problem is Flacco himself. He needs to restructure his contract in order to free up some space for Baltimore to maneuver. Flacco has a cap hit of more than $28 million in 2016 and over $31 million the following season.
The team will need to refill Kelechi Osemele‘s spot on the offensive line as well as add play-makers on that side of the ball. The defense has holes too. There may not be money available to even bring back the aforementioned Tucker.
The biggest issue for Baltimore is deciding who to cut. There are some big names on that list of possibilities. Defensive back Lardarius Webb is still a good player, yet he’s owed $10 million in 2016. $6 million of that is dead money, but the dead-money figure drops to $3 million after June 1. There is space to be found by cutting Webb.
The same goes for offensive tackle Eugene Monroe. He is a good player when healthy but has struggled to stay on the field. His cap hit for this coming season is $8.7 million, the fourth-highest on the team.
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What about outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil or tight end Dennis Pitta? These guys all have dead money on their contracts, but nearly every veteran player does. The unfortunate part for the Ravens is these are still useful guys that could help fill out a roster. Cutting them opens up another hole.
Do you see Baltimore essentially rolling back out what they had last season and trying to overcome the cap crunch? This is a roster that finished 5-11 mind you. The recourse is biting the bullet and cutting a number of popular players and replacing them with much cheaper (and probably worse) options.
DAN:
If I’m the owner of the Ravens, I’m beginning to worry about head coach John Harbaugh leaving for greener pastures. Considering the outlook for next season and the year after, with so much money tied up in a game managing quarterback, there isn’t a lot to like about this team’s prospects. So what should Ravens’ fans hope for? A complete washout of the roster.
Baltimore is a winning organization and one bad season does not define the team, its quarterback, or its head coach. Yet I was always a bit surprised with the total love affair with Joe Flacco. He’s done well for himself, yet never assumed the face of the franchise persona you want from an overpaid quarterback. That being said, I believe Flacco can win again in Baltimore. I also like his backup, Ryan Mallett, so trading Flacco isn’t out of the question. The Ravens must drop multiple players, hoping they can re-coup the talent in this year’s draft, or via cheaper free agent signings. They need roster flexibility.
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I’m cutting Lardarius Webb first and foremost, after June first. A three million dollar hit is tolerable when it comes with a seven million dollar cap savings. Perhaps they can work a trade prior to the start of June, but that money can go to paying Baltimore’s high draft picks. They select sixth overall at the moment and this year’s draft class is deep.
I’m also getting rid of Elvis Dumervil. Aging players, especially those over 30, tend to decline pretty quickly. I think this is most evident at running back and on defense. The draft is an excellent opportunity to fill the hole created by Dumervil. The story is similar with tight end Dennis Pitta. He’s an easy cut in June, considering he missed all of last season with a hip injury. A tight end is a quarterback’s best friend, but Pitta is the odd man out on offense.
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The Ravens can draft at least two starters with the 6th and 36th overall picks in the draft. They have a history of nailing top picks, and with so many holes to fill they can easily take the most talented players available. Clean house while you still have a home to be proud of. Flacco and Harbaugh can be winners next season, but few other big names will be around with them.