[News] 'Everything On The Table' With Potential Salary-Cap Casualties

[BR News]

The Ravens are expected to be tight against the salary cap this offseason, which means they will have some difficult roster decisions to make.

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[bluehen]

Just renegotiate Joe's contract!

[Black&purple#55]

Just renegotiate Joe's contract!

How many times?

[metalraven]

"Part of the reason Baltimore’s salary cap is difficult to navigate is the fact that they have quarterback Joe Flacco signed to a $120 million contract. Having one of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks eats up a sizable chunk of the cap space."

LOL - and what do we have to show for it?

Anyways, we're stuck, may as well make the best of it.

K. Lewis and Arrington just take up space. Doom has been almost worthless. So, bye, bye.

[metalraven]

Just renegotiate Joe's contract!

If it were only that easy...

[metalraven]

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

[ellicottraven]

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

Agreed! We need to start planning for life after Flacco anyway...

[ellicottraven]

  51 minutes ago, bluehen said:

Just renegotiate Joe's contract!

If it were only that easy...

Linta will have Joe threaten to leave and Joe'll do it gladly too.

[eze17]

"Part of the reason Baltimore’s salary cap is difficult to navigate is the fact that they have quarterback Joe Flacco signed to a $120 million contract. Having one of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks eats up a sizable chunk of the cap space."

LOL - and what do we have to show for it?

Anyways, we're stuck, may as well make the best of it.

K. Lewis and Arrington just take up space. Doom has been almost worthless. So, bye, bye.

A super bowl championship. It's that simple. Joe got paid for winning the big one, like it or not (And what real Raven fan would take a good statistical QB over a SB ring?). Pretty good on his part for waiting out and getting SB MVP=extra big pay day.

[Raven1995]

  35 minutes ago, metalraven said:

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

Agreed! We need to start planning for life after Flacco anyway...

We still have 2 more years to go. After the 2018 season would be the 1st year to try, if they tried earlier it would be too much Dead Money.

[Ravenpurple]

Really?! Aren't we tight against the cap EVERY year? And I am still failing to see the value that we should be realizing by spending on some of these more veteran players.

We are constantly tight against the cap, have a really aging roster, have had poor drafts (save for last year's I hope), and are absolutely handcuffed by Joe's huge contract. For heaven's sake, Ben Roethlisberger (spelling?), Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Matt Stafford, and Matt Ryan made LESS than Joe last year and are all putting up numbers substantially better than Joe's ( and have been at some point in the MVP discussion ). Bad spending. Bad.

I would rather blow this thing up and know that we are trying to move forward than continue to put band aids on this mess in effort to "try and surround" Joe with the talent to win. You surround Teddy Bridgewater, Jay Cutler, Carson Palmer, Alex Smith with talent to help them win because they can't carry a team, - not top tier QBs like we are paying Joe to be.

If everyone in local and national media, and majority of the fans (and probably coaches) agree he is not the kind of QB that will carry a team, then why are we paying him like one then? And don't give me that "well that is what the market says he should be paid" garbage either, - see above.

Of course since I posted this, Joe will have an MVP season next year, we will have a top 5 offense AND defense, and we will win the Superbowl. Then I will eat my words, - and gladly!!

[eze17]

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

Depends on where he falls...I'd like to see us take a QB in the general area of the 4th round, or maybe the comp pick we get for KO...not saying we need to get rid of Joe, but grooming a backup QB has no negative that I can see. Mallet is not the answer, and will more than likely will be paid well over what he's worth by some other team.

[b93333]

Unfortunately the dead money issue makes it impossible to cut Flacco for 3 more years. His poor play makes it impossible to unload him (and his contract) on another team. Thus we are stuck with him and the closest thing to a solution is to find a way to motivate him to play like he did before signing his mega-deal. How we would do this is the 64 dollar question.

[Raven1995]

Cap Specialist? They need to stop giving long deals. Rice, Ngata, Webb, Smith, Pitta and Flacco's Deals have all been Disasters. They need to get younger and cheaper.

[eze17]

I'll say it again: If the Raven's retain K. Lewis, this franchise is doomed. He has to have incriminating photos of someone, cause the dude looks awful on the field. So sad that he hasn't played like I thought he could.

[Tdot.to.Bmore]

If Flacco cares to win again he will help the team by restructuring. He has made enough money over the years and he is one of the main reasons our team is struggling. If he can't see this then we really need to look at QBs in the draft. Light a fire under him.

Doom and Webb must go just for the money.

[The Greek]

  52 minutes ago, metalraven said:

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

Depends on where he falls...I'd like to see us take a QB in the general area of the 4th round, or maybe the comp pick we get for KO...not saying we need to get rid of Joe, but grooming a backup QB has no negative that I can see. Mallet is not the answer, and will more than likely will be paid well over what he's worth by some other team.

i agree that some other team will offer more for mallett. we should draft a qb to possibly groom but wonder if we could live with lets say a ryan fitzpatrick if he is cheap enough.

[rmcjacket23]

If Flacco cares to win again he will help the team by restructuring. He has made enough money over the years and he is one of the main reasons our team is struggling. If he can't see this then we really need to look at QBs in the draft. Light a fire under him.

Doom and Webb must go just for the money.

Flacco is due to make just $6M next season. So you want him to restructure for less than that?

[metalraven]

  1 hour ago, metalraven said:

"Part of the reason Baltimore’s salary cap is difficult to navigate is the fact that they have quarterback Joe Flacco signed to a $120 million contract. Having one of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks eats up a sizable chunk of the cap space."

LOL - and what do we have to show for it?

Anyways, we're stuck, may as well make the best of it.

K. Lewis and Arrington just take up space. Doom has been almost worthless. So, bye, bye.

A super bowl championship. It's that simple. Joe got paid for winning the big one, like it or not (And what real Raven fan would take a good statistical QB over a SB ring?). Pretty good on his part for waiting out and getting SB MVP=extra big pay day.

I'm not questioning the decision to pay him. It had to be done. That's the market. Yes, Joe was smart for betting on himself. But post-super bowl, we have NOTHING to show for it. It's THAT simple. And who said anything about stats? I sure didn't. But since you brought it up, Joe's "stats" have sucked, and so has his record, since the SB.

[rmcjacket23]

Cap Specialist? They need to stop giving long deals. Rice, Ngata, Webb, Smith, Pitta and Flacco's Deals have all been Disasters. They need to get younger and cheaper.

They won't win anything if they stop handing out long term deals to everybody.

Ngata's deal was plenty good, Flacco's deal is standard for what QBs in the NFL get, and Jimmy Smith is worth every penny just by NOT being on the field.

Haven't you guys figured out just how significantly worse our defense becomes when he's not on the field?

[eze17]

  5 minutes ago, Tdot.to.Bmore said:

If Flacco cares to win again he will help the team by restructuring. He has made enough money over the years and he is one of the main reasons our team is struggling. If he can't see this then we really need to look at QBs in the draft. Light a fire under him.

Doom and Webb must go just for the money.

Flacco is due to make just $6M next season. So you want him to restructure for less than that?

Excellent point.

[eze17]

  18 minutes ago, eze17 said:

  1 hour ago, metalraven said:

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

Depends on where he falls...I'd like to see us take a QB in the general area of the 4th round, or maybe the comp pick we get for KO...not saying we need to get rid of Joe, but grooming a backup QB has no negative that I can see. Mallet is not the answer, and will more than likely will be paid well over what he's worth by some other team.

i agree that some other team will offer more for mallett. we should draft a qb to possibly groom but wonder if we could live with lets say a ryan fitzpatrick if he is cheap enough.

No.

[metalraven]

  59 minutes ago, metalraven said:

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

Depends on where he falls...I'd like to see us take a QB in the general area of the 4th round, or maybe the comp pick we get for KO...not saying we need to get rid of Joe, but grooming a backup QB has no negative that I can see. Mallet is not the answer, and will more than likely will be paid well over what he's worth by some other team.

Ya. I don't think we even should get rid of Joe. Joe ain't exactly the best, but he's still a good starting QB, and you simply can't throw that away. But yes, picking up a QB in the draft, grooming him until Joe's contract expires (I believe the rookie contract will expire simultaneously...correct if I'm wrong on that), and HOPEFULLY feeling confident enough to start him. I know it's a long shot, but hey...

[rmcjacket23]

Unfortunately the dead money issue makes it impossible to cut Flacco for 3 more years. His poor play makes it impossible to unload him (and his contract) on another team. Thus we are stuck with him and the closest thing to a solution is to find a way to motivate him to play like he did before signing his mega-deal. How we would do this is the 64 dollar question.

Lets clear a few things up...

1. His contract would actually be quite easy to trade, and MANY teams would love to trade for him. A team trading for him would have to pay him the following:

2017: $6M
2018: $12M
2019: $18.5M
2020: $20.25M
2021: $24.25M

Needless to say, a TON of teams would die to get him locked into a deal like this for that period of time. IF the Ravens somehow decided to trade him, the issue wouldn't be lack of suitors or the contract. It would be finding quality compensation for us to get back, in the form of multiple top draft picks, which would be the barrier to such a trade.

2. The obvious reasons why he WON'T be traded is because we have no interest in trading him due to it being incredibly hard to find somebody equal or better for several years, and the fact that trading him would increase his cap hit for 2017 up to $47.3M, which is more than 25% of the overall salary cap. So you'll be punting 2017 entirely, regardless of what you get back for him. Will need to cut many, many other players just to get under the salary cap at that point.

[OUravensfan]

28 minutes ago, Ravenpurple said:

Really?! Aren't we tight against the cap EVERY year? And I am still failing to see the value that we should be realizing by spending on some of these more veteran players.

We are constantly tight against the cap, have a really aging roster, have had poor drafts (save for last year's I hope), and are absolutely handcuffed by Joe's huge contract. For heaven's sake, Ben Roethlisberger (spelling?), Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Matt Stafford, and Matt Ryan made LESS than Joe last year and are all putting up numbers substantially better than Joe's ( and have been at some point in the MVP discussion ). Bad spending. Bad.

I would rather blow this thing up and know that we are trying to move forward than continue to put band aids on this mess in effort to "try and surround" Joe with the talent to win. You surround Teddy Bridgewater, Jay Cutler, Carson Palmer, Alex Smith with talent to help them win because they can't carry a team, - not top tier QBs like we are paying Joe to be.

If everyone in local and national media, and majority of the fans (and probably coaches) agree he is not the kind of QB that will carry a team, then why are we paying him like one then? And don't give me that "well that is what the market says he should be paid" garbage either, - see above.

Of course since I posted this, Joe will have an MVP season next year, we will have a top 5 offense AND defense, and we will win the Superbowl. Then I will eat my words, - and gladly!!

All those guys are surrounded by significantly more talented offensive weapons, a few mil difference between franchise QB contracts isn't the reason, prioritizing offensive weapons in the draft and FA is. Or just being better at scouting said offensive weapons in the draft and FA. And having competent offensive schemes. 

Edited January 5 by OUravensfan

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

  11 minutes ago, The Greek said:

  25 minutes ago, eze17 said:

  1 hour ago, metalraven said:

Honestly, I'd like to see us draft DeShone Kizer. He may fall because he lacks experience (not even two full seasons as NDs starter). If he does, we should take him, groom him. I think he's going to be a great QB. He has all of the tangibles; but he has a very competitive spirit, and he's tough.

Depends on where he falls...I'd like to see us take a QB in the general area of the 4th round, or maybe the comp pick we get for KO...not saying we need to get rid of Joe, but grooming a backup QB has no negative that I can see. Mallet is not the answer, and will more than likely will be paid well over what he's worth by some other team.

i agree that some other team will offer more for mallett. we should draft a qb to possibly groom but wonder if we could live with lets say a ryan fitzpatrick if he is cheap enough.

No.

Double no

[steelcityraven]

Not sure that I get it.... I understand that we are paying flacco a lot and that he eats up a chunk of the cap... but isn't that most teams dilemma? Brady is making 20million per , Rogers and Ben 21 per and more around the league and these teams are still finding ways to do it... Yes Joe is getting a little more then those guys but not enough to break the bank more. (granted his production is not on par with those guys and that don't help) but

Just from a salary cap perspective... that shouldn't break the bank. We have two
starting RBs that come and a bargain basement price.

We have a starting LT on a rookie contract. (those are big #s for most teams).

We have nearly an entire defensive front 7 on rookie contracts (or at least price friendly contracts). (with the exception of Suggs)

We have a bunch of middle of the pay scale TEs

We have one high paid CB
Heck...we even have Weddle at a good deal

(we do have a few people over paid- Zuttah, Webb, probably Joe, Elvis,) some we have to eat and some we should re-negotiate or off load but I think Joes contract is more of an excuse... (other teams are doing it and finding ways to be successful in spite of paying their QBs big contracts).

We need to do a little better job negotiating some of these contracts.
BTW should the Ray Rice contract expire this season also clearing some cap room for us?

[rmcjacket23]

3 minutes ago, metalraven said:

Ya. I don't think we even should get rid of Joe. Joe ain't exactly the best, but he's still a good starting QB, and you simply can't throw that away. But yes, picking up a QB in the draft, grooming him until Joe's contract expires (I believe the rookie contract will expire simultaneously...correct if I'm wrong on that), and HOPEFULLY feeling confident enough to start him. I know it's a long shot, but hey...

Sort of defeats the purpose of the drafted QB though.

For starters, I would like to see how many quality starting QBs there are in the league that sat behind somebody for literally like 3-5 years and "developed" into a good player. Aaron Rodgers is about the only example I see of this, and he sat 3 years... and that was over a decade ago. 

The entire benefit of rookie QBs playing well is that you get them for cheap. 

[b93333]

4 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

Lets clear a few things up...

1. His contract would actually be quite easy to trade, and MANY teams would love to trade for him. A team trading for him would have to pay him the following:

2017: $6M
2018: $12M
2019: $18.5M
2020: $20.25M
2021: $24.25M

Needless to say, a TON of teams would die to get him locked into a deal like this for that period of time. IF the Ravens somehow decided to trade him, the issue wouldn't be lack of suitors or the contract. It would be finding quality compensation for us to get back, in the form of multiple top draft picks, which would be the barrier to such a trade.

2. The obvious reasons why he WON'T be traded is because we have no interest in trading him due to it being incredibly hard to find somebody equal or better for several years, and the fact that trading him would increase his cap hit for 2017 up to $47.3M, which is more than 25% of the overall salary cap. So you'll be punting 2017 entirely, regardless of what you get back for him. Will need to cut many, many other players just to get under the salary cap at that point.

Per the Sunpapers... cap hit of 24.55 M in '17, 24.75 M in '18, 26.5 M in '19.  Check your facts please.

[metalraven]

  5 minutes ago, metalraven said:

Ya. I don't think we even should get rid of Joe. Joe ain't exactly the best, but he's still a good starting QB, and you simply can't throw that away. But yes, picking up a QB in the draft, grooming him until Joe's contract expires (I believe the rookie contract will expire simultaneously...correct if I'm wrong on that), and HOPEFULLY feeling confident enough to start him. I know it's a long shot, but hey...

Sort of defeats the purpose of the drafted QB though.

For starters, I would like to see how many quality starting QBs there are in the league that sat behind somebody for literally like 3-5 years and "developed" into a good player. Aaron Rodgers is about the only example I see of this, and he sat 3 years... and that was over a decade ago. 

The entire benefit of rookie QBs playing well is that you get them for cheap. 

Ya, good point. It's not like it used to be. Rookie QBs are generally drafted to start, not sit. I see what you mean.