Jason La Confora: Kruger looking for 9m/year...

[LukeDaniel]

I don't see how they are going to keep him for that. I don't blame him, but it is too bad he has to go. Great player...

Well, it's not impossible, assuming he winds up getting closer to the $6 million/year end of the spectrum versus the $9M/year end. If the Ravens gave him $36 over 6 with a $15 million signing bonus, they could actually structure his contract so that he has a base salary of $1.5 for 2013 with a $2.5 prorated signing bonus. That would make his cap # only $4 million for next year, which is hardly unreasonable for a player who has truthfully been our best player the last 10-12 weeks.

He would see significant cap # increases in 14 and 15, but assuming the Ravens gamble correctly that the salary cap is in for a dramatic boost in 2014, that might not be too bad at all.

[JAB1985]

if he signs for 6 million thats great but there arent many 10 sack pass rushers that dont sign for bigger money than that in FA. Below are the OLBs in the top 50.

2 Aldon Smith 19.5
3 Von Miller 18.5
5 Clay Matthews 13.0
9 DeMarcus Ware 11.5
14 Elvis Dumervil 11
14 Anthony Spencer 11
19 Justin Houston 10
21 Shaun Phillips 9.5
23 Tamba Hali 9.0
23 Paul Kruger 9.0
27 Ryan Kerrigan 8.5
29 Robert Mathis 8.0
41 Ahmad Brooks 6.5
46 Akeem Ayers 6.0
46 James Harrison 6.0

he may compare the most to Shaun Phillips who signed 6/31 but six years ago or ahmad brooks who never had more than 7 but 4 seasons of consistent 6 +/- years before his 6/37 he signed this offseason. robert mathis signed for 4/36 this offseason after 4 years of 11.5 or 9.5. I think thats why his agent started there so if its somewhere in between that he falls, its likely to be more than 6 but not 9. 7 or 8 (considering someone will likely reach) is probably more likely than what brooks got, imo.

[NOLARavenFAN]

I'll tell you what he is worth 11pm sunday night.....

[Rxdoxx]

Thanks LD for the great breakdown

Only questions I wonder about is the "bonus" salary cap room we had this year from the Skins/Dallas

1- we are even more squeezed from this years team to next because there is/was hidden wiggle room in the allotment of extra salary cap space to the other teams so the Players Union couldn't bark about overall salary reduction. Dunno how to figure this into my thinking

2- somewhere in the back of my mind I thought their cap penalty was spread over 2 years, anybody know? If so... how much "extra" do we get for next year?

[LukeDaniel]

Thanks LD for the great breakdown

Only questions I wonder about is the "bonus" salary cap room we had this year from the Skins/Dallas

1- we are even more squeezed from this years team to next because there is/was hidden wiggle room in the allotment of extra salary cap space to the other teams so the Players Union couldn't bark about overall salary reduction. Dunno how to figure this into my thinking

2- somewhere in the back of my mind I thought their cap penalty was spread over 2 years, anybody know? If so... how much "extra" do we get for next year?

Excellent point(s). I had forgotten about the Jerry Jones/Dan Snyder "I'm such a creative owner that I will try to cheat the system because the rules don't apply to me" benefit given to the other 26 or so teams (I believe 4 teams or so weren't penalized, but weren't rewarded with the allocation of that extra money). I don't believe that amount is significant though. It might be $1.2-$1.5 million per team.

Ravor is the person to ask on that. I am trying to become a bit of a salary cap expert, but he is still wayyyyy ahead of me.

[RavensDomination]

Good post JAB. That Mathis contract is scary. He is older and breaking down, whereas Kruger is younger and getting better. After analyzing the Mathis contract (4 yr 36m, 17 guaranteed) I think Kruger might get 9 a year especially if we go all the way. I could see a 5 year/45 million, 20 guaranteed if we win the Super Bowl. I know most people will think that is high, but when you look at some other deals it could happen.

[ursula]

You could very well be right, but then again the Ravens would have to decide if they wanted to go with an unknown in Thompson or a proven commodity in Jones who could also catch a 70 yard TD in the playoffs rather than just be a return guy.

Honestly I would hope we would go with Thompson or a combo of Thompson and Reed. We have to remember that the only reason we have Jacoby is because he had a David Reed-like spell of fumbling and Houston gave up on him. And it seems to me that Jacoby's ceiling as a receiver is as a third WR. He does not show the ability that Boldin or Smith have in contesting passes. My guess is that one or more of Doss, Thompson, Reed, and LaQuan can do at least as good at WR as Jacoby.

Don't get me wrong-Jacoby has done a great job for us this year. But returner/3rd or 4th WR is less important a priority than ILB say or DT. Ellebrbe IMO is a much higher priority than Jacoby and if we have to cut Jacoby to sign Ellerbe then so be it.

[Shambla]

Also, although Kruger seems like a good guy, it is a contract year and him turning it on, getting paid big money, and then coasting isn't outside of the realm of possibilities.

[B-more Ravor]

2- somewhere in the back of my mind I thought their cap penalty was spread over 2 years, anybody know? If so... how much "extra" do we get for next year?

They had the option of taking it all last year or splitting over 2 years. Most teams, the Ravens included, took it all last year because they are now allowed to carry over any unused Cap space from one year to the next. As such, there was no reason not to taking it all then - if there was anything left over, you just carry it forward anyway. Plus, they pretty much needed every penny of it in 2012.

[B-more Ravor]

1)By my calculations, we have 36 players under contract for next year + Ray Lewis' dead money. Their total cap hit is 99.86

It all comes down to Flacco's contract.

They presently have $108.329M committed to the Cap for 2013, which is for the 42 players that are presently under contract (they signed 5 guys a week or so ago). The Cap is projected to be around $120.9M. They have around $1.2M in 2012 Cap space that they can carry over.

Once the RFAs and EFAs are tendered, and factoring in Ray's retirement, they should be around $6.5M under. They could have more if they don't offer RFA tenders to David Reed and Ramon Harewood (but you are eating into your depth by not doing so). McClellan is a ERFA, not a RFA.

If they can get Flacco signed to a long term deal, that will pretty much eat up that space. If they need to franchise him, they'll need an additional $8.5M to do so. They can get $3.25M in additional Cap space from releasing Bobbie Williams and Matt Birk.

Needless to say, getting Flacco re-signed will make the offseason much, much easier.

[B-more Ravor]

Ravor.....question....what would prevent us from adding a year onto the contract of Leach, Boldin, and Jones and then converting some of their 2013 salary into a bonus to be prorated between 2013 and 2014? For instance, Leach counts $4.33 against the 2013 cap ($3 million salary and $1.33 bonus). What's to say we don't give him a 1 year/$2.7 (with a $700k signing bonus) million extension for 2014 and then convert $2 million of his 2013 salary into a bonus. We could apply $1 million of that bonus to 2013 and $1 million to 2014. That would reduce his 2013 cap # to $3.33 million ($1 million base salary + $1.33 bonus from original contract+ $1 million restructuring). His 2014 cap # would be $3.7 ($2 million base+$700k signing bonus+ $1 million restructured amount). That would free up $1 million for our 2013 cap and secure a good player for another year. I'm sure Leach would be on board because he would not only pocket the $700k for signing the one year extension, but would also pocket a $2 million bonus right now, rather than waiting to collect in on a game-by-game basis next year.

Is this allowable under NFL salary cap rules?

They could certainly do that, but it's got to be a good enough deal for the player to want to give up the shot at being a FA next year. The other concern is giving extensions to Boldin (who turning 33 this coming season) and Leach (who will turn 32).

I could see it more with Leach, since FBs are a bit of a dying breed and he may not get much interest or an offer that pays him as well.

Boldin OTOH would likely be looking for more than just one additional year, which usually means a larger bonus and larger base salaries, because he'd probably have more options on the open market if the team released him. With him, the Ravens leverage is far less, IMO.

With both - and Ed Reed, too - their age is a problem because of the possibility for dead money from any new bonus that you give them.

[cealex1223]

He's not an every down player. Hard to imagine a situational pass rusher getting 9 million a year. If I was a team I'd be weary of him in FA.

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