Ravens Cut Daryl Smith
The veteran cuts keep on coming, as the Ravens are the latest team to part with a major contributor. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Baltimore has released inside linebacker Daryl Smith. As a vested veteran, Smith will immediately be eligible to sign elsewhere without passing through waivers.
[RELATED: Ravens sign Joe Flacco to contract extension]
Smith, who joined the Ravens for the 2013 season after spending nine years in Jacksonville, hasn’t missed a game in his three years in Baltimore, starting the last 48 regular-season games for the club. In 2015, he racked up 121 tackles to go along with three sacks and an interception.
While Smith’s release comes as a bit of a surprise, Pro Football Focus did rank him just 71st out of 97 qualified linebackers in 2015, and he’ll turn 34 later this month, so the Ravens could go younger and cheaper at the position while potentially not taking a major step back in terms of production.
The Ravens also need to create some cap room to complete their offseason business, and don’t have a ton of obvious release or restructure candidates on their roster that would free up significant space. By cutting Smith, the team will trim his 2016 cap charge from $4.375MM to just $1.75MM, creating $2.625MM in cap savings.
That’s not a huge amount of cap room, but every little bit will help the Ravens this offseason, and inside linebacker is a spot that the club can probably address on the cheap. Baltimore will likely be in the market for help at the position either in free agency or the draft as the club explores potential complements for C.J. Mosley in the middle.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ravens Sign Joe Flacco To Contract Extension
9:07pm: Albert Breer of NFL.com tweets the yearly breakdown of the contract: in addition to the $40MM signing bonus, Flacco will earn base salaries of $4MM, $6MM, $12MM, $18.5MM, $20.25MM, and $24.25MM.
12:05pm: Flacco gets $66.4MM in new money on his three-year extension, according to La Canfora, who notes (via Twitter) that the $22.1MM+ new-money average is a record. For his entire contract, the Ravens quarterback will average just under $21MM per year, says La Canfora, adding (via Twitter) that Flacco’s cap hits will be reduced to about $22.5MM in 2016 and $24MM in 2017.
ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports that $44MM of Flacco’s new deal is fully guaranteed, including the $40MM signing bonus and his $4MM base salary for 2016.
10:47am: Flacco has officially signed his three-year extension, the Ravens announced (via Twitter).
10:27am: With the Ravens set to hold a press conference at 2:00pm eastern today to announce Flacco’s new deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the new contract features a $40MM signing bonus, which would be the largest in NFL history, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com adds (via Twitter) that the extension will free up about $6MM in cap space for Baltimore in 2016, and a total of about $13MM for the next two years.
9:55am: The Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco have agreed to terms on a new contract, a source tells Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). According to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the agreement will add three more years to Flacco’s current contract, locking him up through the 2021 season.
Flacco, who signed a six-year deal with the Ravens three years ago, had been projected for a cap hit of $28.55MM in 2016, and that number was set increase to $31MM+ in 2017. General manager Ozzie Newsome insisted at the start of the Ravens’ offseason – and recently reiterated – that the team has a plan to work around Flacco’s massive cap hit, but it always seemed likely that the two sides would rework the contract this offseason. The new deal should lessen Flacco’s impact on Baltimore’s 2016 cap.
Since winning the Super Bowl three years ago and signing his new mega-deal, Flacco has been up and down. After throwing more interceptions (22) than touchdowns (19) in 2013, he was excellent in 2014, setting new career highs in passing yards (3,986) and touchdowns (27).
In 2015, for the first time in his eight-year NFL career, the extremely durable signal-caller failed to start all 16 games for the Ravens, having sustained a torn ACL in November. In 10 games, Flacco completed a career-best 64.4% of his passes, but threw just 14 TDs to 12 INTs, and Baltimore was 3-7 in those games — it was the first time since Flacco became the Ravens’ starter that the team finished below .500.
Still, while his performance in recent years has perhaps not been elite, the terms of Flacco’s contract dictated that something had to give this offseason. Since he and agent Joe Linta held the majority of the leverage in negotiations with the Ravens, it will be interesting to see what kind of terms they secured on the new extension. Heading into the offseason, Flacco’s $20.1MM per-year salary ranked eighth among all quarterbacks, per Over The Cap. The new deal will likely elevate him back into the top five.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ravens Re-Sign Albert McClellan
WEDNESDAY, 4:37pm: McClellan’s deal is worth $3.75MM over three years, according to Zreibec (on Twitter). It includes a $600K signing bonus.
TUESDAY, 2:02pm: McClellan’s new deal will be a three-year pact and will feature a signing bonus, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
TUESDAY, 1:33pm: The Ravens are re-signing linebacker and special-teamer Albert McClellan, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Zrebiec is unsure of the terms of McClellan’s new deal, but tweets that it will be a multiyear agreement.
An undrafted free agent, McClellan joined the Ravens in 2011, and has spent the last five seasons with the team. Although the Marshall alum started 11 games at linebacker in 2012, recording 42 tackles, a sack, and a pair of fumble recoveries, he has primarily been a depth piece on defense during his time in Baltimore, contributing mostly on special teams.
In 2015, McClellan played just 161 defensive snaps for the Ravens, despite the fact that starting outside linebacker Terrell Suggs missed nearly the entire season with an Achilles injury. Still, Zrebiec tweets that Ravens coaches love McClellan, regarding him as a “very valuable” special-teamer and backup linebacker.
McClellan, who is coming off a two-year, $2.2MM contract, had been eligible for unrestricted free agency this offseason. He figures to return on a new deal that matches or – more likely – exceeds his previous $1.1MM annual salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AFC Notes: Aiken, Glenn, Fins, Texans, Jets
On the surface, it looks like a no-brainer decision for the Ravens to assign wide receiver Kamar Aiken a second-round RFA tender, but the franchise has been willing to roll the dice on the low-end tender for restricted free agents in the past, and could use all the cap space they can get this offseason, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.
If the Ravens use the second-round tender (worth $2.553MM), they would be entitled to a second-round pick if Aiken signs elsewhere. The low-end tender ($1.671MM) would only give Baltimore the right of first refusal, with no potential compensation.
With Aiken coming off a 75-catch breakout season, it probably makes sense for the Ravens to pull the trigger on the second-round tender — there’s a dearth of talent on the wide receiver market this offseason, and Baltimore risks losing Aiken or paying him even more if a rival team signs him to an offer sheet.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- It wouldn’t be a surprise if one or more franchised players – including Bills tackle Cordy Glenn – sign their tenders by the end of the day, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
- Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald takes a detailed look at the Dolphins‘ plan to improve their defense this offseason, noting that the team would like to add starters at linebacker (preferably MLB), cornerback, and safety, while also picking up a run-stopping defensive end. Miami’s limited flexibility will make it a little tricky to add viable starters at all those spots, though the team figures to use the No. 8 overall pick in the draft to address at least one if its defensive needs.
- With Arian Foster expected to be cut in the near future, the Texans will need to explore free agency and the draft for a potential solution at running back, writes John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. In McClain’s view, it might make more sense for the club to sign a veteran free agent rather than counting on finding a starter in the draft.
- Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News field Jets-related inquiries in his latest mailbag, writing that he doesn’t expect the club to draft running back Ezekiel Elliott, and noting that GMs around the league are skeptical that any team would give up a first-round pick in a trade for Muhammad Wilkerson.
Extra Points: J. Smith, Strong, Packers, Cowboys
Typically, teams can get some deals done with their pending free agents between the franchise-tag deadline and the start of free agency, while they still have the right to exclusively negotiate with those players. Last year, for instance, players like Patriots safety Devin McCourty and Packers wideout Randall Cobb re-upped with their respective teams just before reaching the open market.
According to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union, however, Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell doesn’t expect many players to fall into that category this year. Referring to free agents around the league, rather than just his own players, Caldwell suggested that if they’re not locked up by Tuesday’s franchise-tag deadline, they’ll likely hit the open market. While O’Halloran doesn’t go into detail on Caldwell’s thoughts on the issue, I imagine players will be eager to see what sort of offers are out there for them, now that so many clubs have so much cap space.
Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the NFL….
- Within his weekly MMQB column, Peter King provides a couple interesting draft-related notes, writing that at least one NFL GM remains bullish on injured Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith (“No chance he won’t play at some point, and play well”) and reporting that NFL Network draft expert Daniel Jeremiah received at least one offer from an NFL team within the last two months to head up that club’s personnel department.
- Texans wide receiver Jaelen Strong was arrested late on Sunday night for possession of marijuana, tweets Jason Snavely of ABC15. The off-field incident will put Strong on the NFL’s radar for a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy, so discipline could be coming down the road.
- While Packers general manager Ted Thompson hasn’t publicly announced how long he plans to continue in his current role, team president/CEO Mark Murphy said at the combine in Indianapolis that he has an idea of how much longer Thompson will stick around, and Murphy has a succession plan in mind, writes Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
- As Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News tweets, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is more confident about how to fortify the team’s running back spot than he is for some of Dallas’ holes on defense. “I can actually see ways and options at the running back [position] to get us in good shape,” Jones said. “I don’t actually see ways and have the name in place for the spot relative to the defense.”
- In his latest piece for The Baltimore Sun, Jeff Zrebiec explores the Ravens‘ potential options for the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, and writes that offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, a release candidate, still appears unlikely to return to Baltimore in 2016.
Joe Flacco, Ravens Moving Toward New Deal
Quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens continue to make progress on a new deal that will lower Flacco’s 2016 cap hit, according to multiple reports. Per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, no deal is expected to be completed today, but both sides remain confident that it will happen this week.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) also report that an agreement between the two sides is expected soon. Florio suggests something will likely get done within the next two to four days, while La Canfora says it will happen no earlier than Wednesday. Each report indicates that the Ravens and agent Joe Linta are meeting again today now that the scouting combine has wrapped up.
Flacco, who signed a six-year deal with the Ravens three years ago, is currently projected for a cap hit of $28.55MM in 2016, and that number will increase to $31MM+ in 2017. General manager Ozzie Newsome insisted at the start of the Ravens’ offseason – and recently reiterated – that the team has a plan to work around Flacco’s massive cap hit, but it would obviously make things easier in Baltimore if the club can reduce that figure by $10MM or so.
To create significant cap savings on a new deal for Flacco without creating massive problems in future seasons, the Ravens will likely have to add two or three new years to the quarterback’s contract, extending it rather than simply restructuring it.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kelechi Osemele Expected To Hit Open Market
Ravens offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele is expected to reach the open market and become an unrestricted free agent next week, sources tell Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Wilson adds that Osemele probably won’t stay in Baltimore unless the team makes him the highest-paid guard in the NFL.
[RELATED: Ravens use franchise tag on K Justin Tucker]
A report last week indicated that the Ravens had made an “aggressive” offer to Osemele in the hopes of re-signing him. And while Wilson suggests that Osemele wants to be paid like the league’s highest guard, it’s likely that he’d be shifting over to left tackle on a full-time basis if he remains in Baltimore. As such, it makes sense that he’d be seeking left-tackle money, particularly since he’d probably find at least one team willing to make him that kind of offer on March 9th.
Currently, the top contract in the NFL for a guard is Logan Mankins‘ deal. Mankins’ pact ranks first in the position in terms of total value ($51MM), annual average ($8.5MM), and fully guaranteed money ($21.5MM). Since the former Patriot was traded to Tampa Bay halfway through that contract, two teams were on the hook for parts of it, making it a little easier to swallow overall. Mankins’ $8.5MM per-year salary would rank 13th among tackles.
Due to injuries on the Ravens’ offensive line, Osemele spent some time at left tackle for the team in 2015 after starting the year at guard. Pro Football Focus, which grouped Osemele in with 77 qualified offensive tackles, ranked him 18th at the position and assigned him an especially strong grade as a run blocker.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: Kaepernick, Draft, Flacco
Concern is growing at the scouting combine regarding injured Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, who is recovering from a torn ACL and MCL he suffered in January. Multiple NFL teams have failed Smith at the physical, while three have already declared they won’t draft him, according to Jeff Legwold and Adam Schefter of ESPN. This comes on the heels of a Friday report stating that Smith might miss all of next season.
Prior to his injury, the expectation was that Smith would be an early first-round pick, but some clubs now believe he’ll be a Day 3 selection, per Tony Pauline of WalterFootball.com. Smith took out an insurance policy on himself last summer, so he’ll collect a tax-free $700k if he doesn’t go in the first round and another $100k with each missed pick thereafter, tweets ESPN’s Darren Rovell. Thanks to his insurance policy, Smith could make as much as $5MM if his draft stock plummets, per Rovell.
And now for some notes on QBs:
- The fact that Colin Kaepernick wants out of San Francisco leaves the 49ers with little to no leverage in trade talks, writes Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Potential Kaepernick suitors could now be inclined to wait until a possible release by April 1, when his $12MM salary becomes guaranteed, rather than give anything up for him. If cut, Kaepernick would likely make less per year on his next deal, but his desire to get away from the 49ers outranks his motivation to cash in, per Barrows.
- The Ravens and Joe Flacco‘s agent, Joe Linta, have made “significant progress” in their talks to rework the quarterback’s contract and are expected to have further discussions Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports (link via Jamison Hemsley of ESPN.com).
- North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz has been the most impressive signal-caller at the combine, three NFL head coaches told Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole (Twitter link).
Draft Notes: Ravens, Jaguars, Lions
With the NFL Draft Combine continuing today, let’s check out some assorted draft notes from around the league…
- The Ravens have prioritized taking a rookie pass rusher, leading ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley to question whether the team would opt for Ohio State’s Joey Bosa with the sixth pick. Bosa played defensive end in a 4-3 scheme in college, but he’d likely have to play linebacker in the Ravens 3-4 system.
- Meanwhile, Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com writes that Bosa is among the players being targeted by the Jaguars with the fifth pick. General manager Dave Caldwell previously said the team would use a good portion of their picks on defense, making the Ohio State standout a logical selection.
- For what it’s worth, Bosa told reporters that he’s the best player in this year’s draft (via O’Halloran): “I do believe I’m the best player in the draft. There are a lot of amazing players in this draft, and it will be up to Tennessee to make that decision. As a top player, you have to believe [you’re the best] or there’s something wrong…I think I’m the best pass rusher [and] the best defensive lineman in the country.”
- ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein wonders if the Lions could target wideout Laquon Treadwell with their first-round pick. While there are questions about whether the Ole Miss star is actually the best receiver in the draft, Rothstein believes the team should go for him if he’s there for the taking.
AFC Notes: Flacco, Jaguars, Patriots, Dolphins
After reporting earlier today that the Ravens are growing increasingly optimistic about their chances of reworking Joe Flacco‘s contract, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) hears from another source that talks between the Ravens and agent Joe Linta have indeed been productive. A new deal may not be completed this week, but it’s getting closer, according to Zrebiec.
Flacco’s contract, which includes cap hits of $28MM+ in 2016 and $31MM+ in 2017, is a tricky one for the Ravens, since asking the quarterback to take a pay cut isn’t an option. In order for Baltimore to get some cap relief for more than just ’16, the team will likely need to tack on at least two years to Flacco’s deal.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Jaguars‘ willingness to go after older free agents this offseason shows that the team believes it’s closer to contention than it has been in past seasons, according to Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, who notes that 18 of the 20 free agents Dave Caldwell signed in his first three years as GM were under 30 years old. “Now that we’re at that point in time where we can compete and compete for championships I have no issue with signing guys that are 30, 31 and 32,” Caldwell said.
- As of Thursday, the Patriots remained in a holding pattern when it comes to their major offseason financial decisions, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. Howe suggests that the team has engaged in the early stages of talks with free-agents-to-be Tarell Brown and LeGarrette Blount, but haven’t yet approached most veterans about pay cuts or extensions.
- The Dolphins are saying they want to keep the majority of their free agents and release candidates, but given their limited cap room and their 6-10 record in 2015, continuity across the board may not be the best option for the franchise, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
- The odds of a downtown stadium plan coming together for the Chargers in San Diego are long, but not impossible, says Logan Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune.