Ravens 2009 Salary Cap Preview

**B-more Ravor** · 10-23-2008, 03:14 PM

http://www.profootball24x7.com/colum...3&view=archive

**Lee Van Cleef** · 10-23-2008, 03:24 PM

Paints a pretty good picture for clearing out the secondary. It would be a shame to see Rolle go, but given his recent health issues it wouldn't be surprising.

I've been saying since last season, resign Jason Brown. The dude is going to be very important for us going forward.

**Dave Lap** · 10-23-2008, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by Lee Van Cleef

Paints a pretty good picture for clearing out the secondary. It would be a shame to see Rolle go, but given his recent health issues it wouldn't be surprising.

I've been saying since last season, resign Jason Brown. The dude is going to be very important for us going forward.

I agree wholeheartedly. What scares me a little is that Ozzie (who I have the utmost respect for) has jettisoned OL like Casey Rabaugh when his contract expired. Wish we could have kept him....

**Jeremiah W** · 10-23-2008, 04:06 PM

The Ravens are going to have a lot of options. They are going to have to decide if they are reloading or rebuilding again, but they have the flexability to go either way it seems.

I still say the cap is a sham though. The Cowboys have so many big money players on the team, I can not imagine that the Ravens are all that close up against it. There are about 1000 moves they can make to get more cap space if they choose to, not all of them have to be cutting a player. Restructures and extensions always get done when they need some cash, but it makes sense to wait and see what direction they are going before commiting to some of the big money free agents to be.

**B-more Ravor** · 10-23-2008, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by Jeremiah W

The Ravens are going to have a lot of options. They are going to have to decide if they are reloading or rebuilding again, but they have the flexability to go either way it seems.

I still say the cap is a sham though. The Cowboys have so many big money players on the team, I can not imagine that the Ravens are all that close up against it. There are about 1000 moves they can make to get more cap space if they choose to, not all of them have to be cutting a player. Restructures and extensions always get done when they need some cash, but it makes sense to wait and see what direction they are going before commiting to some of the big money free agents to be.

The Ravens have just as many big money players as the Cowboys.

Plus, several of the Cowboys big money players are early in their deals - Hamelin, Newman, Barber, Romo, Davis, and now Williams.

And, yes, the Ravens could restructure contracts, but they have few guys to do so, since most of the likely candidates are older and restructuring those deals would not be wise and will only make it more painful when that money accelerates against the cap in the future.

**JimZipCode** · 10-24-2008, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by Lee Van Cleef

I've been saying since last season, resign Jason Brown. The dude is going to be very important for us going forward.

Brown might be my choice for team MVP so far this year.

**purplepoe** · 10-24-2008, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by B-more Ravor

The Ravens have just as many big money players as the Cowboys.

Plus, several of the Cowboys big money players are early in their deals - Hamelin, Newman, Barber, Romo, Davis, and now Williams.

And, yes, the Ravens could restructure contracts, but they have few guys to do so, since most of the likely candidates are older and restructuring those deals would not be wise and will only make it more painful when that money accelerates against the cap in the future.

It seems like some people choose to ignore the fact that this team has a TON of big contracts.

PP

**gusbus52** · 10-24-2008, 07:03 PM

Thanks for the analysis as always.

One question on the Cap Savings/Hit:

For McAlister and Rolle you have their whole bonus being counted for 2009, when their deals run longer, while Pryce and others you have the remaining bonus spread out over the years.

Does this have to do with the upcoming uncapped year, and if so, is there a threshold on how much bonus is acclerated or not?

for ex. since McAlister has 2.907 in bonus left, shouldn't half of that count in 2009 and 2010. for a lower cap number in 2009, although we are only talking about 1.45 mil.

**B-more Ravor** · 10-24-2008, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by gusbus52

Thanks for the analysis as always.

One question on the Cap Savings/Hit:

For McAlister and Rolle you have their whole bonus being counted for 2009, when their deals run longer, while Pryce and others you have the remaining bonus spread out over the years.

Does this have to do with the upcoming uncapped year, and if so, is there a threshold on how much bonus is acclerated or not?

for ex. since McAlister has 2.907 in bonus left, shouldn't half of that count in 2009 and 2010. for a lower cap number in 2009, although we are only talking about 1.45 mil.

No, the reason both CMac and Rolle have no prorata shares of bonus money counting in 2010 is because of the timing of their bonuses.

When CMac received his intial bonus in 2004, the CBA allowed for bonus money to be prorated over a maximum of 6 years, even though his deal was for 7 years. When he received the 2nd installment of bonus money in 2005, the CBA allowed that bonus money to be prorated only over 5 years, even though he still had 6 years remaining on his contract. As such, both count only to 2009, with none counting in 2010.

Rolle is essentially the same. Even though the contract he signed in 2005 was for 6 years (meaning he's under contract through 2010), the max proration at the time was 5 years.