[News] Eisenberg: Ravens Hope To Avoid Dead Money In 2016

[BR News]

Almost 15 percent of the salary cap in 2015 was dead money, and the Ravens hope it’s a lot less in 2016.

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[jravens13]

If Pitta doesn't retire or restructure to take the league minimum, he has lost all credibility in Baltimore.

[TorryGundy]

If Pitta retires, the dead money still counts for the Ravens. Either he will be a Post June first cut , or Best case scenario is he can play at a high level .

[ellicottraven]

Dennis Pitta has ruined us. No make it the front office who gave him a huge contract after his first hip fracture. Unforgivable. One reason why Flacco may play on his current cap number is his double tear of knee ligaments. I think the Ravens may be gun shy after the Pitta debacle.

[The Mom Gene]

With regard to Pitta... Isn't there a way to relieve some of that dead money by making him an assistant to the position coach or something like that??? I'd keep him around for that reason alone. Seeing him work with some of the other guys on the sidelines last year was awesome. He has a lot to contribute... If he can't play, there may be an option for him to give back in that way.

[ellicottraven]

If Pitta doesn't retire or restructure to take the league minimum, he has lost all credibility in Baltimore.

He won't retire or restructure.

[jravens13]

  1 hour ago, jravens13 said:

If Pitta doesn't retire or restructure to take the league minimum, he has lost all credibility in Baltimore.

He won't retire or restructure.

I will become a Pitta hater if that is the case. He got paid millions to rehab for the last 2 years. $11M Signing Bonus. $5 Million base. This year he is due another $5M. Not what we pay our players for.

[griffrb]

John, a great article to prepare us for another year of cap strap! Expect at least $12-$15M in dead money. Simply can't expect Pitta to return to form so count him as a loss; Suggs and Webb have restructured in the past and would be lucky if the team could get them to take a pay cut again. The well will run dry at some point and we could be looking at life without them and just like Ngata, try and get something in return in picks. Didn't vision Ngata leaving as such but that's reality as there is always a time to move on. The key is Joe and how much of a team player is he really? Does he truly value the concept of "team and foundation" in support of building and maintaining a winning program? Talk is cheap. Regardless of the future cap numbers and QB market, he should go with a 5-7 year contract at $17M per season guaranteed. Wishful thinking on my part - Leave some money on the table and we go win on the regular. That's a principle I learned in business and it's served us well: Make your money but don't be greedy; share the wealth and everyone wins! Someone else has adopted it too: http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/30/tom-brady-contract-nfl-patriots-salary-cap We'll find out as the drama continues. Go Ravens!

[hen826957]

So l guess that the Rice, Haloti, Jocoby dead money coming of the books didn't even help this cap either. Why does this team always be in leading the lead in dead money? We always be close against the salary cap. I understand that 1 to 2 seasons straight we might don't have enough space but every year. I want this team to have 15 million in cap space one time some flexibility. We need to manage better.

[rmcjacket23]

1 hour ago, jravens13 said:

I will become a Pitta hater if that is the case. He got paid millions to rehab for the last 2 years. $11M Signing Bonus. $5 Million base. This year he is due another $5M. Not what we pay our players for.

True, though he was substantially underpaid on his rookie deal, which nobody ever comments on.

The Ravens will cut him of he doesn't retire or take a large paycut, so this is all a moot point. Won't change his dead money much...it will still be substantial.

[rmcjacket23]

2 hours ago, The Mom Gene said:

With regard to Pitta... Isn't there a way to relieve some of that dead money by making him an assistant to the position coach or something like that??? I'd keep him around for that reason alone. Seeing him work with some of the other guys on the sidelines last year was awesome. He has a lot to contribute... If he can't play, there may be an option for him to give back in that way.

Nope, coach pay has nothing to do with salary cap spending.

[WNC-Raven]

So l guess that the Rice, Haloti, Jocoby dead money coming of the books didn't even help this cap either. Why does this team always be in leading the lead in dead money? We always be close against the salary cap. I understand that 1 to 2 seasons straight we might don't have enough space but every year. I want this team to have 15 million in cap space one time some flexibility. We need to manage better.

Part of the problem is having a fan base that thinks we should always pay our favorite players to retire a raven. Can you imagine the outcry that would happen if we let Suggs walk? Even though he will probably be more prone to injury at this point in his career and won't live up to expectations. Heck he may end up being a drag on our cap soon. What will you say then?

[Ravenous_Ravens]

So l guess that the Rice, Haloti, Jocoby dead money coming of the books didn't even help this cap either. Why does this team always be in leading the lead in dead money? We always be close against the salary cap. I understand that 1 to 2 seasons straight we might don't have enough space but every year. I want this team to have 15 million in cap space one time some flexibility. We need to manage better.

Well if the Ravens had that much cap space you'd probably be in the boat of they need to spend that money on some talent. Nothing wrong spending close to the cap, i mean that really is the goal, utilize whatever you have to work with to the fullest this year and the next, etc. If not for an unforeseen circumstance involving Rice, the dead money this past season would have been much more reasonable and a mute point.

[Drew P]

2 hours ago, ellicottraven said:

Dennis Pitta has ruined us. No make it the front office who gave him a huge contract after his first hip fracture. Unforgivable. One reason why Flacco may play on his current cap number is his double tear of knee ligaments. I think the Ravens may be gun shy after the Pitta debacle.

More like cap space shy.

 

[hen826957]

@WNC Raven well l'm mostly saying is don't let too much dead money ruined your cap situation and a ability to sign a player you want too keep. Mostly the dead money is the reason we always don't have space. l'm alright with having no space by signing players but not have 10 to 15% space gone because of dead money. We need to manage to keep it less dead money.

[rmcjacket23]

8 minutes ago, hen826957 said:

@WNC Raven well l'm mostly saying is don't let too much dead money ruined your cap situation and a ability to sign a player you want too keep. Mostly the dead money is the reason we always don't have space. l'm alright with having no space by signing players but not have 10 to 15% space gone because of dead money. We need to manage to keep it less dead money.

Managing dead money is largely overrated. Every team carries a decent amount, and it's the cap savings from the dead money that is mostly important.

Keep in mind that dead money is primarily for amounts already paid to players, so in many ways it's a sunk cost that the team can't always control.

[purpledown]

Keep Monroe.

[ravensnj]

Long term commitments in the NFL are scary. We need to be wiser with our decisions and lock down the younger players first.

[NCMan]

I've said it before and I'll say it again......and again. Signing Pitta to that last contract was the absolute dumbest contract in Ravens history. Bar none.

[rmcjacket23]

14 minutes ago, NCMan said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again......and again. Signing Pitta to that last contract was the absolute dumbest contract in Ravens history. Bar none.

Hindsight analysis is always appreciated and extremely productive.

[hen826957]

@rmcjacket23 right like l said decent amounts not loads of it. We always in a situation that loads of dead money is costing us space and its happen recently. Don't have loads of dead money ruined most of our cap space.

[designermaryland]

this article does not include pitta as dead money, which essentially he has been too. they are paying him to stand around on the sidelines doing nothing. i agree with others and have said it before but ngata and pitta were both such blatantly horrible contracts that i question the mental wherewithal of Newsome. i will bet they do the exact same thing with flacco and get hosed into $20 mil a year for 6 or 7 years, only to watch him flounder year after year on a steady decline. bad personnel decisions are becoming common.

[Maryland]

I would like Oz to get all of the bad money off the books asap, as in this year. This would mean cutting Pitta, Monroe, Webb, Canty, Daryl Smith, Bilukidi, and maybe Forsett if they feel comfortable with Allen, Taliaferro, and West at RB. It's a shame we didn't know last season was going to be such a bad one before it began; we could have cut Webb and Pitta and suffered the dead money then (hindsight is 20/20). Some bad contracts have been given out in the past few years--hopefully that's behind us.

 

/and this is not to suggest that we cannot re-sign these players. I would love to have Webb back to play safety for us, but not at 6 mil per year, which would put him in or near the top-10 highest-paid safeties in the league (depends who gets cut at the top). Even Monroe I would re-sign on a prove-it deal. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Maryland

[usmccharles]

8 hours ago, designermaryland said:

this article does not include pitta as dead money, which essentially he has been too. they are paying him to stand around on the sidelines doing nothing. i agree with others and have said it before but ngata and pitta were both such blatantly horrible contracts that i question the mental wherewithal of Newsome. i will bet they do the exact same thing with flacco and get hosed into $20 mil a year for 6 or 7 years, only to watch him flounder year after year on a steady decline. bad personnel decisions are becoming common.

Hate to break it to you, but considering market value, Joe is worth that 20 mill a year.  It would also be nice if the FO didn't set him up for fail and give him some legit weapons.  They gave him the big contract then traded away his best weapon.  They let Torrey walk without already having a replacement, huge mistake.  Joe also cant play defense....2 blown 14 point leads in NE, come on. 

30 minutes ago, Maryland said:

I would like Oz to get all of the bad money off the books asap, as in this year. This would mean cutting Pitta, Monroe, Webb, Canty, Daryl Smith, Bilukidi, and maybe Forsett if they feel comfortable with Allen, Taliaferro, and West at RB. It's a shame we didn't know last season was going to be such a bad one before it began; we could have cut Webb and Pitta and suffered the dead money then (hindsight is 20/20). Some bad contracts have been given out in the past few years--hopefully that's behind us.

That doesn't seem smart at all.  Ill give you Pitta for sure, as im sure everyone else would.  But if we cut Monroe and KO walks, that destroys basically our entire left side of the line.  If we cut Webb who takes his place? Elam?  Webb was getting the secondary in check when he moved to safety and I think that improves our secondary overall, especially with Jimmy being healthy.  You have to be able to get a decent replacement for the savings or have someone on roster that can replace them now.   I also am prolly in the minority but I don't think our RBs are anything special.  The savings to me isn't worth getting rid of Forsett.   You are suggesting 23million in dead money, meanwhile Bilukidi counts for a whopping 40grand.  With a cap savings of roughly 13mill.  Overall, we would not be a better team with the cap savings to sign players needed. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by usmccharles

[Maryland]

30 minutes ago, usmccharles said:

Hate to break it to you, but considering market value, Joe is worth that 20 mill a year.  It would also be nice if the FO didn't set him up for fail and give him some legit weapons.  They gave him the big contract then traded away his best weapon.  They let Torrey walk without already having a replacement, huge mistake.  Joe also cant play defense....2 blown 14 point leads in NE, come on. 

That doesn't seem smart at all.  Ill give you Pitta for sure, as im sure everyone else would.  But if we cut Monroe and KO walks, that destroys basically our entire left side of the line.  If we cut Webb who takes his place? Elam?  Webb was getting the secondary in check when he moved to safety and I think that improves our secondary overall, especially with Jimmy being healthy.  You have to be able to get a decent replacement for the savings or have someone on roster that can replace them now.   I also am prolly in the minority but I don't think our RBs are anything special.  The savings to me isn't worth getting rid of Forsett.   You are suggesting 23million in dead money, meanwhile Bilukidi counts for a whopping 40grand. 

I edited my post for clarification.

However, there are options out there who can do just as good of a job for much, much less. At LT, for example, you have Beatty, Bushrod, Beachum, and possibly Clady, all of whom are just as injury-prone as Monroe, but who could be signed for much less, likely 1-year prove-it deals. 

I think we could cut and re-sign Webb as we did with Canty last year. 

Bilukidi did very little last year, playing in only 4 games, so I don't see why anyone would defend keeping him.

Daryl Smith is getting old/slow. This is a young man's game. There are younger LBs like Orr who could step up and replace him. 

And I am not necessarily suggesting we cut Forsett because our other RBs are spectacular (Forsett is a good RB, and West seems average while Tali is injury-prone). What I am suggesting is that, if the coaching staff thinks our 3 RBs on rookie contracts is good enough, then they should keep the 3 rookie-deal RBs, whose combined cap hit is less than Forsett's, and cut Forsett. I don't think this should happen actually, but it could. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Maryland

[usmccharles]

56 minutes ago, Maryland said:

I edited my post for clarification.

However, there are options out there who can do just as good of a job for much, much less. At LT, for example, you have Beatty, Bushrod, Beachum, and possibly Clady, all of whom are just as injury-prone as Monroe, but who could be signed for much less, likely 1-year prove-it deals. 

I think we could cut and re-sign Webb as we did with Canty last year. 

Bilukidi did very little last year, playing in only 4 games, so I don't see why anyone would defend keeping him.

Daryl Smith is getting old/slow. This is a young man's game. There are younger LBs like Orr who could step up and replace him. 

And I am not necessarily suggesting we cut Forsett because our other RBs are spectacular (Forsett is a good RB, and West seems average while Tali is injury-prone). What I am suggesting is that, if the coaching staff thinks our 3 RBs on rookie contracts is good enough, then they should keep the 3 rookie-deal RBs, whose combined cap hit is less than Forsett's, and cut Forsett. I don't think this should happen actually, but it could. 

Ah I got ya, some valid points.  I didn't think of resigning Web at a cheaper price, because I like everyone would agree hes not worth  what hes getting at the moment.  I think Smith is worth keeping one more year because of his knowledge, especially if we draft Myles Jack, (who I want). 

I wasn't really defending Bilukidi, just stating he is only 40 grand on cap.  Honestly I don't know much about him, maybe just a camp body?

Getting rid of Monroe is risky for the savings.  I know he didn't play a lot and has injury concerns.  But if he and KO walks, that's just another new body on the OLine.

I know a lot of people are pleased with our RB situation, mainly because of depth, but im not at all.  I don't see any play makers back there.  Forsett I like because he has awesome patience and I believe is a great back in that system.  Allen and West are just another RB to me. 

[billiejean]

  4 hours ago, usmccharles said:

Hate to break it to you, but considering market value, Joe is worth that 20 mill a year.  It would also be nice if the FO didn't set him up for fail and give him some legit weapons.  They gave him the big contract then traded away his best weapon.  They let Torrey walk without already having a replacement, huge mistake.  Joe also cant play defense....2 blown 14 point leads in NE, come on. 

That doesn't seem smart at all.  Ill give you Pitta for sure, as im sure everyone else would.  But if we cut Monroe and KO walks, that destroys basically our entire left side of the line.  If we cut Webb who takes his place? Elam?  Webb was getting the secondary in check when he moved to safety and I think that improves our secondary overall, especially with Jimmy being healthy.  You have to be able to get a decent replacement for the savings or have someone on roster that can replace them now.   I also am prolly in the minority but I don't think our RBs are anything special.  The savings to me isn't worth getting rid of Forsett.   You are suggesting 23million in dead money, meanwhile Bilukidi counts for a whopping 40grand. 

I edited my post for clarification.

However, there are options out there who can do just as good of a job for much, much less. At LT, for example, you have Beatty, Bushrod, Beachum, and possibly Clady, all of whom are just as injury-prone as Monroe, but who could be signed for much less, likely 1-year prove-it deals. 

I think we could cut and re-sign Webb as we did with Canty last year. 

Bilukidi did very little last year, playing in only 4 games, so I don't see why anyone would defend keeping him.

Daryl Smith is getting old/slow. This is a young man's game. There are younger LBs like Orr who could step up and replace him. 

And I am not necessarily suggesting we cut Forsett because our other RBs are spectacular (Forsett is a good RB, and West seems average while Tali is injury-prone). What I am suggesting is that, if the coaching staff thinks our 3 RBs on rookie contracts is good enough, then they should keep the 3 rookie-deal RBs, whose combined cap hit is less than Forsett's, and cut Forsett. I don't think this should happen actually, but it could. 

what you are not understanding is that cutting someone doesn't automatically clear the team of dead money. You are not being realistic at all. The tackles you have mentioned will assuredly earn a contract greater than 1 mil a year.

[Purpleghost23]

all that money and he is duying nothing on the last two years it just amazes me.

[rmcjacket23]

4 hours ago, Maryland said:

I edited my post for clarification.

However, there are options out there who can do just as good of a job for much, much less. At LT, for example, you have Beatty, Bushrod, Beachum, and possibly Clady, all of whom are just as injury-prone as Monroe, but who could be signed for much less, likely 1-year prove-it deals. 

I think we could cut and re-sign Webb as we did with Canty last year. 

Bilukidi did very little last year, playing in only 4 games, so I don't see why anyone would defend keeping him.

Daryl Smith is getting old/slow. This is a young man's game. There are younger LBs like Orr who could step up and replace him. 

And I am not necessarily suggesting we cut Forsett because our other RBs are spectacular (Forsett is a good RB, and West seems average while Tali is injury-prone). What I am suggesting is that, if the coaching staff thinks our 3 RBs on rookie contracts is good enough, then they should keep the 3 rookie-deal RBs, whose combined cap hit is less than Forsett's, and cut Forsett. I don't think this should happen actually, but it could. 

As billiejean already pointed out, cutting a player and then resigning them doesn't get rid of the dead money. It still exists. Dead money is a fixed, sunk cost. There is no decision you can make that will get rid of it... the only option you have is to spread it out (1 player per year).

You can be a serial killer in prison for multiple murders and still count as dead money on a salary cap (literally). 

If you recall, in 2015, Canty cost $667K in dead money from his prior contract. That was from releasing him.

Typically, when a team cuts a player and immediately resigns them, its because they have a portion of their salary and/or a roster bonus that is due at a certain date, and the team doesn't want to pay it.

Edited February 17, 2016 by rmcjacket23

[757RavensFan]

4 hours ago, Maryland said:

I edited my post for clarification.

However, there are options out there who can do just as good of a job for much, much less. At LT, for example, you have Beatty, Bushrod, Beachum, and possibly Clady, all of whom are just as injury-prone as Monroe, but who could be signed for much less, likely 1-year prove-it deals. 

I think we could cut and re-sign Webb as we did with Canty last year. 

Bilukidi did very little last year, playing in only 4 games, so I don't see why anyone would defend keeping him.

Daryl Smith is getting old/slow. This is a young man's game. There are younger LBs like Orr who could step up and replace him. 

And I am not necessarily suggesting we cut Forsett because our other RBs are spectacular (Forsett is a good RB, and West seems average while Tali is injury-prone). What I am suggesting is that, if the coaching staff thinks our 3 RBs on rookie contracts is good enough, then they should keep the 3 rookie-deal RBs, whose combined cap hit is less than Forsett's, and cut Forsett. I don't think this should happen actually, but it could. 

I'd rather dance with the devil I know.  Why bring another injured prone players in hoping they'll play better than Monroe?  We would have to pay them this year plus eat Monroe's dead money. If you're going to talk about a one year deal, I'd rather keep Monroe this year and then cut him next year reducing his dead money impact.