The Baltimore Ravens are about to enter free agency with a limited amount of cap space. While the Ravens could choose to be frugal over the coming months, Baltimore could as easily wish to make a blockbuster signing or two in an effort to better compete for a championship. But in order to do that, they’ll need to create a little extra cap space this offseason.
Though we’ve already looked at the players who would represent the biggest cap gains if cut, none are terribly likely to happen. Don’t fear, there are other options available to the Ravens, including contract restructures.
The most common type of restructuring we see in the NFL is a team converting a player’s higher base salary into a signing bonus that can be spread over a few years. For players with a few more years left on their contracts and bigger 2021 cap hits, it’s an effective way of creating immediate savings. However, it does carry some risk as it increases that player’s dead money in future years, at times ensuring the player is uncuttable.
Baltimore hasn’t often restructured contracts because it effectively exchanges current cap space for future cap space, kicking the can down the line and creating problems later in a deal. But with the salary cap expected to take a big hit due to the loss of revenue from the coronavirus pandemic, the Ravens don’t have many other choices if they need a quick infusion of money.
Let’s take a look at the few players Baltimore could ask to restructure their deals this offseason and exactly what type of cap savings the Ravens could get.