Texans Request Chris Harris, Marquand Manuel DC Interviews
FEBRUARY 7: Houston has also put in a request to interview Manuel, reports Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. That comes as little surprise, given the Texans’ previously noted interest in him following Ryans’ HC hire. Manuel, 43, spent two years as a defensive coordinator in Atlanta, and has since worked with the Eagles’ and Jets’ defensive backs.
Wilson also notes that Kocurek is no longer on the Texans’ radar not due to a lack of interest, but rather the overwhelming belief that he will remain in San Francisco. He, along with Undlin, represent logical internal replacement candidates for Ryans with the 49ers. Undlin had been reported to be “in the mix” for that position by SI’s Albert Breer, but Wilson tweets that the 51-year-old’s contract with San Francisco has expired. As a result, he is free to explore opportunities below the coordinator level, including in Houston and elsewhere.
FEBRUARY 6: The Texans are looking to fill out their staff under new head coach DeMeco Ryans, reportedly requesting to interview former Commanders defensive backs coach Chris Harris for the defensive coordinator job in Houston, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Harris had reportedly been the Titans’ planned hire as defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach, but no official statement was ever made.
It seemed that Harris was off the market due to the Titans’ plans, but a little over a week later, the 49ers reportedly had interest in interviewing Harris for their defensive coordinator position. After that, it began to seem that Harris would allow his greater options to play out before committing to Tennessee. Harris did interview with San Francisco, and the 49ers’ coordinator hiring process is still ongoing, plus now Harris has been connected to Houston’s search.
Harris isn’t the only name that’s been mentioned in Houston so far. A little over a week ago, the first few names of interest were reported. Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel, 49ers passing game specialist/secondary coach Cory Undlin, and 49ers defensive line coach Kris Kocurek were all mentioned as candidates of interest in Houston. Manuel is the only one of the four who has experience as a defensive coordinator, but with Ryans leading the team, it appears prior experience is not a requirement.
The intriguing scenario around Harris has been prolonged, as he is still receiving significant interest for open defensive coordinator jobs. In Houston he’ll be forced to compete with two of Ryan’s former San Francisco underlings in Undlin and Kocurek, but Harris has certainly been a hot name in coaching circles. His ascent up the coaching ladder is sure to continue next year whether he accepts the offer in Tennessee, replaces Ryans in San Francisco, or joins him in Houston.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/6/23
NFC West Rumors: 49ers QBs, Bullen, Benton, Hopkins
If the 49ers are familiar with one thing, it’s injured quarterbacks. When season starter Trey Lance went down with a season-ending ankle injury only two games into the season, San Francisco reverted back to Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo would start the next 10 games before suffering a foot injury that would require season-ending surgery. This led the team to start rookie Brock Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Purdy responded to being forced into the spotlight with five straight wins in his starts to end the season. He would then help the 49ers win their first two playoff games before ultimately falling to the Eagles in the NFC Championship after suffering an elbow injury that is expected to take six months to recover.
With the emergence of Purdy this season, San Francisco seems renewed in their desires to move Garoppolo, something they attempted to no avail last offseason. Even with Garoppolo out of the picture, what happens when both Lance and Purdy return to full health? That question was posed to Matt Barrows of The Athletic this week in a Q&A with 49ers fans.
Barrows seems to believe that there will be no controversy when both players are healthy. Purdy presumably won’t be healthy until maybe the start of training camp. Until then, Lance will perform as the team’s lead quarterback in the spring. Once Purdy is back in the picture, though, Barrows asserts that he will be the 49ers’ first-team quarterback. Purdy showed an ability to operate within the 49ers offense and play winning football. Lance, on the other hand, hasn’t been able to prove that he can stay on the football field, unfortunately. Dating back to his final collegiate season at North Dakota State, in the past three years, out of a possible 44 games, Lance has appeared in nine.
Throughout the spring, Lance will be under center earning some much needed snaps with the 49ers offense. Once Purdy is healthy, Barrows is under the impression that he will man the starting quarterback position over Lance.
Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC West, starting with a couple of coaching changes:
- After 11 years coaching in the NFL and four years in Arizona, former Cardinals outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen will be leaving the league to become the outside linebackers coach/pass rush coordinator at the University of Illinois, according to the school’s official Twitter account. Bullen has experience in the Big Ten as a University of Iowa alumnus and will be returning to the state in which he grew up.
- The Rams are looking to replace offensive line coach Kevin Carberry, whom they dismissed alongside several other coaching assistants following the 2022 season. One candidate they will be considering is former Jets offensive line coach John Benton, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Benton has seen a rough 12 months, being arrested and charged with DUI in March 2022 and being dismissed by head coach Robert Saleh after his second year with the team. Benton still provides plenty of experience having served in the position for five franchises, including the Rams back when they resided in St. Louis. If he were hired to coach in Los Angeles, he would be reunited with offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who joined Sean McVay‘s staff a little over a week ago.
- Cardinals star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been rumored to be available in the trade market this offseason. For what it’s worth, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported this weekend that Hopkins was in the team facility on Friday and met with the team’s new general manager Monti Ossenfort.
49ers Want To Retain CB Emmanuel Moseley
The 49ers would like to re-sign cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, as GM John Lynch told reporters at his end-of-year presser last week. “He’s a guy we’d have interest in bringing back because of the way he plays, but also what he stands for,” Lynch said. “He’s one of us and we’d sure like to have him back” (via Kirk Larrabee of 49ers WebZone).
Moseley, a 2018 UDFA who broke through as a key player for the Niners during the 2019 season, landed a two-year, $10.1MM contract in March 2021. Unfortunately, a knee injury and an ankle malady forced him to miss six games during the 2021 regular season — though he did return to play every snap of the team’s three-game playoff run — and an ACL tear suffered in October cut his 2022 season short after just five games.
Even if the recent injury woes come up in contract negotiations, Lynch apparently is unconcerned about Moseley’s long-term prognosis. He indicated that Moseley’s recovery is going smoothly, and while he did not explicitly say so, it sounds as if Moseley could be cleared for the start of the 2023 season.
When he has been on the field, the Tennessee product has generally played well. He earned a solid 68.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2021 and a 70.9 mark for his limited work in 2022, and PFF thought highly of his coverage abilities in both years. Underscoring those metrics are the miniscule 65.6 and 66.9 quarterback ratings that he has yielded over the past two seasons, and his ability to line up outside the numbers and in the slot further enhance his value.
Speaking of value, Spotrac suggests that Moseley could land a four-year deal paying him just shy of $17MM per season on the open market. As Larrabee notes, it is unclear if Lynch will need to go that far, with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area recently suggesting that Moseley may have to settle for a one-year, “prove-it” deal. On the other hand, the fact that the 49ers do not boast much by way of proven CB depth behind Charvarius Ward and 2021 fifth-rounder Deommodore Lenoir — who performed well in the playoffs after an uneven regular season — could help Moseley’s leverage.
Longtime safety Jimmie Ward did line up as a nickel corner down the stretch of the 2022 season and acquitted himself nicely, but he is out of contract, and Maiocco believes he will want to return to his natural safety position. Maiocco says the club could seek another affordable pact with Tashaun Gipson, who signed a modest one-year deal at the start of the season as an injury replacement for Jimmie Ward and who never relinquished his hold on the the starting free safety job. If that happens, the team would likely bid adieu to Jimmie Ward.
Trent Williams To Remain With 49ers In 2023
Retirement speculation ramped up recently in the case of 49ers left tackle Trent Williams. However, he quelled doubts about his immediate playing future on Saturday. 
When asked whether or not he would continue to suit up for San Francisco, the veteran said, “yeah, for sure. Next year, the year after. I’m under contract until I’m 39 [years old]” (h/t Grant Gordon of NFL.com).
Williams, 34, recently finished his third year with the 49ers following a decorated stint in Washington. He maintained his elite level of play in 2022, playing in 14 regular season games and earning a PFF grade over 90 for the third straight campaign and fifth overall. While the analytics website graded his performance in the postseason poorly, Williams can still be considered a foundational piece of the 49ers’ offense now and in the future.
The former first-rounder extended his Pro Bowl streak to 10 seasons in 2022, and earned First-Team All-Pro honors for the second consecutive year. Williams has been as advertised in San Francisco, with whom he remains on the books due to the six-year, $138MM contract he signed in 2021. His salary ($19.4MM) and cap hit ($27.2MM) in 2023 are the lowest figures remaining on that pact.
The Oklahoma alum is one of several core players the 49ers already have in place as the offseason approaches. They have a number of questions to answer with respect to their pending free agents, however, which leaves the future of starting right tackle Mike McGlinchey in the air at least for the time being. Williams committing to play in 2023 alleviates some of the uncertainty the team is facing up front.
From a health perspective, Williams appeared to be in better shape when speaking at Pro Bowl weekend compared to when his remarks sparked retirement talk. He was on crutches and in a walking boot two days after the 49ers’ loss to the Eagles in the NFC title game, but needed neither of those aides today. With his intentions for at least the immediate future clear, he and San Francisco can move forward with their preparations for the offseason knowing the status quo will remain intact along the blindside.
Coaching Notes: Texans, 49ers, Bengals, Panthers
DeMeco Ryans was a popular name on the head coach market before ultimately landing with the Texans. The now-former 49ers defensive coordinator also generated strong interest from the Broncos, but the coach admitted that his choice to join Houston instead of Denver wasn’t all that difficult.
“When it came down to it, there was no place I wanted to be any more than H-Town,” Ryans said earlier this week (via NFL Network’s Bridget Condon on Twitter). “…It was a no brainer.”
While Ryans’ comments could certainly be interpreted as shade being thrown at the Broncos, his comments were more about his connection to Houston and the Texans organization. Ryans was selected by the Texans in the second round of the 2006 draft, and he proceeded to spend six years with the organization. While the Texans were able to lure their favorite for the job, the Broncos had to pivot to Sean Payton, who was ultimately dealt from the Saints to Denver.
With Ryans now in the building, the focus shifts to the rest of the coaching staff. Naturally, the coach will be looking to some of his former peers for positions, as we previously heard that 49ers passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik as well as 49ers defensive quality control coaches Andrew Hayes-Stoker and Stephen Adegoke are candidates to join Ryans in Houston. Matt Barrows of The Athletic adds another name to the list of targeted 49ers coaches, noting that Ryans leaned heavily on safeties coach Daniel Bullocks when he was in San Francisco. Barrows described Bullocks as Ryans’ “eyes in the coaches’ booth,” so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the head coach recruits his confidante to Houston.
More coaching notes from around the NFL…
- Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher interviewed for the Buccaneers offensive coordinator job before Cincinnati ultimately signed him to an extension. However, the new contract hasn’t stopped teams from inquiring on his availability. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor indicated that “there’s still interest from other teams” in adding Pitcher to their staff, per ESPN’s Ben Baby on Twitter. Pitcher became the club’s quarterbacks coach in 2020, and his work with 2020 No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow over the past few years is starting to pique the interest of other organizations.
- It’s been a bit since we heard that the Commanders requested an interview with 49ers assistant head coach/running backs coach Anthony Lynn for their offensive coordinator vacancy. Earlier this week, Josina Anderson passed along (via Twitter) that Lynn had follow-up and informal conversations with the Commanders to determine “if there is mutual interest.” It’s uncertain if the two sides decided to move on with a formal interview.
- Commanders defensive backs coach Chris Harris interviewed for the 49ers defensive coordinator vacancy earlier this week. If Harris doesn’t land the gig, he’s most likely going to end up on the Titans coaching staff, per Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (via Twitter). We heard last month that Harris was set to join the Titans as their their defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach. However, no deal was finalized, and Harris was clearly waiting out the 49ers’ search before fully committing to Tennessee.
- The Panthers are searching for new coordinators on both sides of the ball, but it sounds like their special teams coordinator will be sticking around under new head coach Frank Reich. According to Joseph Person of The Athletic, general manager Scott Fitterer and owner David Tepper encouraged head coaching candidates to retain ST coordinator Chris Tabor and offensive line coach James Campen for next season. Following a four-year stint as the Bears special teams head, Tabor joined the Panthers last offseason, with Reich describing the unit as “really strong.” Campen has bounced around a bit in recent years before landing in Carolina for the 2022 campaign.
Mutual Interest Between 49ers, RT Mike McGlinchey For New Deal
The 49ers remained surprisingly successful throughout the season in spite of never-ending injury problems at the quarterback position. The team has several key questions to answer as free agency approaches, however, including an experienced mainstay on their offensive line. 
[RELATED: Trent Williams Considering Retirement?]
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey is scheduled to hit the open market for the first time in his career in March. The ninth overall pick in 2018, McGlinchey has been a full-time starter since his arrival. 2022 saw him play over 1,000 snaps for the third time in his five-year tenure with San Francisco, and deliver a performance roughly on par with his previous campaigns; the Notre Dame alum earned a PFF grade of 70.3, generally excelling in run blocking while allowing six sacks.
McGlinchey earned $10.88MM this past season while playing on the fifth-year option, but he is in line for a notable raise on a multi-year deal. Given his age (28), position and consistency, he could garner a sizeable market if he heads elsewhere. If he had his way, however, he would remain in the Bay Area.
“It’s hard to ever want to leave this place,” McGlinchey said of his impending free agency decision, via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports. “I’ve seen people do it and be kind of heartbroken about it later on. You got to do a lot of thinking and see how the chips fall.”
San Francisco, meanwhile, “would prefer” to keep him in the fold for the foreseeable future, writes ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. The 49ers saw guard Laken Tomlinson head to the Jets in free agency last offseason, and will no doubt look to keep as much of their offensive core intact as possible. With star defensive end Nick Bosa due for a new contract – one which could easily make him the league’s highest-paid defender – as well, though, finances will be a key sticking point in negotiations for all other pending FAs.
That point is not lost on McGlinchey, who added that money “will certainly have a lot to do with” his ultimate decision to stay or leave. San Francisco currently sits in the middle of the pack with respect to cap space, though plenty remains to be sorted out in the weeks to come. One decision the team will need to make will be a price point for McGlinchey, as they prepare to navigate what will be an interesting offseason.
49ers OL Trent Williams Considering Retirement?
Eyeing his 14th professional season, 49ers offensive lineman Trent Williams is considering hanging up his cleats. Following another deep playoff run that ended in disappointment, the 49ers All-Pro offensive lineman admitted that he’s contemplating retirement.
“It’s a long season,” Williams said (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle). “And having two long seasons back-to-back, it does get pretty grueling for a 34-year-old guy like myself. I’ll be 35 when the (2023) season starts. You do kind of think about what’s life like after football. I’ve done this every year of my life since the second grade.
“You do get to that age, especially at the end the year like this, as exhausting as it was. And still not getting quite where you want to be. I get it. You get to that age, But, honestly, I’m just taking it one day at time and we’ll see how that goes going forward.”
Williams hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. This past season, he earned his second-straight first-team All-Pro nod and his third-straight Pro Bowl appearance. While he told Branch that he’s still able to generate hype for playoff games, he acknowledged that the monotony of the regular season is starting to get tiresome. When asked about the lineman’s comments, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan opined that Williams was simply reflecting on the season vs. seriously contemplating retirement.
“If everyone had to do a press conference and talk for a while after these games, I’m sure we’d say a lot of things that didn’t tell you guys exactly everything that’s going to happen for the next eight months, but I didn’t read his words as that’s a big thing for him,” Shanahan said (via Jacob Hutchinson of KNBR.com). “I know Trent loves football. I know it’s very hard at his age, in any situation, to do what you do for that long and come up short, but I’d be really surprised if Trent wasn’t fired up in a few weeks.”
Williams has plenty of financial incentive to stick around the NFL. He inked a six-year, $138MM deal with San Francisco in 2021 and is set to earn close to $40MM in base salary over the next two years.
The offensive lineman isn’t the only 49ers veteran who’s discussing his NFL future. However, unlike Williams, kicker Robbie Gould is making it clear that he wants to stick around.
“I’m nowhere near retiring,” Gould said (via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area on Twitter). “I got a lot left to do from a career perspective–No. 1 being winning a Super Bowl. And, two, I’m pretty close to a lot of milestones I think would be pretty neat to be able to accomplish.”
The 40-year-old kicker has spent the past six seasons in San Francisco, connecting on 87.5 percent of his field goal attempts. Gould connected on 27 of his 32 field goal attempts this past season while also setting a career-high with 50 extra point makes. A strong 2023 season could put Gould in the top-five on the all-time field goals list.
Coaching Notes: Fangio, Kocurek, Broncos, Dolphins, Falcons, Gray, Lions, Bills, Bears
The 49ers showed interest in Vic Fangio, joining almost every other DC-seeking team. But Fangio’s former team did not have the chance to bring him back in for an interview; Fangio finally committed to the Dolphins on Thursday morning. The 49ers were interested in a Fangio reunion, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle notes, and 9News’ Mike Klis adds Fangio was also intrigued by coming back to San Francisco. The 49ers’ usage of a 4-3 scheme throughout Kyle Shanahan‘s tenure would not have been a major issue regarding a reunion with the 3-4 guru, Branch adds. That would make sense, as the 4-3/3-4 divide is not nearly as big an issue — thanks to sub-packages’ rise — as it was several years ago.
San Francisco remains on the hunt for a DeMeco Ryans replacement, placing Steve Wilks and Chris Harris (not the cornerback) on its interview list. The 49ers also are considering promoting defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports tweets. The well-regarded staffer has been Nick Bosa‘s position coach throughout the All-Pro’s career and has fostered development from others as well. Ryans, meanwhile, is interested in bringing Kocurek to Houston as his DC.
Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:
- Some recently dismissed assistants may be on the Broncos‘ radar. Ex-Sean Payton staffers Joe Lombardi, Kris Richard and Dan Roushar are in the mix for Broncos gigs under their new coach, Klis notes. Lombardi worked on Payton’s Saints staff for 11 years, the final five as QBs coach, but lost his Chargers OC gig recently. The Saints parted ways with both Richard and Roushar recently. The ex-Seahawks DC was in New Orleans for just one season (2021) under Payton, while Roushar had been on the Saints’ staff for the past 10 years. Richard may be in the running for Denver’s DC post, though Klis adds the Ejiro Evero-Payton talks began Wednesday night. The parties continued discussions today. Evero, who is under contract, staying on staff and leaving for a head coaching job in 2024 would net the Broncos two third-round picks.
- The Falcons brought in former DC Jerry Gray as an assistant head coach. Gray, 60, spent the past two years as the Packers’ secondary coach but worked with Arthur Smith in Tennessee. Smith and Gray were both Titans staffers in the early 2010s, when the latter was Tennessee’s DC. The Falcons hired Ryan Nielsen as their defensive boss last week, but Gray will be a key assistant. Green Bay let Gray’s contract expire, with ESPN’s Rob Demovsky noting (via Twitter) Gray and DC Joe Barry were not on the same page.
- Once again, the Dolphins will look for a new offensive line coach. Miami fired Matt Applebaum after one season, Outkick.com’s Armando Salguero notes (Twitter link). Mike McDaniel‘s next hire will be the Dolphins’ eighth O-line coach in nine seasons. Applebaum, 39, joined McDaniel’s staff in 2022 after spending his previous coaching years in the college ranks.
- The Lions added two fairly recent NFLers to their staff. They brought in Dre’ Bly and Steve Heiden to coach cornerbacks and tight ends, respectively. Bly, who played for the Lions from 2003-06 and made two Pro Bowls with the team, has not coached in the NFL previously. He spent the past four seasons coaching cornerbacks at North Carolina, his alma mater. Heiden will come over from the Cardinals, who employed the ex-NFL tight end as their tight ends coach throughout Kliff Kingsbury‘s tenure. The ex-Cardinal had been on Arizona’s staff for 10 years.
- Acting quickly after making a change late last week, the Bills filled their safety coach role by hiring Joe Danna. Working under Lovie Smith with the Texans this season, Danna was in Jacksonville under Doug Marrone and Urban Meyer for the previous five yeras.
- After the Falcons hired Nielsen, they fired Jon Hoke. But the veteran position coach will land in Chicago. The Bears hired Hoke as their cornerbacks coach and passing-game coordinator. This is a reunion for Hoke, who coached Bears DBs for six seasons (2009-14) previously. The team also promoted Omar Young from the quality control level to assistant QBs and wide receivers coach. Young is a 14-year coaching veteran who spent time with OC Luke Getsy in Green Bay.
2023 NFL Cap Space, By Team
Earlier this week, the NFL revealed its 2023 salary cap. Teams can now budget for their offseasons, knowing a $224.8MM ceiling is in place. This year’s nonexclusive franchise and transition tag numbers also emerged, giving teams more clarity on those fronts as well. With that in mind, here is where every team stands in terms of cap space:
- Chicago Bears: $90.91MM
- Atlanta Falcons: $56.42MM
- New York Giants: $44.28MM
- Houston Texans: $37.56MM
- Cincinnati Bengals: $35.55MM
- New England Patriots: $32.71MM
- Seattle Seahawks: $31.04MM
- Baltimore Ravens: $26.87MM
- Las Vegas Raiders: $19.78MM
- Arizona Cardinals: $14.47MM
- Kansas City Chiefs: $13.96MM
- Detroit Lions: $13.83MM
- Indianapolis Colts: $12.59MM
- Denver Broncos: $9.07MM
- San Francisco 49ers: $8.28MM
- Washington Commanders: $8.24MM
- Philadelphia Eagles: $4.24MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $1.03MM
- New York Jets: $1.31MM over the cap
- Dallas Cowboys: $7.18MM over
- Carolina Panthers: $8.94MM over
- Los Angeles Rams: $14.19MM over
- Cleveland Browns: $14.64MM over
- Miami Dolphins: $16.45MM over
- Green Bay Packers: $16.48MM over
- Buffalo Bills: $17.88MM over
- Los Angeles Chargers: $20.38MM over
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $22.35MM over
- Minnesota Vikings: $23.43MM over
- Tennessee Titans: $23.67MM over
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $55.03MM over
- New Orleans Saints: $60.47MM over
These figures (courtesy of OverTheCap) will change dramatically in the coming weeks, but this is where each team stands ahead of Super Bowl LVII. After that point, cap-casualty cuts can begin taking place. Restructures, extensions and trades will commence as well, with the Saints of recent years doing well to prove there are a few roads to cap compliance.
While New Orleans is in its usual February place, the team actually was further over the 2021 and ’22 caps at this point on the NFL calendar. Using void years to load up its roster during Tom Brady‘s three-year stay, Tampa Bay has seen much of that bill come due. If Brady does not re-sign a procedural deal, which would allow for the Buccaneers to spread out his dead money, the team will be hit with a $35.1MM dead-cap charge this year.
The Browns led the league by a wide margin in cap carryover from 2022, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Cleveland carried over $27.6MM in cap space. The Browns paced the league in cap space throughout the 2022 season, bracing for the Deshaun Watson contract’s spike. As of now, Watson’s cap figure will balloon from $9.4MM to $54.9MM. No NFL player has ever played a season on a cap number higher than $45MM.
The Panthers, Broncos, Bears and Raiders rounded out the top five in carryover dollars, ranging from $10.8MM to $6.7MM. Chicago ate considerable dead money via the Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn trades. The rebuilding team is still paying most of Quinn’s salary, doing so in order to secure a better draft pick from the Eagles. The Bears will have quite the opportunity to bolster their roster in Ryan Poles‘ second year in charge, leading the league by a massive margin and holding the No. 1 overall pick. The Falcons still have $12MM-plus in Deion Jones dead money on their 2023 payroll, but the team is rid of Matt Ryan‘s record-setting dead-cap hit ($40MM).
Baltimore will have a major decision to make in the coming weeks. GM Eric DeCosta said he has not decided if the team will place the exclusive or nonexclusive tag on Lamar Jackson. Even the nonexclusive number — $32.42MM — will dramatically change the Ravens’ budget ahead of free agency. The exclusive tag, which prevents other teams from submitting an offer sheet to Jackson, is expected to come in just north of $45MM.