1.  RAY LEWIS’ “MYSTERIOUS” CONTRACT DETAILS:  When it was announced last week that Ray Lewis had agreed to terms on a 3-year, “incentive-laden” $22M contract, it was reported that the terms had to be approved by the NFLPA and the Commissioner’s Office before becoming final.  The explanation for this was that the incentives were highly complicated. 

On its face, an incentive-laden, “pay for play”, contract sounded like a pretty good deal for the Ravens because Lewis would have to earn his money and, given his age, protected the team against a sudden downturn in his performance.

However, it appears that those details as reported were not totally accurate, as Jason Cole of Yahoo.com indicates that the deal was actually 7 years in length with $15.5M “guaranteed”.

Piecing that Yahoo report together with information on Lewis’ base salaries from the NFLPA site, the structure of the contract would appear to be as follows:

So, it’s not exactly a small 3-year deal, as was reported.  In fact, there doesn’t appear to be anything incentive-laden about it (unless there are further incentives that have yet to be disclosed).

Still, the first 3 years of the contract do equal $22M, in accordance with the earlier reports, so it would appear that the aim of the deal is really a 3-year deal, with the last 4 years added on for Salary Cap purposes (i.e. to lower his present Cap number) and, likely, to stroke the ego of the player and his agent. 

The $15.5M in “guaranteed” money appears to basically equal all the amounts due over the first 2 years of the contract, but it remains to be seen whether they amounts are truly guaranteed or just used loosely to describe money that is likely to be paid.  Sometimes, the term “guaranteed” only guarantees against injury, so if the player is cut due to performance, the money is not owed and doesn’t have any Salary Cap implications.

So, if the 2010 Option Bonus and base salary are guaranteed against injury only (as was the case with the recent contract for Domonique Foxworth), then the Ravens could release Lewis after just one year and actually save $750K against the Cap, but while still having to carry $5M in dead money against the Cap (if there is one in 2010) because of the acceleration of unaccounted-for yearly bonus shares from the 2009 Signing Bonus.

If, on the other hand, the entire $15.5M is truly guaranteed, then Ray will play out at least the first 2 years of the deal.  If released before year 3, then the 2011 option bonus of $2M would not be paid and the Ravens would actually save $1M against the Salary Cap, but would have to account for $4.75M in dead money.  If released before year 4, the team would save $1.55M against the Cap, but would have to carry $4.85M against the Cap in dead money.

2.  MATT BIRK’S CONTRACT DETAILS:  Not all of center Matt Birk’s contract has been disclosed yet, but from what is known, a reasonably accurate picture of the Salary Cap ramifications can be determined.  Media reports indicated that Birk received a 3-year, $12M contract, which included $6M in “guaranteed” money with $9M paid out in the first 2 years of the deal.  The NFLPA site indicates that his base salaries are $1M (2009), $3M (2010) and $3M (2011).  Based on those numbers (and using the structure of the contract given to Domonique Foxworth), the following appears to be an accurate estimation of Birk’s deal:

The Signing Bonus and Reporting Bonus are structured so as to comply with the 30% Rule under the “last capped year” rules.  All of amounts given in 2009 represent the reported $6M in “guaranteed” money.

It is possible that the Signing Bonus may be more, while the Reporting Bonus would correspondingly be less, but that would increase Birk’s 2009 Cap number, which would seem to be an unlikely alternative for the team.

3.  NON-TENDERED RFAs RE-SIGNED:  In late February, the Ravens declined to offer RFA Tenders to Wide Receiver Marcus Maxwell and Cornerback Evan Oglesby.  The team was apparently unwilling to offer them the lowest RFA Tender of $1.01M.  Instead, the team re-signed them to lesser contracts.  Maxwell signed a one-year contract of $535K, while Oglesby received a contract of $620K.

4.  SALARY ESCALATORS:  Several Ravens had their 2009 base salaries increased due to performance based salary escalators.  As previously reported, Quarterback Joe Flacco’s base salary increased from $385K to $1.535M based on a playing time escalator of $750K and also a playoff victory escalator of $200K per playoff victory.

Two other players receive increased salaries:  Wide Receiver Mark Clayton’s 2009 base salary increased from $895K to $2.07M, an increase of $1.175M, while Cornerback Fabian Washington’s base salary increased by $200K, from $1.515M to $1.715M.

5.  SALARY CAP SPACE:  With the details of Ray Lewis’ contract now known, the Ravens are currently estimated to be $1.8M under the Salary Cap. 

The anticipated release or trade of Samari Rolle would create an additional $4.1M in Salary Cap space for the team.  The team could create additional Cap space by finally reaching a long term deal with Terrell Suggs or restructuring a contract or two.

(Link to Updated Salary Cap Spreadsheet)