[News] Late For Work 2/20: Ravens Can Double Salary-Cap Space With Rare Offseason Moves

[J. Naranjo]

We can double salary cap space pretty quickly -like the article said but that is before we try to sign Wags or Williams.... and those two could also wipe out a pretty big chunk. That does leave us with some tough decisions (mike Wallace, Pitta, Watson, LGuy, and Kamar). All those guys could be let go in an effort to clear more space but they could also all contribute in a big way. WE need to clear some money but we need production for our investment!

Guy and Kamar are already UFA, letting them go wont free any cap room. Plus Kamar is already gone, he said that, after being the leader last season but falling this year, it will factor in his free agency decision, translation, he is gone

[J. Naranjo]

  1 hour ago, omar586 said:

we're more likely to sign WAGNER than WILLIAMS,

I don't think so. $10 mil per is what the starting price for Wagner is. If we had to choose 1, Williams would be it. IMO

I dont expect Wagner to get 10M per unless someone overpays him like the raiders did with Osemele. 7 is what I expect but there are a ton of teams willing to overpaying a pretty good right tackle so who knows..

[ibleedpurpleandblack]

After reading who we would cut to create that much cap space - DO IT!!!!

[ellicottraven]

Okay here's something nobody seems to discuss. Yes we are at that time when free agency begins and we could lose some players. However, what I don't get is that we are going to cut 3 productive players (or players that can be) in Doom, Wallace and Webby to keep 3 other players that were here the entire last season (8-8)?

So how is that extra space going to help us? It keeps Williams, Wagner and Juice (not even Guy who's the most important imo) and releases Wallace who was the only game changer on offense last year, Webb who did fairly well as a safety and Doom who was hurt but if healthy can easily have double digit sacks for us? Doesn't make sense and doesn't assure us that our season is going to be better than 8-8. If anything we'll only be worse don't you think?

[ellicottraven]

Also why is Pat Moriarty, Ozzie and John given a free pass in how we are pressed against the max cap every year? Forget that, the amount of dead money that keeps getting accumulated? That directly falls on these guys' heads. Dead money only means wasted money period. We have much more than the average share of dead money every year.

How is it that the Patriots who have a SB winning HC/GM do such a great job managing their cap? They have 3 times the cap space we do and yet are contenders year in and year out! Time to turn the focus back on the our front office and coaches. They aren't doing a great job at cap management period.

[robbie29]

I really hope we don't cut Zuttah. There are no linemen currently on the roster who would be an upgrade, and there are no improvements available via free agency. I don't know of any legit, starting-calibre centers available via the draft either. Also- Zuttah was the only guy on the line who started all 16 games last year. Considering Baltimore's terrible luck keepinig guys healthy, we need all the reliable guys we can get.

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

I really hope we don't cut Zuttah. There are no linemen currently on the roster who would be an upgrade, and there are no improvements available via free agency. I don't know of any legit, starting-calibre centers available via the draft either. Also- Zuttah was the only guy on the line who started all 16 games last year. Considering Baltimore's terrible luck keepinig guys healthy, we need all the reliable guys we can get.

Zuttah is the week link

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

  2 hours ago, leziRav said:

Ok but are you sure the pass rusher that will drafted will be good? Are you sure that Judon and Z.Smith will be better next year? That is why you need Dum at reduced price in the team.When healthy, he is our best pass rusher after Suggs. He is a proven pass rusher and has only been bad because of injury. Even while injuried, he still has a better sack number than all of our young pass rushers. If he takes a pay cut, he will help the team. If cut he will be good in another team. We need Dum, Webb, Pitta and Wallace at reduced prise. They still have things to give to the team and help develop the young kids in the team.

Don't expect Dumervil to take a pay cut. Many teams with huge cap space will pay him what he wants.

let them have him

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

  2 hours ago, omar586 said:

we're more likely to sign WAGNER than WILLIAMS,

I don't think so. $10 mil per is what the starting price for Wagner is. If we had to choose 1, Williams would be it. IMO

wagners not getting 10 mill a year period

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

  2 hours ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

webb has to go and if A Levin is your secondary depth then you have no secondary

webb played really well for a first year safety and you cant lose so many people in the secondary without a solid plan. Levine, mat telam, jerraud powers are all ufa, kendrick lewis and kyle arrington have to be cut. if you add webb to that list you have eric weddle and marqueston huff as your only safeties. levine is a solid back up and pretty good special teamer, he wont cost much to keep and webb has to stay with so many turnaround going on

webb played terrible and so did Levine and all those players you just named will all be thankfully cut

[omar586]

3 hours ago, TheRavengers said:

I'd prefer to keep both but if that's the case then we've got no less than 3 guys who can easily fill in for Williams if he's gone. 

exactly, pierce, willie, and davis can rotate and try to replace williams. wagner's loss would be huge b/c we have had OL issues all last season, so i would have him as the #1 priority, we need to stop this turnover at the OL position, it kills the offense, run game, passing game.

[robbie29]

51 minutes ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

1 hour ago, robbie29 said:

I really hope we don't cut Zuttah. There are no linemen currently on the roster who would be an upgrade, and there are no improvements available via free agency. I don't know of any legit, starting-calibre centers available via the draft either. Also- Zuttah was the only guy on the line who started all 16 games last year. Considering Baltimore's terrible luck keepinig guys healthy, we need all the reliable guys we can get.

Zuttah is the week link

I disagree 100% that Zuttah is the weak link. He may have been a late addition to the Pro Bowl roster, but even that is pretty clear evidence that the guy is above average. We're in a much better position at Center than most NFL teams. Unfortunately, the guy we have taking snaps is worse than most other NFL teams.

Edited February 20 by robbie29

[omar586]

who knows what ozzie is cooking right now. ravens to do list:

1. our coaches need to commit to the run game and be creative to put players to be more productive.
2. beef up the OL, we need C/G, G/T, Yanda is getting up there with age.
3. secondary needs depth as well, at least another 2 CBs, another FS.
4. pass rushers is a top priority this off season, at least 2.
5. WR through FA is our best bet, we obviously can't draft and develop WR no matter what round we pick. i'm hoping GARCON will be scooped up by ozzie, or maybe MARSHALL after he gets cut.
6. ORR's void will be probably filled thru draft/UDFA route, which we have did before, maybe we need to give LOUIS or ONWUNSOR  shot to proof themselves.
7. FB position will be filled in draft most likely, juice will b paid by one of the 31 teams.

[J.O.14]

Okay here's something nobody seems to discuss. Yes we are at that time when free agency begins and we could lose some players. However, what I don't get is that we are going to cut 3 productive players (or players that can be) in Doom, Wallace and Webby to keep 3 other players that were here the entire last season (8-8)?

So how is that extra space going to help us? It keeps Williams, Wagner and Juice (not even Guy who's the most important imo) and releases Wallace who was the only game changer on offense last year, Webb who did fairly well as a safety and Doom who was hurt but if healthy can easily have double digit sacks for us? Doesn't make sense and doesn't assure us that our season is going to be better than 8-8. If anything we'll only be worse don't you think?

We don't have to release Wallace. His name wasn't mentioned. If we release Wallace, that would create even more. I don't want to release Wallace, we need to keep some consistency with our offense.
Now Webb and Doom are different stories. If we release Webb, we could have the opportunity to sign someone who is just as productive and a lot younger. I wouldn't be to upset if we did release Webb, and I wouldn't mind if we kept him. He did play fairly well for his first year in transition. Dumervil is interesting. He's 33 years old, 8.5 million in cap space. Its a risk if we keep him at the current price tag and hope he can return to form. We have young pass rushers, and could sign another one that is younger and just as productive if not more. We could create a lot of space with releasing players who we could fill the void they will leave. Its going to be interesting to see what Oz and company do.

[Chuckx999]

OK, we have been 8 and 8 with what we have had the past few years and most of them are getting older, slower and want more money to do less. Let's cut as much of the old and slow and get some SPEED.
1st round get a CB or edge guy or TE Howard from Ala.
2nd round LB or another CB, our secondary just sucks.
3rd round O Line or RB. RB's that we have are just bad.
4th round Ozzie can waste a pick on another WR that has speed, but must be able to catch. Something we don't have now, but Ozzie just can't pick WR's worth a damm.
I would trade 5, 6 and 7 to move up into the 2,3 or 4th rounds. We have plenty of projects/bench warmers.

[Adreme]

1 hour ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

wagners not getting 10 mill a year period

OL is a position that's value has been going way up over the past few years and people are going to look at Oakland and Dallas and want to imitate their recipe so I can see him getting that especially considering he is a top 5 at his position and has been for a couple years.

[FloridalovesRavens]

Also why is Pat Moriarty, Ozzie and John given a free pass in how we are pressed against the max cap every year? Forget that, the amount of dead money that keeps getting accumulated? That directly falls on these guys' heads. Dead money only means wasted money period. We have much more than the average share of dead money every year.

How is it that the Patriots who have a SB winning HC/GM do such a great job managing their cap? They have 3 times the cap space we do and yet are contenders year in and year out! Time to turn the focus back on the our front office and coaches. They aren't doing a great job at cap management period.

They cheat!

[Ravenous_Ravens]

Before dipping into FA for (a) pass rusher(s), fix the secondary. IMHO that will greatly improve the pass rush.

Plus last draft, they went pass rusher crazy instead of secondary and look what happened. If they draft a lot of pass rushers again then we know their thoughts on last years pas rushers..

[FloridalovesRavens]

Cap space won't get better until we lose the huge contract we are overpaying our QB. We are a ton of pieces short not to take into consideration the players who will be injured as well and need replaced before the season is over. I have said it before, other great qbs have cut their salary so they can put pieces around them. Flacco has had two huge contracts now and has enough money to keep 10 generations of Flaccos in the moolah. It is time he starts being a team player from putting in the hours, to giving back some money so we can be competitive. If he doesn't then clearly he isn't interested in being a team player and in two years when we can afford to get rid of him, we need to do it.

Yes, when we are winning, then he deserves the money, but we havent had a winning season in 3 years so no way should he be paid the money he is paid, especially since he ranks in the bottom third of the league. Ozzie needs to sit him down and make him understand the score.

You need to understand that he already redid his contract once. He doesn't need to take less. Get over it please. There are other ways to save money and that's not it.

[fluffy201]

I really hope we don't cut Zuttah. There are no linemen currently on the roster who would be an upgrade, and there are no improvements available via free agency. I don't know of any legit, starting-calibre centers available via the draft either. Also- Zuttah was the only guy on the line who started all 16 games last year. Considering Baltimore's terrible luck keepinig guys healthy, we need all the reliable guys we can get.

It's not a huge cap savings and he should only be cut if the ravens can find a better replacement. I think cutting the six veterans above would be wise along with Pitta and Watson. Yea I know Pitta was the best pass catching tight end (helps when the quarterback has no one else to throw to too), but I feel everyone above is just average at this point in their careers and the Ravens need to get out of these big contracts on players that aren't producing at a high level. I also think Brandon Williams is replaceable and that Wagner should be more of a priority than Williams, given the Ravens O Line woes throughout the past few years. I am also not completely sold on Wallace, who relies solely on speed to get open. Also, the Ravens receivers are just not good, so it is hard to compare him to other receivers on the team. Moreover, Wallace may indeed just be better than the Ravens current receivers, which sadly isn't saying much.

[bigcatfrank1]

  2 hours ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

  2 hours ago, robbie29 said:

I really hope we don't cut Zuttah. There are no linemen currently on the roster who would be an upgrade, and there are no improvements available via free agency. I don't know of any legit, starting-calibre centers available via the draft either. Also- Zuttah was the only guy on the line who started all 16 games last year. Considering Baltimore's terrible luck keepinig guys healthy, we need all the reliable guys we can get.

Zuttah is the week link

I disagree 100% that Zuttah is the weak link. He may have been a late addition to the Pro Bowl roster, but even that is pretty clear evidence that the guy is above average. We're in a much better position at Center than most NFL teams. Unfortunately, the guy we have taking snaps is worse than most other NFL teams.

I would give up Zuttah before Webb. Zuttah is just as replaceable with a top Center draft. I wouldn't be so sure about Webb being replaced but hey go for it, get the Safety, Center and CB 1, 2, and 3.

Your QB opinion has little factual basis, unless Flacco has 3 more bad years. I don't see that coming, but hey he wouldn't be the first NFL QB to fall flat.

[The Greek]

cut the whole team including the front office and coaching staff

[The Greek]

would be nice to see flacco take a minimal pay cut which would help resign some guys or bring in a free agent or 2 but he now has 4 kids so i doubt it is even a thought in his mind

[whobilly]

  5 hours ago, fusuymada said:

Cap space won't get better until we lose the huge contract we are overpaying our QB. We are a ton of pieces short not to take into consideration the players who will be injured as well and need replaced before the season is over. I have said it before, other great qbs have cut their salary so they can put pieces around them. Flacco has had two huge contracts now and has enough money to keep 10 generations of Flaccos in the moolah. It is time he starts being a team player from putting in the hours, to giving back some money so we can be competitive. If he doesn't then clearly he isn't interested in being a team player and in two years when we can afford to get rid of him, we need to do it.

Yes, when we are winning, then he deserves the money, but we havent had a winning season in 3 years so no way should he be paid the money he is paid, especially since he ranks in the bottom third of the league. Ozzie needs to sit him down and make him understand the score.

You need to understand that he already redid his contract once. He doesn't need to take less. Get over it please. There are other ways to save money and that's not it.

So true. I wish people actually had an understanding of how contracts work prior to going on a worthless rant that makes them look stupid.

[purpledown]

Will the Ravens ever have salary cap room?

[JimmyBlack]

3 hours ago, Ravenous_Ravens said:

Before dipping into FA for (a) pass rusher(s), fix the secondary. IMHO that will greatly improve the pass rush.

Plus last draft, they went pass rusher crazy instead of secondary and look what happened. If they draft a lot of pass rushers again then we know their thoughts on last years pas rushers..

I see us taking a CB and S in the first 2 rounds of the draft.

[huntrgathrr]

I would have no problem letting Webb or Dumervil go. We should trade up for 2 high round corners and a safety. Replacements for Orr and Williams can be found in the early and mid rounds. Kafusi and Correa have to come up big this year..
Wallace also can go as he is too expensive for what he contributes. I think Waller and Perriman will step up this year so keeping Aiken and adding a couple of receivers in the early rounds would be wise from a cap space viewpoint.
Maxx Williams and Boyle need to emerge this year to complement Pitta. Pitta showed he is fully healed and had a pretty good year, often making 9-10 catches a game.
I'm happy with West and Dixon as well as Juice at RB. The hit Juice put on Mitchell on Christmas Day to score the go ahead TD showed me the guy can be a real contributor next year.
I hope they find a way to keep Wagner and Brandon Williams as it will be a big loss if they lose them both.

[Ravens8383]

I don't see the point in cutting both Lewis & Webb. If this happens The Ravens open a bigger hole at safety than there already is. By keeping one of these guys then at least you have a back-up who has some play making ability if they guy they bring in is a bust.

[billiejean]

I would have no problem letting Webb or Dumervil go. We should trade up for 2 high round corners and a safety. Replacements for Orr and Williams can be found in the early and mid rounds. Kafusi and Correa have to come up big this year..
Wallace also can go as he is too expensive for what he contributes. I think Waller and Perriman will step up this year so keeping Aiken and adding a couple of receivers in the early rounds would be wise from a cap space viewpoint.
Maxx Williams and Boyle need to emerge this year to complement Pitta. Pitta showed he is fully healed and had a pretty good year, often making 9-10 catches a game.
I'm happy with West and Dixon as well as Juice at RB. The hit Juice put on Mitchell on Christmas Day to score the go ahead TD showed me the guy can be a real contributor next year.
I hope they find a way to keep Wagner and Brandon Williams as it will be a big loss if they lose them both.

I think you're underestimating the cost that it takes to "trade up". You're suggesting we spend early round picks on, a couple receivers, two corners and a safety, and a replacement for either Williams or Orr. If we do what you're suggesting there will be no mid round picks left and depending how far we "trade up" for the "2 high round corners and a safety", there will also be some picks that we would have to forfeit in next years draft. I also think you are underestimating Wallace's value. He made a lot of great plays for us last year and eclipsed the 1000 yard mark. His cap hit is high but I think we will sign him to a longer term deal to bring it down a bit. Behind him we don't have any proven receivers on the team. I was also impressed with his leadership last year. It wasn't something that I was expecting to see from him. Obviously he took a backseat to Steve in that department, as he should have, but I think he will be able to really step up for us next year on the field and off. He seems hungry. I don't think Juice will ever be a real "contributor" as a running back, but hopefully he won't have too many suitors so we can bring him back as a FB.

[billiejean]

would be nice to see flacco take a minimal pay cut which would help resign some guys or bring in a free agent or 2 but he now has 4 kids so i doubt it is even a thought in his mind

I doubt it is even in his mind because it has never been in any QBs mind. There have been no QBs that have taken a pay cut to their already agreed upon salaries (in fairness, the year Peyton won the SB he restructured his contract and converted 4 mil dollars into incentives. By winning the SB of course he was payed that 4 mil and thereby did not actually taking a pay cut. But this is the only case where this has come close to happening and clearly only occurred because Manning realised it was probably his last season). They just shuffle money around to help with the cap. But in no way shape or form are they receiving less money than they their contract stipulated. But when you do this you are pushing money down the line and the FO has to decide if that is a good idea. But I don't see any reason that Joe wouldn't do this if the FO asked him to, no matter how many kids he has. I am unsure how one who is a regular contributor in this forum has not been able to grasp this concept. It could just be selective remembrance.