Baltimore Ravens Salary Cap: Who should Ravens cut?
Dec 14, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb (21) prior to the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
The Baltimore Ravens salary cap situation is a little tight right now, so it’s really a matter of when, not if, the Ravens cut somebody to create some space.
Who should it be? When asking that question, the key to finding an answer is this: Will the Ravens get more value out of the player on the roster, or will they get more value out of the space cutting him creates?
Accordingly, Jimmy Smith is not an option to be cut, though doing so could save $6.898 million. The Ravens absolutely could not find an equal value spending that $6.898 million elsewhere.
So Jimmy is not a candidate to be cut. Let’s break down the real candidates. Information is from overthecap.com.
Haloti Ngata (Save $8.5 million)
Haloti Ngata is probably the only pre-June 1 candidate to be released. As good as Ngata is, the Ravens could probably do a lot with the $8.5 million cutting Ngata would create. They could re-sign Justin Forsett and still have money to add a receiver or cornerback after the fact with that kind of money, just as an example.
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Though Ngata had a bounce-back season in 2014, the Ravens can absolutely replace him. Timmy Jernigan is a bright young prospect, Brent Urban and Kapron Lewis-Moore are returning from injury and Brandon Williams has already asserted himself as one of the best defensive tackles in the league. Ngata, as good as he is, is not as irreplaceable as he once was.
The ideal scenario would be extending Ngata so long as he’s open to it. Otherwise, the Ravens will have to do what’s best for the team, and that’s parting ways with the big guy.
Lardarius Webb (Save $8 million post-June 1)
Lardarius Webb certainly didn’t look like a guy who should have a $12 million cap figure last year, but the cons to cutting Webby are two-fold.
First, the savings are only significant if he’s designated a post-June 1 cut. By then, the cap savings won’t help all that much, as the best free agents will be off the market.
Second, the Ravens are really not in any position to be cutting cornerbacks without a contingency plan.
This is a move to wait on for the Ravens. If the stars align and the Ravens add a couple of quality cornerbacks, then the Ravens can probably cut Webb and improve the roster with the extra available $8 million.
In sum, this has a good chance of happening. Just don’t expect it to be soon.
Chris Canty (Save $2.66 million)
At this point, Chris Canty is probably more valuable for his leadership than his skills on the football field. He’s truly one of the good guys in the league, but Timmy Jernigan has probably surpassed him in terms of pure ability. If the Ravens feel good about Brent Urban or Kapron Lewis-Moore, Canty will probably be on the outs.
Sam Koch (Save $2.5 million)
As good as Sam Koch was last year, and he was excellent, the savings from cutting him should be too enticing to keep Koch around. The Ravens can undoubtedly find at least a decent punter somewhere to replace Koch at the league minimum, then use the savings to add a veteran contributor at corner or receiver.
Albert McClellan (Save $1 million)
Albert McClellan is a very expensive special teamer, with a $1.2 million cap hit. Considering the Ravens keep several league minimum players around every year to fill out their special teams, McClellan is probably not worth keeping around.