The Baltimore Ravens will be in a somewhat unfamiliar land this offseason. After years of being cash strapped due to large contracts and tons of dead money counting against them, Baltimore is expected to have a decent bit of room in their salary cap to use in free agency.
According to Over The Cap, the Ravens have $171.38 million in salary cap liabilities right now. While the 2020 NFL salary cap isn’t finalized yet, it’s expected to be between $196.8 million and $201.2 million. That means Baltimore should have around $25.42 million – $29.82 million in salary-cap space before making any moves.
Granted, that still places the Ravens in the bottom third of the league (No. 22 specifically). However, that’s a bit of an illusion since general manager Eric DeCosta has worked hard to ink players to contracts early. That includes cornerback Marcus Peters who was expected to be one of Baltimore’s top pending free agents this offseason before signing a three-year extension worth $42 million at the end of the season.
While the Ravens still have 21 pending free agents to deal with, including outside linebacker Matthew Judon, Baltimore doesn’t have nearly as many big holes on its roster as the rest of the league. Barring guard Marshal Yanda retiring this offseason, the Ravens really have two positions they’ll need to address in free agency and the draft.
Baltimore also has ways of creating additional salary cap space simply by cutting players already under contract. Safety Tony Jefferson, cornerback Brandon Carr and offensive lineman James Hurst are among the salary cap casualties many expect this offseason and would free up roughly another $15.75 million if cut, giving the Ravens as much as $45.57 million available in their 2020 NFL salary cap.
Of course, contract restructures and extensions could buy the Ravens additional cap space if needed as well. However, those would also create larger financial liabilities in the future that Baltimore would likely want to avoid if possible. Still, the option is on the table for the Ravens if they fall in love with a free agent or trade and need money quickly.
Baltimore might not be able to go on the type of spending spree we’ve seen from teams like the Cleveland Browns, but they have plenty of space to re-sign their key players and make moves for some of the top pending free agents this offseason. If they team that up with great drafting — something we’ve come to expect from the franchise — they’ll be in great shape for 2020 and beyond.
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