Ravens Release Elvis Dumervil
Once again, Steve Smith is breaking news. The Ravens are releasing linebacker Elvis Dumervil, according to the retired wide receiver (on Twitter). The team has since confirmed the news.
By releasing Dumervil, who had one year left on his contract, the Ravens opened up $6MM in cap space. However, Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome says he has not closed the door on a possible return (Twitter link via NFL.com’s James Palmer).
Dumervil, 33, played in only eight games last year but still managed three sacks. Before that half-season, he missed just one game out of 48 possible appearances from 2013-15 and totaled 32.5 sacks. In 2014, he had 17.5 sacks on the season.
Dumervil now joins a linebacker market that includes names such as Dont’a Hightower, Zach Brown, Kevin Minter, Perry Riley, and Lawrence Timmons. Given his age and injury history, he may have to settle for a one-year deal with a modest base salary.
The Ravens will presumably add some reinforcement at the position to replace Dumervil. The team now has six linebackers under contract in Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosley, Kamalei Correa, Matt Judon, Albert McClellan, and Za’Darius Smith.
Ravens Eying Safety FAs
- The Jets, Browns, Ravens and Redskins are among the main teams seeking help at safety. Tony Jefferson is atop our list of the top available safeties, followed by Duron Harmon.
[SOURCE LINK]
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/8/17
Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:
RFAs:
Tendered:
- Chiefs — K Cairo Santos (per Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star, on Twitter)
- Raiders — DE Denico Autry (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter)
- Ravens — G Ryan Jensen (via Jeff Zreibec of the Baltimore Sun, on Twitter)
- Redskins — LB William Compton
Non-Tendered:
- Titans — RB Antonio Andrews, LB Justin Staples, TE Phillip Supernaw (via Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com)
ERFAs:
Tendered:
- Dolphins — TE Thomas Duarte, LB Mike Hull, CB Lafayette Pitts, C/G Anthony Steen
- Falcons — CB Ricardo Allen, G/DT Ben Garland, S Akeem King (per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Twitter)
- Lions — DE Brandon Copeland, DE Kerry Hyder, WR T.J. Jones (per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, via Twitter)
Ravens Ask Dennis Pitta To Take Pay Cut
In an effort to open up cap space, the Ravens have asked tight end Dennis Pitta to take a pay cut, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). Pitta has yet to agree to anything in that respect and there is nothing imminent on that front, he adds. 
[RELATED: PFR’s Top 15 Free Agent Tight Ends]
Pitta, 32 in June, is slated to carry a $5.5MM cap number in 2017. It remains to be seen whether he’ll accept a hair cut here, particularly since he already did that last year. Prior to the 2016 season, Pitta agreed to trim his salary from $5MM to $1MM, though the team added $3MM in incentives which Pitta managed to secure.
Last year, Pitta had a career season, hauling in 86 receptions for 729 yards and two touchdowns. Coming off of that performance, Pitta might be inclined to explore his value on the open market, but he is fond of Baltimore and he might not get much in the way of guarantees given his age and history of hip problems.
Pitta has two more seasons to go on his five-year, $32MM contract.
Torrey Smith To Land With Ravens Or Eagles?
Back in free agency after a 49ers release, Torrey Smith looks like he will be returning to the east coast. Two teams, the Ravens and Eagles, appear to be the leaders to land the deep threat, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com notes (on Twitter).
Each holds a connection to the sixth-year wideout. The Ravens selected Smith in the second round in 2011, and he went on to have four productive seasons in Baltimore. The Ravens added Mike Wallace last year after the Vikings released him; Smith would be an obvious comparison if he returned to Maryland. Wallace is under contract for the 2017 season, and despite looming as a possible cap cut is expected to remain with the team. Kamar Aiken, though, is a UFA, and Steve Smith retired to leave the Ravens with some vacancies at wide receiver.
The Eagles discussed a Torrey Smith trade with the 49ers and have been connected to virtually every higher-end receiver on this year’s market, including Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson and Kenny Stills. Jackson and Stills will command more money for their deep-threat skills, so Smith would profile as a more reasonable addition.
With the 49ers, Smith’s production lessened in 2015 before cratering in ’16. San Francisco’s shaky quarterback situation helped limit Smith to 267 air yards — nearly 400 fewer than his previous career-low mark — before he became one of the many 49ers to finish the season on IR.
Browns Pursuing FB Kyle Juszczyk
The Browns are very interested in Ravens free agent fullback Kyle Juszczyk, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Meanwhile, the expectation is that Juszczyk will wind leaving Baltimore as the Ravens are not prepared to match what he’ll get elsewhere, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (Twitter links). Meanwhile, Juszczyk will look to sign with a team that will allow him to do more than play fullback.
Pro Football Focus’ No. 1-rated fullback in 2016, Juszczyk is reportedly looking to sign with a team that will deploy him in a hybrid fullback/tight end role. He has 97 career receptions for 769 yards and five touchdowns. The former fourth-round pick started three seasons for the Ravens and earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2016.
The Ravens were attempting to retain him as recently as Monday, and the league’s highest-paid fullback — the Chiefs’ Anthony Sherman — makes just $2.1MM per season. But if the fifth-year blocker is seeking a tight end role as well, the fullback AAV bar could soon be raised.
The Browns, of course, lead the league in cap room, entering Monday with a league-record $102MM in space. Cleveland boasts needs across the board but has a proven tight end locked up long-term in Gary Barnidge. Baltimore holds $12.5MM in cap space, the fourth-fewest mark in the league.
Redskins Have Interest In Lawrence Guy
With Chris Baker potentially set to sign elsewhere, the Redskins are looking to address their defensive line and have shown interest in impending free agent tackle Lawrence Guy, report Mike Jones, Master Tesfatsion and Liz Clarke of the Washington Post.
The 26-year-old Guy has spent the majority of the past three seasons in nearby Baltimore, where he picked up a career-high 10 starts across 16 appearances in 2016. In 484 snaps, Guy only registered one sack – down from a personal-best 4.5 in 2015 – though his performance did rank an impressive 38th among Pro Football Focus’ 127 qualified interior defensive linemen.
Since the Packers chose Guy in the seventh round of the 2011 draft, he has appeared in 67 games (20 starts) and totaled 6.5 sacks. PFR’s Dallas Robinson ranks him 12th in this year’s class of unsigned interior D-linemen.
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Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/17
Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:
RFAs:
Tendered:
- Bengals — G T.J. Johnson (via Jim Owczarski of the Enquirer)
- Bills — C Ryan Groy (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com)
- Buccaneers — DE Jacquies Smith (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times)
- Giants — DE Kerry Wynn (via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com)
- Patriots — T Cameron Fleming (via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com)
- Rams — DT Dominique Easley (via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com)
- Ravens – S Marqueston Huff (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com); WR Michael Campanaro, T James Hurst, RB Terrance West (via Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun)
Non-Tendered:
- Bills — DE IK Enemkpali, P Colton Schmidt
- Broncos — OL Sam Brenner (via Mike Klis of 9NEWS)
- Chargers — WR Jeremy Butler (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk)
- Seahawks — LB Brock Coyle, CB DeShawn Shead (via Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com)
ERFAs:
Tendered:
- Broncos — LB Zaire Anderson, OLB Shaquil Barrett, RB Kapri Bibbs, C James Ferentz, WR Bennie Fowler, LS Casey Kreiter, C Matt Paradis, WR Jordan Taylor (via Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post)
- Cardinals — QB Zac Dysert, DT Olsen Pierre, G/T John Wetzel (via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com)
- Jaguars — S Peyton Thompson (via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union)
- Lions — DE Brandon Copeland (via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com)
- Packers — LB Joe Thomas (via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Panthers — C Tyler Larsen, P Michael Palardy
- Patriots — CB Justin Coleman (via Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald), TE Matt Lengel (via Kevin Duffy of MassLive)
- Saints — WR Brandon Coleman (via Nick Underhill of the Advocate)
Non-Tendered:
- Buccaneers — DE Howard Jones (via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times)
Ravens Cut Shareece Wright, Kendrick Lewis
The Ravens have released cornerback Shareece Wright and safety Kendrick Lewis, per a team announcement. The moves will save a combined $4.9MM in cap space. 
Wright signed with the 49ers prior to the 2015 season but wound up being a healthy scratch for the first four games of the year. He was then scooped up by the Ravens and wound up being the team’s best corner in those eleven regular season games. After that, he was rewarded with a three-year deal worth up to $16MM including $5MM guaranteed. This past season, however, his performance slipped and he missed one-quarter of the games.
Prior to this season, Lewis had been plenty productive. After spending the first four seasons of his career in Kansas City, the 2010 fifth-round pick had a standout campaign in 2014 with the Texans. The defender finished the year with 84 tackles, six passes defended, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions. His 2015 with Baltimore wasn’t too shabby either. Last year, unfortunately, was pretty much a lost season for Lewis as he appeared in just six games.
Kyle Juszczyk Destined For Hybrid Role?
- If Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk reaches free agency on Thursday, he’ll likely sign with a team that provides him a “hybrid” role, meaning that he’d see time at running back, fullback, and tight end, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. Juszczyk is our No. 1 rated fullback ticketed for free agency.