Last week, our 2013 offseason preview was posted and it has raised questions about how exactly the Ravens are going to create enough Salary Cap space to use the franchise tag on QB Joe Flacco and/or do what is going to be necessary to address other areas of need.
One of the chief avenues for creating Cap space is the release or retirement of players. The chart below will help answer some of those questions.
If the Ravens intend to, or are forced to, use the Franchise Tag on QB Joe Flacco, they are going to need to create a substantial amount of Salary Cap space and it’s likely going to have to come from the players on the following chart. The 2013 Franchise Tag for Quarterbacks has been estimated to be in the $14-15M range.
The team could also decide to restructure a contract or two. Likely candidates for restructures would be Guard Marshall Yanda, Linebacker Terrell Suggs and Defensive Tackle Haloti Ngata.
NOTE: The above chart does not include the calculations for any post-June 1 Releases. Over the past couple of seasons, the Ravens have moved away from this practice and a post-June 1 release does not provide the team any Cap relief until after June 1st. If the team does end up using the Franchise Tag, they will need to create that Cap space in March, not June, so post-June 1 releases probably aren’t likely to happen (plus, they push more dead money onto the 2014 Salary Cap).
8 Responses
The Ravens would be ill advised to franchise Joe Flacco
I agree with JAMES.. do not Franchise JOE..you will be forced to blow up the team…
Merry Christmas to alll raens fans…
Harry O
Sykesville, Md
I think Birk will retire or forced into retirement, J.McClain will be let go, Ray has retired so there is some savings, Bobbie Williams will be released, i can also see Cody being released. I can see Boldin taking a cut from his 6 mill owed to 3 mill and Jacoby taking a cut from 4 mill to 2 mill. That wil free up 15 mill. So technically we could sign Joey. I dont see us re-signing C.Williams. I do see us bring back Pitta, Kruger, Ellerbe, ect. I think the Ravens will try to find a LT in free agency. Maybe a Ryan Clady or J. Bushrod. I see them cutting Oher and getting a RT in the draft. Also bring in a Cheap Vet tackle as a back up. I can also see a cheap vet Center just in-case Gradkowski cant cut it. I think the team is going to get younger but also cut dead weight. I see the dead weight being-Oher, Considine, McClain, Cody, C.Williams, C.Johnson, Doss, L.Williams, D.Reed, as well as some others. Its not time for a full re-build but it is time to trim so fat and get younger.
Oh i do see Suggs and Yanda giving back some cap space to get a LT, and a very good LT at that. I think Joe should also say to the FO that if a good LT is signed he would sign a little cheaper so he can pro-long his career.
Doubt he would but it would make sense for him and the team.
I don’t see them releasing Oher and Doss is suppose to be Boldin’s replacement, McClain is a ? but the rest I agree with Tony O’s comment.
Have to drop Bolden and Jones . It’s painful , but needs to be done for the cap space
Re-signing Flacco will cause other painful choices as well , but it has to be done
Vonta Leach might also be gone.
What about Koch ($1.9//.6)?
Don’t let us drop our offense. Don’t drop our leaders or our up-and-comers. If we drop Boldin or Leach, our team will see that as our team not being faithful. It’s better to be known as someone who retained a player and it costed them a little then being known as Billicheck<–spelled that wrong, kind of emotional about Boldin and Leach leaving. Besides, why in the world would we dismantle our offense when we should be building on it? Sure, we sign Joe Flacco to half our money but is he the kind of guy to get it done without Boldin, #1 receiver, Jones, #3 receiver, and the best blocking fullback in Leach? Ray Rices job will get harder and so will Joe Flacco's. The goal is to win, and win superbowls. We can't if we can't throw or run. Our defense is already dismantled. Keep our offense and build our defense through the draft and let the injuried players get back to full health. Lardarius Webb, Ryan McBean, and Jameel McClain would be wise players to retain. If McBean is who the Ravens think he is, Haloti Ngata's job will get a lot easier, and therefore Terrell Suggs(Coming back angry after this year) will go on a rampage. Draft a middle linebacker, sign Ellerbe, let Kruger and Williams go. I don't want to let Ed Reed go because he's the leader. Everyone learns from him and looks up to him. Let him go and the team has a bad image. But if we do, we better sign DJ Swearinger. People respected our defense this year because of players like Reed, Anquan, and Jones. Those three are studs in all phases of the game(Defense, Offense, Special Teams) lose our studs and our respect and we have teams walking all over us.
The point is, I'm tired of hearing fans talk a bunch of smack when they don't know everything about the game. There's many aspects. Money, respect, image, business. I definitely don't know it all and I spend most of my free time reading and checking all this stuff out. So, stop making crazy remarks about Oher, Webb, Boldin, Jones, and every other starter leaving just to sign Joe Flacco because we have a huge problem if we go through with that.