Change. It’s inevitable in today’s NFL.  Some teams embrace it, others run from it.  If the 2011 offseason told us anything, it’s that Ravens’ GM Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens’ Front Office are not afraid to embrace change.  So, tomorrow, the Ravens staff will begin to address yet another offseason after a near-miss and try and figure out what changes are needed to get them over the hump and back to the Super Bowl. The question is, how much change will we see? Based on various media reports, it appears that the 2012 Salary Cap will be set at around $125M.  There will be various credits that will allow teams to increase that Cap number, but no matter what, the Ravens are not going to have a great excess of Salary Cap space, especially when retaining pending Free Agents Ray Rice and Ben Grubbs is expected to be at the top of their offseason priorities. So, with that in mind, here’s a look at the Ravens’ 2012 Free Agency ...

With yesterday’s news that the Ravens have finally signed star DT Haloti Ngata to a long term extension, the next question becomes what will the team do with the approximately $5.4M in Salary Cap space created by the signing? The good news is that the Ravens have several options, all of which are good for the team’s future.  First, removing the Franchise designation from Ngata allows the Ravens to use the Tag on another player in 2012.  If the team were to use the Tag next year, the most likely target would be RB Ray Rice.  Ideally, the team will have Rice signed to a long-term deal prior to needing to use the Franchise Tag, but that hopeful strategy hasn’t played out so well recently.  However, now at least, it’s an option if needed.    As for the additional Cap dollars, they could be used by Ozzie Newsome and Pat Moriarty to extend one of the team’s young core group players, like Joe Flacco, Ray Rice or Ben Grubbs....

Today is the deadline for the Ravens to sign star DT Haloti Ngata to a long term extension.  If they fail to get him signed by today’s deadline, they will not be able to work out a long-term deal with him until after the season.  If need be, they would again be force to use the Franchise Tag on him in 2012. So, it's really imperative that they get something done today.  If he is signed today, look for him to be paid as one of the top defensive players in the game.  After the first two games of the season, it’s pretty hard to argue that he’s not one of the best in the game.  As such, it’s time for the Ravens to open up the wallets and pay the man.  If a deal is done, look for Ngata to get a Signing Bonus of at least $30M and guaranteed money approaching $45M or so. Getting Ngata signed to a long term deal could create $6M or more in additional Salary Cap space depending on how the deal is structured. First and foremost, Salary Ca...

As media reports continue to filter in, the size and scope of DT Haloti Ngata’s newly signed contract extension are coming more into focus. Based on a variety of sources, it appears that Ngata’s new deal is worth a total of $61M over 5 years, with $40M of that amount being guaranteed.  He’ll receive a signing bonus of $25M and an Option Bonus in 2012 of $10M.  All of the $40M in guaranteed money will be paid out over the first two years of the deal, with $27.1M of that being paid in 2011.  Lastly, reports indicate that he will receive a 2012 base salary of $2.9M. There is, however, some conflicting information about Ngata’s 2011 base salary.  Some reports indicate that his base salary will be $2M, while others say that he will “make” around $2M in base salary this year.  There is actually a difference in the way those are explained because Ngata has already been paid for the first two weeks of this season – making $1....

With today’s news that OT Jared Gaither has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, the large number – 12 to be exact – of free agents who have departed Baltimore has many Ravens fans dreaming of multiple Compensatory Draft Picks in next April’s draft. However, based on the Comp Pick rules, it is seems unlikely that the Ravens will get any more than one (1) Comp Pick.  The key issue in determining Comp Picks, is how many qualifying UFAs did a team lose versus how many were sign?  This first blush issue does not take into account the size of contracts of the players lost or gained.    If a team has lost more qualifying UFAs than they’ve signed, then the team will be awarded Comp Picks for the difference in those two numbers (up to a maximum of 4). Only in rare occasions are teams awarded a Comp Pick when they have lost and gained the same number of UFAs.  In such a case, the team is only awarded one (1) 7th round Comp Pick, and only...

1.  SALARY CAP IMPLICATIONS OF FREE AGENT SIGNINGS:  Based on media reports and NFLPA salary information obtained by Ravens 24x7, the following are the terms of the contracts and yearly Salary Cap numbers of the recently signed Free Agents.  As of this afternoon, no information was yet available for Bernard Pollard.  Marshall Yanda: OG Marshall Yanda signs a 5-year, $32M contract, which includes a $10M bonus. Year Signing Bonus Base Salary Cap Charge 2011 10,000,000 2,000,000 4,000,000 2012 4,500,000 6,500,000 2013 4,500,000 6,500,000 2014 5,500,000 7,500,000 2015 5,500,000 7,500,000 Chris Carr: CB Chris Carr signed a four-year, $15M contract, which includes a $5M bonus. Year Signing Bonus Base Salary Cap Charge 2011 5,000,000 700,000 1,950,000 2012 2,500,000 3,750,000 2013 3,000,000 4,250,000 2014 4,0...

Last week’s news that the Ravens would release RB Willis McGahee was really of no great surprise.  For quite awhile, it had been a foregone conclusion that the Ravens were not going to pay McGahee’s 2011 base salary of $6M. This $6M base salary was part of the (over)generous 7-year, $40.12M contract that the Ravens gifted McGahee upon acquiring him from the Buffalo Bills in March of 2007.  At the time, the contract raised eyebrows amongst many because McGahee had not proven worthy of such a top of the market kind of deal. Unfortunately for the Ravens, McGahee never proved worthy of their faith and the deal quickly became a Salary Cap albatross. Now, with McGahee’s release, that contract has again come back to haunt the team, but, even more troublesome, the actions – or, in this case, inactions - by the Ravens’ Front Office has made the situation even worse. McGahee’s release last week caused the team to have to account for $2.5M in dea...

Earlier this week, Ravens’ CB Domonique Foxworth expressed frustration with the pace of his recovery from last August’s knee surgery and indicated that he wasn’t where he wanted to be at this point.  While it can be expected that there will be an adjustment period for Foxworth – both mentally and physically - he is now over a year removed from his surgery and it appears that he should be further along than he is now.  This situation has probably been made worse by the 5-month lockout, during which time, the team and their doctors were unable to keep in touch with Foxworth and monitor his rehabilitation.    Complicating this situation further is the fact that Foxworth has a pretty high Salary Cap number of $7.4M (with a base salary of $4.4M).  This has left many to wonder what options the Ravens may have with regard to Foxworth as well as the consequences of those options. 1.  KEEP HIM:  They can keep him and pay him his...

1ST ROUND PICK – JIMMY SMITH Status:  SIGNED – Five-year deal, worth $7.46M with a $3,926,000 bonus. Smith’s Salary Cap charges will be as follows: Year Signing Bonus Base Salary Cap Charge 2011 3,926,000 375,000 1,356,500 2012 714,000 1,446,500 2013 1,053,000 1,536,500 2014 1,392,000 1,626,500 2015 Note:  The 5th year of the deal is a team option year at an amount prescribed by the new CBA. 2nd ROUND PICK – TORREY SMITH: Status:  SIGNED – Four-year deal, worth $3.38M with a $946,900 bonus. Smith’s Salary Cap charges will be as follows: Year Signing Bonus Base Salary Cap Charge 2011 946,900 375,000 611,725 2012 529,000 765,725 2013 683,000 919,725 2014 837,000 1,073,725 3RD ROUND PICK – JAH REED Status:  SIGNED – Four-year deal, worth $2,603, 240 ...

1.       Impact of “Black Money” Releases: It’s been reported that the “Black Monday” releases of WR Derrick Mason, TE Todd Heap, RB Willis McGahee and DT Kelly Gregg has created $18.6M in Salary Cap space for the team. But that number isn’t entirely accurate.  The release of those players does remove $18.6M of what was attributable to those players (leaving $4.857M in “dead money” still counting against the 2011 Cap), but the overall impact on the Cap is a little less.  Why? Well at this time of the year, the Rule of 51 applies, which means that only the highest 51 base salaries and all bonus money attributable to 2011 count against the Cap.  So, when you remove 4 players who counted amongst the top 51, you have to add 4 players back in to replace them.  The net result then – since 3 of those players are making $450K and one is making $375K – is an actual Cap savings of j...