Earlier this week, Ravens’ CB Domonique Foxworth expressed frustration with the pace of his recovery from last August’s knee surgery and indicated that he wasn’t where he wanted to be at this point.  While it can be expected that there will be an adjustment period for Foxworth – both mentally and physically – he is now over a year removed from his surgery and it appears that he should be further along than he is now.  This situation has probably been made worse by the 5-month lockout, during which time, … Continue reading →

1ST ROUND PICK – JIMMY SMITH Status:  SIGNED – Five-year deal, worth $7.46M with a $3,926,000 bonus. Smith’s Salary Cap charges will be as follows: Year Signing Bonus Base Salary Cap Charge 2011 3,926,000 375,000 1,356,500 2012 714,000 1,446,500 2013 1,053,000 1,536,500 2014 1,392,000 1,626,500 2015 Note:  The 5th year of the deal is a team option year at an amount prescribed by the new CBA. 2nd ROUND PICK – TORREY SMITH: Status:  SIGNED – Four-year deal, worth $3.38M with a $946,900 bonus. Smith’s Salary Cap charges will be as … Continue reading →

1.       Impact of “Black Money” Releases: It’s been reported that the “Black Monday” releases of WR Derrick Mason, TE Todd Heap, RB Willis McGahee and DT Kelly Gregg has created $18.6M in Salary Cap space for the team. But that number isn’t entirely accurate.  The release of those players does remove $18.6M of what was attributable to those players (leaving $4.857M in “dead money” still counting against the 2011 Cap), but the overall impact on the Cap is a little less.  Why? Well at this time of the year, the … Continue reading →

Last week, with all of the uncertainty about just how the new Salary Cap rules would work, I finished my column with “Stay tuned……….”. Boy, I didn’t see this coming. This evening, multiple media outlets are reporting that the Ravens have informed TE Todd Heap, WR Derrick Mason, RB Willis McGahee and NT Kelly Gregg that they will be released later this week.  While McGahee’s and Gregg’s releases were somewhat predictable, the releases of Heap and Mason do come as a surprise, although the $9.1M in Cap savings certainly goes … Continue reading →

With the NFLPA and NFL owners seemingly close to coming to a final resolution of the labor impasse that has forced the league to shutdown since March, it’s now time to take a look at the coming Free Agent period and where the Ravens stand with the Salary Cap. First, though, I’ll start this article with a disclaimer, courtesy of a Twitter post by NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, who stated when referencing the new Cap rules – “no cap guy in the NFL even has a full handle on … Continue reading →

Over this past weekend, the Baltimore Sun’s Mike Preston sent many Baltimore Ravens fans into football La-La Land with his blog stating that the Ravens “will have an interest” in Free Agent CB Nnamdi Asomugha once a new CBA is agreed to.  This is the second recent mention of the Ravens and Asomugha in the last month, as Adam Schefter of the ESPN also recently speculated that the Ravens should not be dismissed as a potential landing spot for the talented Raider cornerback.  While neither Preston nor Schefter even bothered … Continue reading →

With the former Players’ Union and the league locked in a never-ending war of the blame game, the only thing football-related left for fans to focus on is the NFL draft set for late April.  This year’s draft will likely receive more attention, and scrutiny, than any draft in recent memory, because it’s very possible that the draft may be the last out-of-the-courtroom action the NFL sees for a long time. One remaining unknown leading up to the draft is the exact order that the draft will proceed.  The remaining … Continue reading →

Having taken the weekend to digest all of the reports, accusations and “what’s next’s” of the NFLPA’s decision to decertify and the NFL owner’s decision to impose a lockout, the following random thoughts come to mind: .         There is over $9B worth of revenue to be divided, both sides should have been able to find a way to make a deal.  Whether it’s greed or hubris, whatever, there is no way that both sides should not have been able to find a middle ground.  ·         What does 10 years of … Continue reading →

With the NFL offseason presently at a standstill – other than litigation between the parties – the strong possibility exists that the former NFLPA will be able to gain an injunction prohibiting a lockout by the NFL owners.  If this happens, then the offseason will likely commence some time in May. Under such a scenario, the NFL owners will be able to impose the rules under which the league would operate.  Most reports seem to indicate that it is likely that the NFL would re-impose last year’s “Uncapped Year” rules.  … Continue reading →

A CLARIFICATION ON A KEY ISSUE OF THE LABOR DEBATE When the NFLPA and NFL owners resume their negotiations before federal mediator, George H. Cohen, tomorrow morning, the key issue will still remain to be the division of the revenue of the league.  This is really the only issue that matters to both sides.  Other issues, like the 18-games season and a rookie salary cap are issues that will still need to be resolved, but aren’t issues that will be the cause of labor stoppage. This key issue – the … Continue reading →

Over the last several weeks the topic of a long term contract extension for Haloti Ngata has been debated and many have wondered why the Ravens’ Front Office has failed to sign their prized first round pick from the 2006 NFL Draft to a long term contract extension.  Instead of a new deal, the Ravens used their Franchise Tag on Ngata yesterday, thereby ensuring that they will either have Ngata on the team for 2011 or receive two 1st round picks in return for allowing him to leave. What many … Continue reading →

With today’s news that the Ravens have officially used the Franchise Tag on Defensive Tackle Haloti Ngata, there will be continued questions of why the Ravens’ Front Office has simply not just re-signed Ngata to the contract extension that nearly everyone believes he is deserving of. The simple answer is that the same rules that have limited the team’s ability to re-sign Ngata last year still exist and make it pretty much impossible to sign the two-time Pro Bowler to the type of contract that he can demand.  As was … Continue reading →

Now that the Super Bowl is over, the offseason has begun.  In fact, this week has already seen several veteran players released as teams start beginning to shape their rosters for 2011.  Just last night, the Cleveland Browns released 6 veteran players, including former Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Shaun Rogers.  While veterans are often released in advance of the start of a new league year, this February could see a high number of players released and, perhaps, an unusually high number of very highly paid ones. The Ravens’ Willis McGahee … Continue reading →

1.  RAVENS LIKELY TO HAVE 15 UFAs, NOT 6: Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome created some confusion during the team’s annual “State of the Ravens” Press Conference in mid-January when he said the Ravens only had 6 UFAs to re-sign.  This comment is likely just “Ozzie being Ozzie”, as he is often contrary and evasive when it comes to disclosing information publicly. What Ozzie indirectly referenced were the “Uncapped Year” rules that existed last season under which players only became Unrestricted Free Agents (UFAs) after accruing six (6) years of … Continue reading →

With the Ravens season now having come to an end – and the sting starting to wear off – it’s time to take a look at what the 2011 Ravens will look like.  With the league’s labor issues about to take front and center, it’s unclear what next season will look like, but they will – at some point – reach a deal and the Salary Cap will likely return in some fashion similar to what it looked like when it last applied in 2009.    So, with that in mind, … Continue reading →

With news that Ravens’ rookie Linebacker Sergio Kindle has a fractured skull and is unlikely to be reporting to the Ravens any time soon, the team has entered unprecedented waters with regard to how to handle their unsigned 2nd round pick. Owner Steven Bisciotti has indicated that the team will sign Kindle, ending the speculation of some that the team would look to simply cut ties with the talented, but trouble-plagued,  former Texas Longhorn.  However, Head Coach John Harbaugh disclosed that the Ravens’ Front Office has had discussions with the … Continue reading →

Midway through the 2009 season, DE Trevor Pryce was removed from the starting line-up and saw his playing time cut.  Now, it appears that Pryce’s salary has been cut too.   NFLPA records indicate that the Ravens and Pryce have recently agreed to a reduction in Pryce’s scheduled base salary of $4.5M.  Pryce is now slated to make only $2M in base salary for 2010.  It is likely that Pryce agreed to the reduced salary in order to remain with the team.   Had there been a Salary Cap in … Continue reading →

1.  RESTRICTED FREE AGENT (RFA) RULES HEADED INTO DRAFT:    As of last Friday, RFAs are no longer allowed to sign Offer Sheets with other teams.  This essentially makes those players the exclusive property of their current team.   Those players are not, at this time, required to sign the Tender they received and can sit out all offseason programs, OTAs and mini-camps if they choose to.    As of this writing, the following six (6) Ravens have yet to sign their RFA Tenders:  OT Jared Gaither, FB Le’Ron McClain, … Continue reading →

With the net loss of one draft pick in the Anquan Boldin trade and the disclosure that the Ravens 7th round pick is headed to Tampa Bay to complete the 2008 trade for Marques Douglas (which was first reported here over 2 weeks ago), many fans are looking for the Ravens to acquire a few more draft picks when the league announces the Compensatory draft picks at the end of the month. In fact, some fans seem to be expecting the team to receive multiple, high Compensatory picks when the … Continue reading →

ANQUAN BOLDIN’S CONRACT DETAILS:  Media reports indicate that WR Anquan Boldin’s new 4-year contract has a total value of $28M, with $25M of that being “new” money.  NFLPA records indicate that Boldin’s base salaries total $24M (2010: $2M; 2011-2013: $6M each year).  Based on those numbers, it would appear that Boldin will receive $8M in bonus money.  Given the relatively modest amount of bonus money, it’s likely that all of that bonus money was paid as a Signing Bonus in 2010.   Year Signing Bonus Base Salary Cap Charge 2010 … Continue reading →