#Steelers And Ben Roethlisberger Could Help Hurt The Ravens Salary Cap

[Kipper]

Steelers can help ensure Ravens will carry huge cap number for Flacco

Posted by Mike Florio on February 15, 2013, 2:53 PM EST

We’ve established over the last two weeks that the Ravens may have to use the exclusive franchise tag on quarterback Joe Flacco, and that to do so would require the Ravens to set aside, under current calculations, $20.464 million in cap space.

And while the Ravens will be required to shoulder only the non-exclusive number of $14.6 million (or thereabouts) through April 19 when the top five quarterback cap numbers for 2013 are officially determined, the numbers that apply as of April 19 become locked in the moment the Ravens use the tag.

Per a source with intimate knowledge of the rules that apply, the five highest 2013 cap numbers at the quarterback position become fixed, for Flacco’s purposes, as soon as the Ravens apply the franchise tag to Flacco. And so, if the Ravens do it on Monday, when the window for applying the tag opens, they’ll eventually be strapped with the full $20.464 million.

That’s why it makes sense for the Ravens to wait until the last possible day to apply the franchise tag, if they plan to use the exclusive version. This will ensure that any new quarterback contracts with lower cap numbers could drive the average down from $20.464 million.

And it also makes sense for one of quarterbacks with one of the five highest cap numbers in 2013 — Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — to wait until after the March 4 deadline for use of the tag to restructure or extend his contract in a way that drops his cap number below $19.6 million. By waiting, the Steelers and Roethlisberger will be sticking the Ravens with a higher cap number.

The other top-five cap numbers for 2013 are: $21.55 million for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, $20.82 million for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, $20.35 million for Giants quarterback Eli Manning, and $20 million for Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. None of those teams or players have any obvious incentive to help the Ravens out by doing a deal before March 4.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Three of the quarterbacks are represented by CAA, and CAA also represents Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin. So if Stafford or either of the Mannings will be doing a new deal anyway, doing it before March 4 could result in more cap space that could be used to keep Boldin, who has a base salary of $6 million for 2013.

[fezziwig]

Thanks for posting this Kipper.

I could never understand why the Ravens waited as long as they did. You have Flacco for a couple of seasons claiming he's a franchise QB/Elite QB and wasn't getting the media respect. With this being his thoughts the Ravens then should have figured on Flacco has a high opinion of himself and they better start figuring a way to sign him before he proved he was an upper type NFL QB.

I don't know whom they thought would be better than him or available to them because QB do not grow on trees and especially the kind that's required in todays NFL.

I do hope he breaks their bank and puts them in a cap confinement. He won his Super Bowl and now he will want the money.

[bleedBnG58]

With Fluko signing his deal, now puts the Ravens in a position maybe worse than the Steelers as far as cap issues.....you go Joe...he said it wasn't about the money...it was about respect. Let's see how long they respect him and honor his 6 year deal.

[Kipper]

Everything in the original post didn't happen. The Ravens gave Flacco the ridiculous offer and didn't need to franchise him which meant the Steelers didn't have to wait to restructure Ben.

...like Bleed said, this deal is going to hurt the Ravens. Flacco doesn't strike me as the type that would restructure his contract anytime soon, so they should be saddled with his cap hit for a few years making it tougher to bring in better talent (especially on the Defensive side where they are hurting".

joe Flacco is and always has been about himself. He wanted the most money in the NFL, he wants the most respect for himself. He wants people to believe he's elite. joe Flacco doesn't give a **** about the rest of his team. He just got everything he ever wanted in a 1 month span