Early yesterday, Albert Breer of NFL Network reported that the league has told teams that the projected 2014 Salary Cap will be $126.3M.
This projected number represents only a 2.68% increase over the 2013 Salary Cap of $123K, and continues to underlie the belief that the NFL owners played their cards very well during the last CBA negotiations. The NFLPA, on the other hand, is still waiting for their projected spike in the Cap to materialize.
ESTIMATED 2014 FRANCHISE TAG NUMBERS: Last month, Joel Corry of CBS Sports (and National Football Post) published his list of projected Franchise Tag amounts. Corry, a former player agent, projected the Tag numbers as follows:
These numbers should be of interest to Ravens fans because Ozzie Newsome & Co. may have to use the Franchise Tag on Offensive Tackle Eugene Monroe. While the team would likely prefer to reach an agreement on a long term contract with Monroe before the free agent period begins, recent history would seem to indicate that the use of the Franchise Tag may be necessary. If so, the cost to tag Monroe would be $11.126M.
If the Ravens are able to re-sign Monroe or decide against using the Franchise Tag on him, another possible candidate for the Franchise Tag could be Tight End Dennis Pitta. The Franchise Tag for tight ends is a much more affordable $6.709M and while Pitta’s play on Sunday may have eased concerns about his recovery, the use of the Franchise Tag could allow the team an extra year to gauge Pitta’s full recovery from his hip injury.
PRESENT 2014 CAP SPACE: The Ravens presently have 37 players under contract for 2014, amounting to a Salary Cap commitment of $111,872,323. That would put the Ravens at $13,925,802 under the projected Salary Cap of $126.3M, but again, that is with only 37 players under contract. Once the Ravens have tendered their Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) and Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFAs) that available Cap space will be greatly reduced.
In order to create some additional Cap space, the Ravens will likely release a few players who may have outlived their contract numbers.
Teams are now allowed to carry over excess Cap space from one year to another. Presently, the Ravens have around $1.5M in available 2013 Cap space. While that isn’t a large amount, every little bit will help, especially for a team that will likely be pretty tight against the Cap.
Follow Brian McFarland on Twitter @RavensSalaryCap
12 Responses
its going to be interesting to see where some of the Ravens go this year.
I see Cody, Oher, Dickson, Art Jones and Canty at least being gone this year with a few others looking for work after the season. It is going to be an interesting draft class for sure.
What is Canty’s contract like?
I agree with the others, I know Ozzie invested a lot in him, but I really worry about keeping Monroe and Pitta. They feel like they have all the leverage…
Canty’s release would save us $1.8M next year.
I think Sam Koch is gone and Vonta are the two that are definitely gone. With guys like Pitta and Monroe having expiring contracts, I don’t see any room for a $2.8M punter or a $2M fullback on a team that runs the ball especially poorly in I-formation.
Honestly, how often did they actually run out of the I?
Rudolph Brown Jr: Monroe and Pitta. I think Art Jones is big too. Great DT.
Darryl Smith definetly, over Jones.
Suggs and Ngata are the two longest standing Ravens and the two with the highest cap numbers…something has got to give either this year or next with them.
Well, Suggs should be a candidate for an extension to lower his cap number. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room with Ngata. It would cost the Ravens more to cut him than it would to keep him, so he stays. Leach and McClain are done for sure though.
Interesting how the O Line is one figure for all three positions but every other position is separate. Why I wonder?
Great comments, again folks. I’m interested in your well thoughtout comments. I tire of those so called fans that constantly bash other teams thru trash talk like on the NFL website.
Just a little confused by one comment. Can someone explain what “Teams are now allowed to carry over excess Cap space from one year to another.” means??
IC, it means that unused cap money not allocated in the current year can be added to the next year’s league mandated cap number. So for example the Ravens have $1.5M in cap money not allocated in 2013. If next season’s cap number is $126M, the Ravens can expand their cap to $127.5M by adding this year’s excess.