Baltimore Ravens: Who’s Next for a Contract Extension?
By Joe Serpico
The Baltimore Ravens gave Joe Flacco a contract extension before the start of the new league year for cap flexibility. Who is next in line to get a new deal?
We knew that Joe Flacco had to restructure his deal in order for the Ravens to have some cap flexibility. More impressively, they reworked the deals of Marshal Yanda, Jimmy Smith and Kyle Arrington to create even more cap room. By clearing that cap space, the team was able to be aggressive in free agency.
Baltimore used the extra money to land three free agents that will make an immediate impact for this team. Eric Weddle is the leader in the secondary the Ravens have missed since Ed Reed left. Mike Wallace is the downfield threat the offense was missing. Ben Watson joins a group of young tight ends that all can be effective in the passing game.
Now that they have made moves to bring some free agents, it is time to shift the focus to which players already on the roster are in line for a contract extension.
The first player that the Ravens have to get done is Justin Tucker. By signing his franchise tender, Tucker will make more this season than his first four seasons combined. The $4.5 million is a pretty nice raise for a kicker, but it still leaves the Ravens in the position to potentially lose him next season.
Tucker deserves to be paid like one of the top kickers in the NFL. In our bold predictions for the offseason, I predicted that Tucker would sign a contract extension that would make him the highest paid kicker in NFL history. That is a deal that has the potential to get done at some point before the season starts. And it will get done. There is little to no chance the Ravens let Tucker leave after this year, barring a disastrous 2016 season.
What is concerning for the Ravens is the number of players that are scheduled to be free agents next season. There will be 32 players eligible for free agency after this season, and several figure to be in the team’s long-term plans. This could leave the front office with some tough decisions to make a year from now.
Some of the players eligible for free agency next season will likely be gone. There are about 15 players on a one-year deal that might not even make the Ravens roster this season. Steve Smith will not be back for sure. Arthur Brown and Matt Elam both have expiring contracts and haven’t shown enough to warrant new deals.
Kyle Juszczyk, Ricky Wagner and Kamar Aiken could earn extensions with another solid season. Will Davis and Zach Orr will have an opportunity to win playing time and new deals as well. However, there is one player that the Ravens absolutely have to give a new contract to and that is defensive tackle Brandon Williams.
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Williams has been a force since being drafted with the 94th pick in the 2013 draft. The Ravens were so confident in his abilities that they traded Haloti Ngata to the Detroit Lions. He was consistently in the opponents backfield and Pro Football Focus rated him as the fourth-best defensive lineman against the run. Another year as a starter and he could be considered one of the league’s best.
His rookie deal was a four-year contract worth $2.675 million. He will make roughly $1.8 million this season on the last year of that deal. It’s safe to assume that he will see a figure north of his original deal.
The Ravens can look around the rest of the league to come up with a deal that would make Williams happy. He will not command the money that Ndamukong Suh or Marcell Dareus have been given, but a five-year deal in the $30-40 million range is not far fetched. That would place him in the second tier of defensive tackles, which is pretty accurate for his level of play.
That price will increase if Williams continues to be a dominating presence on the Ravens defensive line this season. Baltimore’s defense has been predicated around the play of their nose tackle since Tony Siragusa was wearing purple and black, and Williams is the latest to take on double teams to free up the linebackers behind him.
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Williams was snubbed of a trip to the Pro Bowl last season which will cost him a few million once contract negotiations begin. A trip to Honolulu is in the future for Williams and so is a contract that keeps him in Baltimore for years to come.