2025 Ravens Salary Cap Preview

With the Super Bowl now mercifully behind us, it’s time for all teams and fan bases to fully turn their attention towards the 2025 offseason.

Unlike last offseason, the Ravens don’t have a lot of significant pending free agents to worry about, but they do have a very tight Salary Cap and will have to make some significant moves to create the Cap space needed to improve the roster.

So, as it always seems to be with the Ravens, they enter another offseason of change as they try and reload their roster in hopes of making another run at bringing home a Super Bowl trophy.

PLAYERS PRESENTLY UNDER CONTRACT

The Ravens currently have the following 53 players under contract for 2025 (with Cap Numbers indicated):

QBs (2):  Lamar Jackson ($43.65M); Devin Leary ($840K)

RBs (4):  Derrick Henry ($12.895M); Justice Hill ($2.417M); Keaton Mitchell ($1.036M); Rasheen Ali ($1.033M)

FBs (0):

WRs (7):  Rashod Bateman ($5.148M); Zay Flowers ($3.828M); Tez Walker ($1.159M); Anthony Miller ($1.03M); Malik Cunningham ($960K); Dayton Wade ($840K); Nelson Agholor (VOID)

TEs (4):   Mark Andrews ($16.908M); Isaiah Likely ($3.451M); Charlie Kolar ($1.276M); Zaire Mitchell-Paden ($840K)

OL (8):  Tyler Linderbaum ($4.212M); Daniel Faalele ($3.525M); Roger Rosengarten ($1.463M); Andrew Vorhees ($1.056M); Nick Samac (988K); Corey Bullock ($840K); Darrian Dalcourt ($840K); Ronnie Stanley (VOID)

DL (6):  Nnamdi Madubuike ($16.475M); Broderick Washington ($4.6M); Travis Jones ($3.585M); Michael Pierce ($2.667M); Basil Okoye ($840K); CJ Ravenell ($840K)

EDGE (7):  Odafe Oweh ($13.251M); Kyle Van Noy ($6.125M); David Ojabo ($2.517M); Adisa Isaac ($1.284M); Tavius Robinson ($1.21M); Malik Hamm ($841K); Adedayo Odeleye ($840K)

LBs (3):  Roquan Smith ($23.719M); Trenton Simpson ($1.474M); William Kwenkeu ($960K)

CBs (5):  Marlon Humphrey ($25.377M); Nate Wiggins ($2.914M); Arthur Maulet ($2.5M); Jayln Armour-Davis ($1.29M); T.J. Tampa ($1.135M)

S (4):  Marcus Williams ($8.823M); Kyle Hamilton ($5.172M); Sanoussi Kane ($981K); Beau Brade ($968K)

ST (3):  Justin Tucker ($7.073M); Jordan Stout ($1.275M); Nick Moore ($1.25M)

The above 53 players are under contract for a total Rule of 51 Salary Cap commitment (which includes dead money from players no longer on the team) of $268,681,717.

Present projections for the 2025 Salary Cap indicate that the Cap will be in the $270-275M range, with the Cap likely to come in around $272.5M. This would be an increase of $17.1M over the 2024 Cap of $255.4M. The Ravens will most certainly hope it reaches at least 272.5M (and hopefully beyond) and will pray that it won’t be any lower.

So, using the figure of $272.5M for the estimated Cap, the Ravens will initially have around $5,955,126 in Cap space (which includes the $2,136,843 in 2024 carryover), accounting for the 53 players presently under contract.  But keep in mind that if contract extensions are not reached with Ronnie Stanley and/or Nelson Agholor, who both have contracts that will void in mid-February, that number will drop to 51 (and essentially 50, given that Marcus Williams is slated to receive a post-June 1st release designation).

This will be the basis for a lot of early reports on the status of the Ravens’ 2025 Salary Cap, but again, it is important to keep in mind that the offseason really hasn’t even begun yet and this number is just a snapshot of where they are at this moment.

And, as you will see below, the Cap is likely to get even tighter, at least before they start making moves to address their Salary Cap.

So, between now and Wednesday, March 12th at 4:00 p.m., when the new league year and free agency begins, the Ravens have a lot of work to do and a very tight Salary Cap.

2024 SALARY CAP CARRYOVER

Under the terms of the CBA, teams are allowed to carry over excess Salary Cap space from one year to the next.  The Ravens have carried over $2,136,843 in 2024 Cap space.  This will increase the Ravens’ 2025 Cap space by that amount.

OTHER SALARY CAP ADJUSTMENTS

WORKOUT BONUS ADJUSTMENT

All teams will have an adjustment of $907,200 added to their Cap for the team’s expected workout bonuses. This number is essentially the maximum amount of CBA mandated workout bonuses that could be earned by the players in the offseason. This amount is a charge against the Cap. Once training camp begins, this debit will be removed and the actual amount of workout bonuses earned by the players will be added onto the Cap.

INCENTIVE ADJUSTMENTS

The Ravens’ 2025 Cap will also see adjustments for incentives earned that didn’t count against the 2024 Cap (“Not Likely To Be Earned” incentives) but that were actually earned and incentives that did count against the 2024 Cap (“Likely To Be Earned” incentives) but weren’t earned.  The net amount of these will count against 2025 Cap as a positive or negative adjustment.

For many years, the Ravens have used NLTBE incentives as a way of lessening a player’s present Cap number, especially in years with tighter Caps.  Unfortunately, since the details of incentives are not always widely reported, it is hard to make an accurate estimation of the amount of this adjustment.  As such, the full extent of the team’s incentive adjustment will not likely be known until the beginning of the 2025 league year in March.

However, we do know that the following earned incentives in 2024 will become debits against the Ravens’ 2025 Salary Cap:

Derrick Henry – $2M

Kyle Van Noy – $750K

Patrick Mekari – $750K

Marlon Humphrey – $250K

Total – $3.75M

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Those debits will be offset by 2024 LTBE incentives that were not earned and for some offsets for guaranteed salaries.  Those adjustments amount to a credit of $800,000, which will offset the above $3.75M in earned incentives.

There may also be some other adjustments for grievances and unknown credits or debit, but those are usually minor, so for now, we will use $2,950,000 as an estimated incentives debit for 2024.

PROVEN PERFORMANCE ESCALATOR: PROVEN PERFORMANCE ESCALATOR

The 2011 CBA mandated 4-year contracts for all draft picks, which eliminated a player’s chance to receive the higher paying RFA tender in their 4th year. To offset this, the 2011 CBA implemented the Proven Performance Escalator (PPE), which allows 3rd through 7th round draft picks to receive an upgrade salary that is equivalent to the low RFA tender if the player performed well enough over the 1st three years of his contract.  The 2020 CBA added 2nd round picks to this calculation, changed the criteria for earning the PPE and added additional compensation levels.  Under the revised rules, meeting playing time thresholds (35%) still will earn the PPE at the low RFA tender level (Level 1 PPE), while more playing time (55%) will earn the low tender plus $250K (Level 2) and reaching the Pro-Bowl (1st ballot only) will be paid at the 2nd Round RFA tender level (Level 3).

The Ravens have three (3) players from the 2022 draft who have earned the Level 1 PPE – TE Isaiah Likely, DT Travis Jones and OL Daniel Faalele.  By virtue of reaching the playing time thresholds, they each have earned a pay raise to the low RFA tender salary of $3.325M (est).

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS (ERFAs)

ERFAs are players with less than three (3) years of service time (“accrued” seasons) in the league.  To retain an ERFA for the following year, the Ravens must tender the player with an ERFA tender by the first day of the league year on Wednesday, March 12^th.  Based on the player’s length of service in the league, the player will receive a 1-year deal with the applicable league minimum salary ($840K, $960K, $1.03M or $1.1M). Once tendered, these players are fully under the team’s control and are not free to negotiate with other teams.

This year the Ravens have just one (1) player who is an Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA):

RB Owen Wright ($840K)

Given their minimal impact on the Salary Cap, the Ravens (and most teams) usually tender all of their ERFAs.  Wright spent the entire 2024 season on IR, so assuming he is expected to fully recover, the Ravens are likely to tender him with an ERFA tender ($840K).

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (RFAs)

Restricted Free Agents are players whose contracts have expired and who have three (3) years of accrued service time. In order to attempt to retain the player’s services, the team must tender the player with an RFA offer. Once tendered, another team can sign the player to an RFA offer sheet, but the Ravens then have seven (7) days to match that offer sheet and retain the player under the terms of that offer sheet. If the Ravens were to choose not to match the offer sheet, they would then receive compensation based on the level of RFA tender made to the player.

Under the terms of the CBA, the RFA Tender amounts increase annually at the same rate as the overall Salary Cap.

There are basically 4 RFA tenders: 1^st Round Tender, 2^nd Round Tender, Low Tender and Right Of First Refusal (ROFR).

* 1^st Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of a 1^st round pick – $7.279M (est).

* 2^nd Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of 2^nd round pick – $5.217M (est).

* Low/Original Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of a draft pick equal to the round in which the player was originally drafted – $3.325M (est).

* ROFR: allows the team to simply match an offer, with no draft pick compensation or for players who were UDFAs – $3.185M (est).

The Ravens have two (2) players who are pending Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) this year:

CB Christian Matthew

DB Ar’Darius Washington

Given the sharp increase in salary from the non-RFA minimum for 4^th year players ($1.1M in 2025), the Ravens have recently shied away from giving RFA tenders and instead either offered a one- or two-year deal in lieu of the RFA tender or simply non-tendered the player making them a free agent.

In Matthew’s case, having spent the entire 2024 season on Injured Reserve (IR), he will most certainly be non-tendered. It’s possible that the Ravens will offer a 1-year, $1.1M deal instead, but that’s remains to be seen.

Washington is going to be a very interesting decision given how well he played after replacing Marcus Williams as the starter and how much the defense improved from that point forward. As an UDFA, either of the low RFA tenders would provide the Ravens with only a right to match an offer sheet and if they declined to match, there would be no draft pick compensation. As such, Washington is likely to get the 2^nd Round RFA, thereby pretty much ensuring his return. The Ravens could also pursue a contract extension instead of the RFA tender, which would create a 2025 Cap number that is smaller than the $5.217M RFA tender amount and would also secure Washington’s services into the future.

PROJECTED ADJUSTED TEAM CAP AND RULE OF 51 SALARY CAP COMMITMENT

Based on all of the above, it is estimated that the Ravens will have an Adjusted Team Salary Cap of $271,686,843.  The team’s Adjusted Cap consists of the projected league-wide Salary Cap of $272.5M, plus the carryover of the 2024 excess Cap space of $2,136,843, less the incentives adjustment (-$2,950,000) and the workout bonuses adjustment (-$907,200).

During the offseason, though, when roster can balloon up to 90 players, only the highest 51 Salary Cap numbers (and all 2024 bonus prorations and all dead money from released players) are counted for Salary Cap purposes.  This is called the “Rule of 51”.

ASK THE CAP MAN: What’s the “Rule of 51?”

As such, the Ravens’ estimated Rule of 51 number would be a Cap commitment of $270,779,643.

When compared with the team’s Adjusted Cap of $242,210,705, this would leave the Ravens projected to be $2,279,074 OVER the Salary Cap (if they use the 2^nd round RFA tender on Washington).

Again, this is just basically the team’s starting position for the offseason and done before the Ravens make other roster moves that will create additional Salary Cap space and/or make additions that will strengthen the roster, but it does underscore that the Ravens will again have a lot of work to do to create Cap space.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (UFAs)

The following 18 players are Unrestricted Free Agents (UFAs) and will be free to sign with other teams if they haven’t re-signed with the Ravens before Free Agency begins on Wednesday, March 12th at 4:00 p.m.:

WR Nelson Agholor

LB Chris Board

OL Ben Cleveland

LB Malik Harrison

WR Deonte Harty

LB Kristian Welch

WR Diontae Johnson

QB Josh Johnson

OL Josh Jones

OL Patrick Mekari

CB Trayvon Mullen

FB Patrick Ricard

WR Steven Sims

OT Ronnie Stanley

DB Brandon Stevens

DE Brent Urban

WR Tylan Wallace

CB Tre’Davious White

FRANCHISE TAG

The window for using the Franchise Tag begins on Tuesday, February 18th and ends at 4:00 on Tuesday, March 4^th.

The Ravens don’t appear to have any candidates for the Franchise Tag this year.

2025 DRAFT PICKS

The Ravens will have the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft and presently are expected to have 11 total picks in the 2024 draft.  They presently have their own 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th and 7^th Round picks. The Ravens traded their own 5^th Rd pick to Carolina for Diontae Johnson and Carolina’s 6^th Rd pick. The Ravens are also expected to receive four (4) Compensatory Picks for the 2024 free agency losses of LB Patrick Queen (4^th), DE Jadeveon Clowney (5^th), S Geno Stone (5^th or 6^th) and G Kevin Zeitler (6^th).

Based on their present draft position, the Ravens will likely have a rookie Cap of somewhere in the $12-12.5M range.  While that number won’t factor into their initial Cap calculations, it is something that the team will be very mindful of as they otherwise build their roster.

EXTENSION/RELEASE/RESTRUCTURE

Given the need for Cap space, the Ravens are going to have to make moves to create additional Salary Cap space in order to be able to re-sign players and/or sign other players to the roster.  There are three primary ways of creating additional Salary Cap space – (1) signing players to contract extensions to lessen their 2025 Cap number, (2) releasing/trading players and/or (3) restructuring contracts.

EXTENSION

An extension is generally used when a player has a large base salary and is in the later years of his contract.  An extension will allow the team to turn much of that large base salary (and often, more) into a Signing Bonus to go along with new years that are added to the contract.  This essentially works to reduce the player’s present Cap number.  Of course, it takes two to tango and teams and players often don’t see eye to eye on value, so extensions aren’t always a foregone conclusion.

LAMAR JACKSON

A contract extension for Lamar Jackson would address the immediate issue of reducing his 2025 Cap number to create much needed Cap space, but it would also address his 2026 and 2027 Cap numbers, both of which are presently scheduled to be $74.65M.  A restructure, as explained below, would add to those Cap numbers, so an extension would be preferable, but as we saw the last time, extensions aren’t always easy to accomplish.  Hopefully, the Ravens and Jackson can find a middle ground on an extension, which should be (fingers crossed!) easier this time because the parameters would seem to be more defined this time around.  An extension for Jackson would likely create a similar amount of Cap savings as a restructure, but just as importantly would address the 2026 and 2027 Cap numbers.

MARLON HUMPHREY

Humphrey will be a free agent after the 2026 season and with $18M in cash due this season, he would also be a prime candidate for an extension.  While an extension would likely not create as much Cap space as a restructuring, it would extend Humphrey beyond 2026 and would allow the Ravens to spread out his Salary Cap hits over more than the two (2) remaining years of his present deal.

MARK ANDREWS

The Ravens were already going to have to make a decision on Andrews contract because he, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar are all presently set to be free agents next offseason.  This was always likely to be a tough decision for the Ravens because keeping both Andrews and Likely was going to be difficult.  And, that was before Andrews’ difficult AFC Divisional round game.  It’s going to be really interesting to see how the Ravens are going to handle this.

ODAFE OWEH

Oweh is set to play the 2025 season on his 5^th Year Option of $13.251M.  An extension could create $7-8M and secure his services for years to come.  It won’t be cheap but, if the Ravens feel that Oweh is an ascending player, getting a deal done now, a year before free agency, would make a lot of sense.

DERRICK HENRY

With just one (1) year left on his deal, an extension for Henry just makes too much sense.  A 2-year, $24M extension could reduce his 2025 Cap number of $12.895M by as much as $5M.  Given Henry’s performance in 2024 and the tremendous physical shape that he keeps himself in, adding 2 additional years to his deal doesn’t seem like a great risk.

RELEASE/TRADE

The chart below includes players who have most often been discussed by fans as candidates for release and lays out the Salary Cap implications of the release or trade (both are treated the same for Cap purposes) of those players.

With a tight Cap, creating Cap space is going to be imperative, but this year the Ravens really don’t have a great deal of ideal candidates for release.

MARCUS WILLIAMS

This one has already been resolved. Williams’ deal was reworked in early January to create $9.9M in 2025 Cap space.  Normally when a player is released with a post-June 1 release, the Cap savings isn’t realized until after June 1^st. By reworking Williams’ deal, the Ravens were able to create most of that ($9.9M) immediately and they will receive the remaining $2.1M on June 2^nd.

JUSTIN TUCKER

Oh boy. Given the recent news, it seems very possible that the Ravens may release Tucker.  As the above chart shows, releasing Tucker immediately would cost more (-$445K) than Tucker is presently set to count on the Cap. As such, the Ravens may well use their 2^nd post-June 1 release designation on Tucker. By doing so, the Ravens will receive $4.2M in Cap space but will still have to eat dead money of $2.873M in 2025 and $4.645M in 2026.  It’s certainly not ideal, but it may be their best, and perhaps, only option.

MARK ANDREWS

Prior to the loss to the Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs, most Ravens fans would have probably expected that Andrews was a good candidate for an extension.  Now, many Ravens fans want Andrews out of town.  If released, or more likely traded, there would be $11M in Cap savings.

ARTHUR MAULET

After Williams, and perhaps Tucker, Maulet is the next likeliest candidate to be released.  Coming off a year that he spent 12 games on Injured Reserve (IR) and saw Marlon Humphrey reestablish himself as a premier slot defender, Maulet’s spot may well be at risk. In the last year of his deal, releasing Maulet would save $2.25M in Cap space.

MICHAEL PIERCE and BRODERICK WASHINGTON

Both of these guys are more on the list in case the Ravens were to draft an interior defensive lineman early in the draft.  There’s not a lot of Cap relief from the release of either, but if they were to be bypassed on the depth chart on training camp, their roster spot may be in jeopardy.

RESTRUCTURES

The main drawback of constantly restructuring contracts is that it often becomes a vicious cycle that forces the team to continue and continue to restructure deals year after year. The Ravens have been stuck in this cycle over the last couple of years and those restructures have created some bloated Cap numbers that aren’t easy to get away from.

LAMAR JACKSON

On its face, restructuring Jackson and creating almost $16M in Cap space would seem like a no-brainer, at least until you realize the future implications.  Jackson’s 2026 and 2027 Cap number are already $74.65M.  A restructure of Jackson’s deal will add $3.949M to each of those camp numbers, raising them to an even more astronomical $78.599M.  Because of this, the Ravens would be wiser to reach an extension to reduce Jackson’s 2025 Cap number while also addressing his 2026 and 2027 Cap numbers.

MARLON HUMPHREY

As with Jackson, a contract extension for Humphrey would be preferable to a restructure, but if an extension cannot be reached, a restructure for Humphrey seems very likely given the team’s need for Cap space. Restructuring Humphrey would create $11.33M in immediately Cap space (more if void years were added).

ROQUAN SMITH

Restructuring Roquan Smith would create a little over $9M in Cap space.  The Ravens restructured his deal last offseason and another restructure will push his 2026 and 2027 Cap numbers to over $30M.  Obviously a restructure of Smith would create a sizeable amount of Cap space, so the Ravens will have to decide if they feel if Smith’s downturn in play in 2024 is a concern or if they feel they will see the 2023 Roquan Smith again in 2025.

NNAMDI MADUBUIKE

The Ravens signed Nnamdi Madubuike to a monster deal last offseason.  Since he is still early in that deal, and since the deal contains two (2) void years at the end, restructuring Madubuike wouldn’t add too much to future Cap numbers.  

FUTURE EXPENSES

One of the biggest mistakes fans often make is thinking that the amount of Cap space available before the beginning of the new league year and/or immediately after the new league year begins is money that can be fully spent on free agents, without considering the future expenses teams will have.  From signing the team’s draft picks to the end of the Rule of 51, at which point all players whether on the 53-man roster, IR, PUP or the PS count against the Cap, to weekly Practice Squad elevations and to having a Cap space reserve to cover in-season injuries, teams will need a lot of Cap space that simply isn’t available for signing free agents.  So, teams will be mindful of those expenses that can cost teams between $14-16M in Cap space. 

OUTLOOK

Over the next month, a lot of these items will come into better focus as the team starts making moves to get their Salary Cap in order and create Cap space to help improve their roster.

Their avenues to create Cap space are limited because there aren’t a lot of players to release.  Because of those limited options, the Ravens’ offseason will ultimately revolve around the contracts of five (5) players – QB Lamar Jackson (extension or restructure), CB Marlon Humphrey (extension or restructure), TE Mark Andrews (release or trade), LB Roquan Smith (restructure) and RB Derrick Henry (extension).  Getting extensions done with most (and Oweh) would be the best possible course, but that’s often easier said than done.

The Salary Cap is always a puzzle and the Ravens’ Front Office will likely use a combination of the above maneuvers to create the Cap space necessary to address the team’s pressing roster needs.  So, as always seems, the months of March and April will once again be an interesting time for the Ravens.

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