The Baltimore Ravens are facing a major exodus on defense this offseason with the increased spending going to their star players. The biggest impact of course in the initial lift to elite quarterback Lamar Jackson’s contract with a $32.4 million cap hit slamming the team next season. That has left Baltimore searching frantically for creative ways to save some money against the salary cap next season.
Baltimore Ravens Release Star Defender On Wednesday Morning
Early in the day on Wednesday, Baltimore made the announcement that they would be releasing outside linebacker Tyus Bowser. The star linebacker has accumulated 19.5 sacks during his six year stint with the team but missed eight games last season due to a knee injury.
Bowser was only slated to weigh in at $7.5 million dollars against the salary cap in 2024 but his injury history seriously impacted his momentum as he was limited to just two sacks in 2023. With a $2 million dead cap penalty, Baltimore will save $5.5 million against the cap with his release. It is presumed that the writing was on the wall for a bitter departure from Baltimore for Bowser when the team drafted star Michigan linebacker David Ojabo with a second-round pick in 2022.
The move comes in a flurry of cap-saving decisions made by Baltimore that included the trading of safety Chuck Clark to the New York Jets for a seventh-round pick last season. After the departure of safety Geno Stone to the Cincinnati Bengals and the trade of Clark, Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams are currently the only two safeties from last season’s active roster that are still under contract.
After big ticket extensions to some of their superstars, Baltimore has been reeling financially this offseason trying to get back under the salary cap. The team also restructured the contract of superstar left tackle Ronnie Staley this morning in a move that will save the team approximately $8 million in cap space. The restructured contract provided Staley with more incentive-based bonuses in his contract at the cost of base salary.
Even though Baltimore is struggling big time with the cap, they have managed to keep the main group of star players on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball over the past few seasons. Baltimore will need to find adequate replacements or they may have opened up the flood gates defensively with some of the financial decisions they’ve had to make.
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