2007 Ravens Salary Cap Status
The salary cap is the driving force behind competitive balance in the NFL. Its existence more than anything else, gives credence to the overused yet oftentimes appropriate clichés of “on any given Sunday†and “that’s why they play the game.â€
It is interesting that given its level of importance in the NFL, the salary cap is so often misunderstood by so many. Like the internet has become the backbone of communication and the flow of information in the world of business, similarly the salary cap is in many ways the central nervous system of the NFL.
The internet exists somewhere out there in cyberspace. In a way it’s a bit of a mystery to most in terms of how it works. The salary cap for most is equally as mysterious. The intent of this article is to try and remove some of the mystery particularly as it relates to the Ravens.
Keep in mind though that collecting salary cap data is truly an inexact science. It is especially so for a club like the Ravens, who, unlike teams such as the Redskins (who often prefer to announce exactly how much they have overpaid for their latest FA acquisition), rarely give out any contract details. As such, it is left to the fan to obtain the details of contracts from various local media sources (Aaron Wilson is very helpful; The Sun, not so much) and football-related websites (ESPN, KFFL, NFLPA, USAToday, etc.).
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the cap and how it will impact the Ravens moves this offseason and beyond.
Two recent media sources (see Note 1) have indicated that the Ravens were $5.7M under the cap by late in the season (the numbers I have compiled are very close to this, so, since all 3 are similar, I do think it is accurate). That said, that number is made up of only the 38 players that are currently under contract for 2007. The $5.7M in cap space also may increase or decrease due to some adjustments for incentives that were earned in 2006, but which will count in 2007, or incentives that were not earned in 2006, for which there will be a credit applied to the 2007 cap (which is set at $109M). It also does not include the 3 Restricted Free Agents (RFA) or the 11 Exclusive Rights Free Agents (EFA) that must be tendered contracts by the team prior to March 2nd.
Since the date of those media reports, two things have happened that has altered that $5.7M under figure:
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Terrell Suggs reached a salary escalator in the last game of the season, and his base salary jumped from $545K to $5M. This was originally reported as a $5M escalation of his base salary of $545K, but the NLFPA site recently increased his base salary to $5M, not $5.545M, so we’ll go with that. That would reduce the available cap space from $5.7M to $1.245M.
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The Ravens signed 5 former practice squad players to minimum salary deals. Those players were signed for $285K (Olson, Abiamiri, Pino, Contrell) and $360K (Bryant). Those signings put the Ravens over the cap by $255K.
It is important to note two things at this point: (1) teams do not need to be under the cap until March 2nd and (2) only the highest 51 salary cap figures (base salary + yearly pro-rata bonus share + roster bonus + incentives) count against the salary cap at this time of the year. This is called the Rule of 51.
At this point, since the Ravens only have 38 players under contract (See Note 2), they all presently count. Once the player total reaches 52, then that 52nd player, if he is among the top 51 cap numbers, will knock the 51st – or lowest – player off of the list for salary cap calculation purposes. The Rule of 51 is in affect until the beginning of the season. After the season starts, all players – be they on 53-man roster, Practice Squad, Injured Reserve or Physically Unable to Perform List – have to be fit under the cap.
The first order of business for the Ravens centers on Jamal Lewis. He is likely to be cut (and perhaps re-signed later, but that’s for another discussion). Jamal is due a $5M roster bonus and a $5M base salary in 2007, giving him a 2007 cap number of $11.667M. He won’t see that money. When he is released, Jamal will still count $3.333M against the cap although his release will save the team $8.334M in cap space. This would increase the available cap space to $8.079M before the tenders to the RFAs and EFAs.
The RFAs that will need to be tendered are BJ Sams, Devard Darling and Clarence Moore. There are 4 levels of RFA tenders based on the level of pay and the compensation their team would receive if another team signed them to an offer sheet and their present team declined to match that offer. My guess is that Sams will get the mid-tender offer, which will mean a tender of $1.3M. Darling and Moore, if tendered, will likely get the low tender (which would mean compensation of 3rd or 6th round pick, respectively – the original rounds in which they were drafted) and a base salary of $850K. I could see one of either Moore or Darling not being tendered, but the team will probably tender them both, at least initially.
The EFAs that will need to be tendered are Brian Rimpf, Matt Katula, Mike Smith, Evan Oglesby, Dennis Haley, Aityyah Ellison, Jamaine Winbourne Cory Ross, Ronnie Prude, Ike Nduwke and Mike Kracalik. These tenders are based on service time, and as best as I can figure, the first 7 will be tendered at $435K and the last 4 will be tendered at $360K. It is likely that all 11 will be tendered since these are some of the cheapest guys to fit under the cap, and some will likely not even count against the cap, since they will not be among the top 51 cap numbers on the team anyway.
If all of those players are tendered, then the Ravens will have 57 players under contract or tendered and will be $594K under the cap. But, this is where the Rule of 51 comes into play and the 6 lowest cap numbers will be removed from the calculation, thus increasing the available cap space by $1.86M. As such, barring any other moves, it appears that the Ravens will have approximately $2.454M in cap space heading into Free Agency.
If Jon Ogden decides to retire, there will be no major cap savings since his present cap number is $8.791M and the unaccounted-for bonus acceleration would count $8.034M, for a cap savings of only $748K. The only good thing that would come from Ogden’s retirement in 2007 is that his nearly $10.2M cap number for 2008 would be wiped totally off the books. If he plays this year and then retires next year, the Ravens will still have to account for over $5M in “dead money†(the remaining 2 years of bonus acceleration) in 2008.
There has obviously been a lot of discussion regarding the future of Adalius Thomas and the possibility of franchising him. To be able to do so, the Ravens will need at least $7.2M in cap space. They will also need to create cap space to re-sign a couple of their other 9 pending Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) – Tony Pashos, Ovie Mughelli, Jarret Johnson, Musa Smith, Gerome Sapp, Aubrayo Franklin, Tim Johnson, Nick Luchey and Alex Bannister.
And finally, come July, they will need additional cap space to signing their draft picks.
As such, to get AD franchised, the FO is going to have to create a lot of cap space either by restructuring or extending contracts or by releasing players (See Note 3). I don’t expect to see many players cut, since, for most, there’s not a lot of cap savings to be had. But, there are several players who are likely to face the “or else†scenario – i.e. take a pay cut or else face being released. Not surprisingly, the most likely candidates are on the Offensive Line:
1. Mike Flynn – present cap number, $2.8M, cap savings from release, 1.2M
2. Keydrick Vincent – present cap number, $2.017M, cap savings from release, 1.6M
3. Edwin Mulitalo – present cap number, $2.85M, cap savings from release, 299K or if released after June 1, cap savings of $2M (but $1.7M in “dead money†will count against 2008 cap).
The team could look to releasing some players after June 1, thereby being able to spread the cap hit out over this year and next year, but the Ravens’ front office has never been much for doing so. While it can greatly increase your cap space for the present year, it comes at the expense of adding “dead money†to the follow year’s cap.
Ozzie & Co. were very shrewd during the 2002 purge when they decided to get it all over with at once and didn’t wait until June 1 to cut anyone, thereby not carrying over any dead money and leaving themselves with a clean cap in 2003.
The team could also look to restructure a couple of deals, but they really don’t have a lot of viable candidates, at least without totally screwing up their future caps. A contract restructure is accomplished by taking a player’s base salary and reducing it to the veteran minimum and then turning the difference into bonus money, which is then pro-rated over the remaining years of the player’s contract. This is known as a “simple restructure†because the player isn’t receiving any additional money, it’s just paid out all at once in February or March, instead of in installments during the season.
Usually, it is best to do so with younger veterans, who are early in their contracts, because when a contract is restructured it’s essentially creating cap space in the present year at the expense of future cap space.
This is problematic for Ravens, since they don’t really have a lot of players who are ideal candidates for restructuring. It usually doesn’t make a lot of sense to restructure players like Ray Lewis, Jon Ogden, Samari Rolle, Derrick Mason, Trevor Pryce or Steve McNair because they are over 30 and aren’t likely to be around for more than 2-3 more years. While restructuring them will create more cap space for this year, it will only add to the money that will accelerate and count against the cap upon their departures in the not too distant future.
Even some of the younger guys aren’t of much help here either. Ed Reed just signed his extension last summer and his base salary is the veteran minimum, so it is impossible to restructure his deal to gain any cap relief. Terrell Suggs is in the last year of his contract, so short of an extension – which would be a really good move for the Ravens at this point (hint, hint) – he can’t be restructured either. Bart Scott will be in the second year of a 3-year deal, so, short of an extension (another good idea), he too is not a great candidate either. That said, a simple restructure for Scott could at least save them $1M against this year’s cap, although since 2008 will be the last year of his deal, it would add the entire $1M saved onto the 2008 cap.
Todd Heap, with a base salary of $2.7M, is the only other player who would really be of any help – at least, without possibly creating some major future ramifications. His base salary of $2.7M could be reduced to $545K and his cap number would be reduced by a little over $1.7M. Still, the numbers fall short of where the Ravens need to be in order to franchise AD. So, for all of these reasons, I will be surprised if they do end up using the franchise tag on AD.
In summary, the Ravens, if they want AD back, would be wiser to sign him to a long-term deal that would provide a much smaller 2007 cap number, say around $3M, as opposed to franchising him at over $7M. They should also look to get an extension done with Suggs (now, as opposed to August when they usually get these things done), which would lessen his cap number by around $2M. With the space created by those moves, along with a restructures of Heap ($1.7M in savings) and Scott ($1M in savings), the release of Vincent ($1.6M in savings) and a couple of other tweaks here and there, the Ravens could enter the Free Agent period with AD signed long-term and only Tony Pashos as a major need to re-sign (and minor moves needed for Mughelli, Smith, Johnson, Sapp, etc.) with around $6-7M in cap space available.
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Note 2: Click here for a list of pending Ravens FAs
Note 3: Click here for an extensive list of players who could be released and the cap implications.
Photo by Sabina Moran
Intro by Brian McFarland & Tony Lombardi
