Ravens 2026 Salary Cap Preview

The Ravens seem to enter every offseason with a lot of work to do with their roster, but throughout most of their history, they’ve been able to do enough to stay competitive and in the hunt. This time around is different, not only because they badly underachieved in 2025, but also because for the first time in 18 years, they are not only focused on their roster, but also replacing their long-time head coach.

So, as it always seems to be with the Ravens, they enter another offseason of change – and even more so this time around – as they try and reload their roster in hopes of making another run at bringing the Lombardi Trophy back to Baltimore.

PLAYERS PRESENTLY UNDER CONTRACT

The Ravens currently have the following 48 players under contract for 2026 (with Cap Numbers indicated):

QBs (2):  Lamar Jackson ($74.5M); Cooper Rush ($2.649M)

RBs (3):  Derrick Henry ($5,589M); Justice Hill ($3.814M); Rasheen Ali ($1.148M)

FBs (1):  Lucas Scott ($885K)

WRs (7):  Rashod Bateman ($6.181M); Zay Flowers ($4.466M); Tez Walker ($1.275M); Wester, LaJohntay ($1.059); Cornelius Johnson ($885K); DeAndre Hopkins (VOID); Tylan Wallace (VOID)

TE (1):   Mark Andrews ($6.98M)

OL (7):  Ronnie Stanley ($9.86M); Andrew Vorhees ($3.747M); Roger Rosengarten ($1.756M); Emery Jones ($1.426M); Carson Vinson ($1.122M); Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan ($885K); Jared Penning ($885K)

DL (6):  Justin Madubuike ($30.975M); Broderick Washington ($5.86M); Travis Jones ($5.563M); John Jenkins ($1.828M); Aeneas Peebles ($1.049M); David Olajiga ($885K)

EDGE (4):  Tavius Robinson ($3.901M); Mike Green ($1.686M); Adisa Isaac ($1.54M); Kaimon Rucker ($885K)

LBs (4):  Roquan Smith ($32.719M); Trenton Simpson ($3.965M); Teddye Buchanan ($1.231M); Jay Higgins ($1.021M)

CBs (8):  Marlon Humphrey ($26.276M); Nate Wiggins ($3.496M); TJ Tampa ($1.25M); Amani Oruwariye ($1.075M); Keyon Martin ($1.005M); Bilhal Kone ($954M); Roger Longerbeam ($9M)92; Marquise Robinson ($885K)

S (3):  Kyle Hamilton ($10.683M); Malachi Starks ($3.768M); Keondre Jackson ($1.005M)

ST (2):  Nick Moore ($1.455M); Tyler Loop ($1.066M)

The above 48 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 $292,044,874.          

Present projections for the 2026 Salary Cap indicate that the Cap will be in the $300-310M range. This would be an increase of $20.8-$30.8M over the 2025 Cap of $279.2M. The Ravens will most certainly hope it reaches that range (and hopefully beyond) and will definitely pray that it won’t be any lower.

So, using the figure of $305M for the estimated Cap (which would be the same percentage increase in the Cap as occurred from 2024 to 2025), the Ravens will initially have around $23M in Cap space (which includes $10,238,790 in 2025 Cap space carryover), accounting for just the 48 players presently under contract.  But, keep in mind that if contract extensions are not reached with DeAndre Hopkins and/or Tylan Wallace, who both have contracts that will void in mid-February, that number will drop to 46.

This will be the basis for a lot of early reports on the status of the Ravens’ 2026 Salary Cap, but again, it is important to keep in mind that this number is based on just the present 48 players that are presently under contract and nowhere near representative of the team’s Cap with a full roster.

So, between now and Wednesday, March 11^th at 4:00 p.m., when the new league year and free agency begins, the Ravens have a lot of work to do.

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.  Barring some unforeseen Cap adjustment, the Ravens will carry over $10,238,790 in 2025 Cap space.  This will increase the Ravens’ 2026 Cap space by that amount.

OTHER SALARY CAP ADJUSTMENTS

WORKOUT BONUS ADJUSTMENT

All teams will have an adjustment of $979,200 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’ 2026 Cap will also see adjustments for incentives earned that didn’t count against the 2025 Cap (“Not Likely To Be Earned” incentives) but that were actually earned, and incentives that did count against the 2025 Cap (“Likely To Be Earned” incentives) but weren’t earned.  The net amount of these will count against 2026 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 2026 league year in March.

In recent years, the Ravens have relied pretty heavily on NLTBE incentives and given that the team was playing well, a lot of those incentives were earned.  Needless to say, 2025 was (more than) a bit different.

As such, it appears that only one (1) Raven earned his incentive – DE Dre’Mont Jones earned $1M worth of his incentives based on playing time and sacks.

This debit amount will be offset by 2025 LTBE incentives that were not earned and for some offsets for guaranteed salaries.  Those adjustments, which include unearned LTBE incentives, unearned workout bonuses and offsets for guaranteed salary are expected to be around $1.926M.

There may also be some other adjustments for grievances and unknown credits or debits, but those are usually minor, so for now, we will use $926K as an estimated incentives credit for 2025.

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 3 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 team only) will be paid at the 2nd Round RFA tender level (Level 3).

The Ravens have three (3) players from the 2023 draft who have earned the Level 1 PPE – LB Trenton Simpson, DE Tavius Robinson and OL Andrew Vorhees.  By virtue of reaching the playing time thresholds, they each have earned a pay raise to the low RFA tender salary of $3.721M (est).

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS (ERFAs)

ERFAs are players with less than three (3) years of service time (“accrued” seasons) in the league.  In order to retain ERFAs 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 11th.  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 ($885K, $1.005M, $1.075M or $1.145M). 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 four (4) players who are Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA):

OL Corey Bullock

LB Carl Jones, Jr.

DT C.J. Okoye

WR Dayton Wade

Given their minimal impact on the Salary Cap, the Ravens (and most teams) usually tender all of their ERFAs.

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 a RFA offer sheet, but the Ravens then have five (5) 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: 1st Round Tender, 2nd Round Tender, Low Tender and Right Of First Refusal (ROFR).

* 1st Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of a 1st round pick – $8.147M (est based on $305M Cap).

* 2nd Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of 2nd round pick – $5.84M (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 – $3.721M (est).

* ROFR: allows the team to simply match an offer, with no draft pick compensation or for players who were UDFAs – $3.565M (est).

The Ravens have one (1) player who is a pending Restricted Free Agent (RFA) this year:

RB Keaton Mitchell

Given the sharp increase in salary from the non-RFA minimum for 4th year players ($1.145M in 2026) to the RFA tender amounts, 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.

Mitchell, though, is going to be an interesting case.  Since he was an UDFA, there is no draft pick compensation with the ROFR or Low RFA tender if Mitchell were to sign an offer sheet elsewhere.  But, is the 2nd Round RFA tender, at $2M+ more, too much for a reserve RB?  Earlier in the season, the answer looked like “no,” but with his increase usage as the season progressed, the 2nd Round tender seems more likely.

The Ravens could also pursue a 2- or 3-year deal with Mitchell, which would allow for a smaller 2026 Cap number than the 2nd Round RFA tender, while also secure Mitchell’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 $315,185,590.  The team’s Adjusted Cap consists of the projected league-wide Salary Cap of $305M (estimated), plus the carryover of the 2025 excess Cap space of $10,148,790, plus the estimated incentives adjustment ($926K) and less the workout bonuses adjustment (-$979,200).

During the offseason, though, when rosters can balloon up to 90 players, only the highest 51 Salary Cap numbers (and all 2026 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 $301,904,874.

When compared with the team’s Adjusted Cap of $315,185,590, this would leave the Ravens projected to be $13,280,716 under the Salary Cap (if they use the 2^nd round RFA tender on Mitchell).

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 underscores that the Ravens will again have a lot of work to do to create Cap space.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (UFAs)

The following 19 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 11^th at 4:00 p.m.:

CB Chidobe Awuzie

DT Taven Bryan

OL Daniel Faalele

S Alohi Gilman

WR DeAndre Hopkins (VOID)

LB Jake Hummel

QB Tyler Huntley

DE Dre’Mont Jones

TE Charlie Kolar

TE Isaiah Likely

OL Tyler Linderbaum

OL Joseph Noteboom

OLB David Ojabo

FB Patrick Ricard

P Jordan Stout

DL Brent Urban

OLB Kyle Van Noy

WR Tylan Wallace (VOID)

DB Ar’Darius Washington

FRANCHISE TAG

The window for using the Franchise Tag begins on Tuesday, February 17th and ends at 4:00 on Tuesday, March 3^rd.

The Ravens do not appear to have any candidates for the Franchise Tag this year.

While the Ravens would most certainly like to retain C Tyler Linderbaum, the Franchise Tag is probably not an option given that the Franchise Tag amount for Linderbaum would be based on the salaries of all offensive lineman, not just centers. As a result, the Tag for offensive lineman is essentially based on the salaries of offensive tackles, who greatly out earn centers. The Franchise Tag offensive linemen is estimated to be around $27M, while the highest paid center makes just $18M per year. As such, tagging Linderbaum would set an artificially high starting point for negotiations. Alternatively, Linderbaum might just be inclined to accept the Franchise Tag amount and sit on the Ravens Cap at $27M for 2026.

2026 DRAFT PICKS

The Ravens will have the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft and presently are expected to have 11 total picks in the 2026 draft.  They presently have their own 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Round picks. The Ravens traded their own 6^th Rd pick to the Jets during the 2025 draft and their own 7^th to the Rams as part of the 2024 Tre’Davious White trade.  The Ravens acquired the Chargers’ 5^th Round pick (Odafe Oweh trade) and the Eagles’ 7^th Rd pick (Jaire Alexander trade) during this past season. The Ravens are also expected to receive four (4) Compensatory Picks for the 2025 free agency losses of OL Patrick Mekari (5^th), CB Brandon Stephens (5^th), OL Josh Jones (7^th) and CB Tre’Davious White (7^th).

This would give the Ravens the following eleven (11) picks – 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 5^th, 5^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 7^th.

Based on their present draft position, the Ravens will likely have a rookie Cap of somewhere in the $16M range (depending on where the 2026 Salary Cap is eventually set).  While that number won’t factor into the team’s initial Cap calculations, it is something that the Ravens 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 2026 Cap number, (2) releasing/trading players and/or (3) restructuring contracts.

For different reasons, the two following players get their own separate category, given the major Salary Cap implications for both:

LAMAR JACKSON

This is the inflection point for the offseason. Ravens’ owner Steve Bisciotti made it very clear that he wanted to get a contract extension done with Jackson and as quickly as possible. He also mentioned that if they couldn’t get a deal done, they had the ability to restructure Jackson’s 2026 salary and Cap number to create the needed space. Jackson presently has a $74.5M Cap number, which includes his $51.25M salary, his $750K workout bonus and $22.5M in bonus prorations.

The Ravens have three (3) options with Jackson:

• Keep him at the present $74.5M Cap number and look for other avenues to create Cap space.
• Restructure his deal. Jackson’s deal does include language that would allow the Ravens to unilaterally do a restructure. A full restructure of his 2026 salary (and workout bonus) would create $38.025M in Cap savings. While that sounds great, this would also push that $38.025M onto the Cap in 2027 and 2028 and essentially punt the issue until 2027, in which case the situation would be even worse.
• Reach an extension with Jackson, which would reduce his 2026 and 2027 Cap numbers and extend his deal beyond 2028 (when the present dead is set to expire). An extension would likely create between $25-35M depending on the structure of the extension.

Again, this decision is the biggest issue for the Ravens and their offseason. Obviously, while an extension is likely to create less 2026 Cap space than a restructure, an extension is far more important for both reducing and flattening out Jackson’s deal and securing him for an additional three or four seasons.

NNAMDI MADUBUIKE

With Madubuike’s future very much in doubt, the Ravens will have to decide how to account for his $22M in fully guaranteed 2026 salary and the close to $52M in dead money remaining to be accounted for. The only option – and not a great one – to create 2026 Cap space with Madubuike is by doing a restructure. This will create Cap space in 2026 by essentially borrowing future Cap space, thereby lessening future Cap space. Otherwise, Madubuike is likely to receive his $22M salary and count $30.975M on the Ravens’ 2026 Cap. After that, the Ravens will then have to decide how to handle the remaining $20.95M in dead money in 2027 and 2028.

A full breakdown of the Ravens’ options if Madubuike is no longer able play can be found here:

Cap Impact if Madubuike’s Career is Over

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.

BRODERICK WASHINGTON

This seems like the easiest cut to call. While a relatively modest deal, Washington has clearly not lived up to the extension and was probably playing the 2025 to earn the final year of his deal in 2026. Needless to say that didn’t happen and Washington spent most of the 2025 season on IR. His release will save $4.01M on the Cap.

COOPER RUSH

If Rush is released, this one won’t be about the Salary Cap, given the lack of Cap savings. It would appear that Rush’s only chance of remaining a Raven is if the new head coach sees something in the QB and wants to keep him around as the back-up. That seems unlikely. Releasing Rush will create only $453K on the Cap.

JUSTICE HILL

Hill spent the last 6 games of the season on IR. As explained above, fellow RB Keaton Mitchell is a RFA and his status may well be an indicator of Hill’s future in Baltimore. If Mitchell gets the 2^nd Round RFA Tender or an extension, either of those may spell the end for Hill in Baltimore. Releasing Hill would save $3.814M on the Cap.

MARLON HUMPHREY

After a poor season in 2025, the Ravens have a tough decision to make with Humphrey. To complicate the matter, there’s $18.948M in dead money that has to be accounted for on the Cap at some point. The Ravens also will have to decide if Humphrey is worth paying $19.25M in cash. That seems unlikely, so that like means either a release or a pay cut (similar to OT Ronnie Stanley during the 2024 offseason). If the decision is to release Humphrey, then the Ravens will have to decide if they are going to eat all of the $18.948M in dead money in 2026, creating only $7.328M in Cap space, or create 19.25M in 2026, but push $11.931M in dead money onto the 2027 Cap by doing a post-June 1 release. Needless to say, neither is a greatly appealing option.

There is also the factor of how the team intends to handle Roquan Smith, and given his numbers, both of these moves could be intertwined.

ROQUAN SMITH

Similar to Humphrey, there’s a lot of dead money ($25.438M) involved with releasing Smith. So, much like with Humphrey, if the Ravens decide to move on from Smith, they will have to decide between a pre-June 1 release, taking the entire $25.438M in dead money in 2026 (while creating $7.281M in Cap space) or using a post-June 1 release, creating $20M in Cap space in 2026, while pushing $12.791M in dead money onto the 2027 Cap.

If the Ravens decide to move on from both Humphrey and Smith, they would likely either (1) release both with a pre-June 1 release, creating about $14.6M in Cap savings for 2026 (but with close to $44.5M in dead money remaining on the Cap) or (2) use a pre-June 1 release on one and a post-June 1 release on the other to spread out the dead money between 2026 and 2027.

Salary Cap Note: While fans often bristle at the thought of dead money, teams are less concerned about it because while it doesn’t look good on paper, it is a sunk cost that is going to have to count on the Cap at some point one way or another.

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.

HUMPHREY

Given his play last year, an extension for Humphrey is unlikely unless it comes with a substantial pay cut. An extension, depending on how deep the pay cut would be, could potentially save around $10M+ in Cap space. In such case, the Ravens will have to decide if the difference in the Cap savings between an extension and a release are worth further investing in Humphrey.

SMITH

An extension for Smith, while still unlikely, is more of a possibility than for Humphrey and would also potentially create a sizable amount of Cap space. It would also likely come at a number less than the present APY of $20M.

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.

Note: While a max restructure by adding void years does create more Cap space in the present year, it does so by pushing more of the Cap savings unto the team’s Cap in future years, which could create additional dead money if the player is cut sometimes in the future. So, while getting the max in Cap space sounds great, it does come at a potential future cost.

HUMPHREY and SMITH

Yes, the same two names again, which just underscores how few options the Ravens have to create Cap space. Neither of these options are particularly palatable, but if they need Cap space and the other options (extension or restructure for Lamar) do not come to fruition, then they may have to go this route. But again, both of these options would push money onto future Salary Caps.

Other than Humphrey and Smith, there’s not another player on the roster whose restructure would create even $1M in Cap savings.

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 $15-20M in Cap space.

OUTLOOK

Over the next month a lot of these Cap issues 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.

Unfortunately, once again this year, the Ravens don’t have a lot of avenues to create Cap space.  There simply aren’t a lot of players to cut and there aren’t a lot of options for restructures or extensions.  This means that this year’s Salary Cap and upcoming free agency largely fall on re-working Lamar Jackson’s present contract – be it an extension (preferable) or a restructure (ugly).

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 (and January and February, this year!) will once again be an interesting time for the Ravens.

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