RSR: 2013 Roster, Salary Cap and Free Agency Primer

**B-more Ravor** · 03-07-2013, 06:00 PM

These 48 players are under contract for a total Salary Cap commitment of just over $112.719M, which includes the dead money from the releases and retirements of players who are no longer on the roster.

ADJUSTED SALARY CAP: The league has announced that the Salary Cap for 2013 will be $123M. For the Ravens, this number will be adjusted upwards by the carryover of $1.182M from the 2012 Salary Cap, but adjusted downward by the cost of offseason workout bonuses of $504K that all teams must carry against their Salary Cap. This yields an Adjusted Salary Cap number of $123.678M. This is the number that the Ravens must be under as of 4:00 pm on Tuesday, March 12, and they must stay under that amount from that time until the end of the 2013 league year.

http://russellstreetreport.com/raven...agency-primer/

**Ravenswintitle** · 03-07-2013, 06:09 PM

Thanks for the detail.

So if Oz says they're not going to restructure any contracts, that is going to put Jacoby, Boldin, and Leach in the bullseye to some degree...

**Justlovemybirds** · 03-07-2013, 06:27 PM

I really thought McBean was signed for two years.

**ballhawk** · 03-07-2013, 06:56 PM

IMO, the best thing they could do is extend Boldin through 2015. That frees up $3mil and keeps Joe's go to guy around for a minute. They hung on to Mason all those years and I would say Boldin is considerably better. Try to get Leach at the minimum or cut bait. Don't need a FB that bad when you have a franchise QB/elite RB's.

**The Excellector** · 03-07-2013, 07:01 PM

I'm not sure I want to extend Boldin two additional years. Would he go for a one year extension?

**JMUpurkfool** · 03-07-2013, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by The Excellector

I'm not sure I want to extend Boldin two additional years. Would he go for a one year extension?

I'm convinced you were in a coma during the playoffs.

**Terpsfan82** · 03-07-2013, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by JMUpurkfool

I'm convinced you were in a coma during the playoffs.

LOL. I'm sorry but this is hilarious!!

**lobachevsky** · 03-07-2013, 11:23 PM

B-More Ravor: capologist di tutti capologisti! IMO your writeup will make it a lot easier to ride the rollercoaster leading into the draft.

ETA: One small quibble though: Your post is a primer, not a "primary," correct? I'll ping TL to edit it...

**B-more Ravor** · 03-07-2013, 11:50 PM

Hmmm, fingers and brain obviously not working on same wave length.

**lobachevsky** · 03-08-2013, 12:36 AM

Originally Posted by B-more Ravor

Hmmm, fingers and brain obviously not working on same wave length.

Happens. Spell-cheque is your friend...except when it isn't...

ETA: And I see it's already fixed. (Did you do that?) Now to get a Mod to fix the title of this thread, & we're good.

**Mista T** · 03-08-2013, 08:21 AM

Fixed title. :T2:

**LukeDaniel** · 03-08-2013, 01:15 PM

I think extending Boldin for one year makes sense. What's his true market value on the open market? Probably somewhere between 2years/$9 million and 3 years/$15 million. If the Ravens can't reach an extension with Boldin, he could potentially lose his $6 million guaranteed salary for next year. That gives the Ravens a huge bargaining chip. He's not going to get $6 million in his first year from anyone this next year. By offering him a one-year extension, it makes his $6 million for 2013 fully guaranteed, and actually gives him a large portion of it up front.

Ravens would give him a 1 year-$3 million extension for 2014 with a $750k signing bonus. That would essentially match the 2 years/$9 million he would get on the open market, when combined with his 2013 salary. So what is the upside for Boldin signing it? Well, it's the guarantee of that $6 million for 2013. If he signs any contract on the open market right now approaching his age 33 season, he is not going to get $6.75 guaranteed, even on a 3 year contract.

So now you take $4 million of Boldin's 2013 salary and convert it to a bonus. You apply $2m of it towards the 2013 # and $2 million towards the 2014 cap. So now Boldin's $7.53 cap # ($1.53 bonus +$6 million base salary) becomes $5.53 ($2 million base salary + $3.53 bonus). His 2014 cap figure stands at $5 million ($2.25 base salary +$750k signing bonus+ $2 million restructured bonus)

This would save $2 million towards our 2013 cap, so there is an obvious advantage there. The advantage for Boldin is that he now essentially gets a $4.75 million bonus from the Ravens before he ever plays a snap in 2013. That amount would dwarf any signing bonus he would get with any other team. Also, given the amount of dead money tied up in his contract, it would be highly unlikely he would be cut at any point in the next two years, essentially making the other $4.25 guaranteed as well.

It's a win/win for both player and team.