The Ravens applied the franchise tag to defensive tackle Justin Madubuike on March 5, a move that will keep the defensive tackle on the team for at least one more year but will force some roster budget-cutting within the next week.
Speaking at the NFL Combine a week ago, general manager Eric DeCosta said the team had discussions with Madubuike regarding an extension, but he acknowledged via a statement released by the team that, “We were unable to reach a contract extension” before the March 5 deadline to apply the franchise tag.
“Justin is a great player and person, and we will continue to negotiate a long-term deal with him.”
The two sides have until July 15 to work out a deal, or Madubuike will play the 2024 season on the tag. The tag for defensive tackles carries a cap hit of $22.1 million, all fully charged against the 2024 cap. An extension would presumably lower that number, potentially significantly, in the early years of any deal. But with no deal in place now, the Ravens must include that $22.1 million cap charge in their 2024 cap calculations.
The new league year begins next week, and the Ravens must be under the salary cap of $255.4 million at that time. According to overthecap.com, which tracks player contracts, the Ravens are roughly $9 million over that cap figure when factoring in Madubuike’s new cap charge, which becomes the fourth-highest on the team for 2024. Quarterback Lamar Jackson tops that list with a $32.4 million cap charge, followed by tackle Ronnie Stanley ($26.1 million) and cornerback Marlon Humphrey ($22.8 million).
Whether on the cap or with an extension, Madubuike played himself into a massive raise for 2024 with the best season of his career in 2023 during a contract year. He recorded a career high with 13 sacks and also set career highs with 56 tackles and 33 quarterback hits.
En route to his first Pro Bowl appearance, Madubuike led all NFL defensive tackles in sacks and tied an NFL record with at least a half-sack in 13 straight games.
The Ravens have spent years searching for a dominant, game-changing pass-rush presence from the interior, and Madubuike, a third-round draft pick in 2020 out of Texas A&M, emerged as exactly that in his fourth NFL season. It was viewed as a foregone conclusion that the Ravens would retain him, whether with the tag or with an extension.
Cuts or extensions looming
But the tag, and its $22.1 million charge on the books, means roster moves will be imminent — via cap casualty releases or contract restructures or both — as the Ravens work to get under the salary cap by next week.
The Ravens would free up $5.5 million in cap space if they release linebacker Tyus Bowser, who spent the entire 2023 season on the non-football injury list with a persistent knee injury. Bowser is entering the final season of a four-year, $22 million signed in 2021. Bowser’s release would also result in $2 million of dead money, the last portion of his $8 million signing bonus.
The Ravens are already dealing with more than $8 million in dead money after failing to re-sign veterans before void-year costs were triggered last month. The Ravens had added void years to contracts of guard Kevin Zeitler, running back Gus Edwards, cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and safety Geno Stone as a way to keep costs down in 2023, but those void years now factor in the 2024 cap.
The most notable case is that of Zeitler, with more than $4 million being charged to the 2024 cap. Even if the Ravens were to re-sign Zeitler, which seems unlikely at this point, that cap charge remains. Edwards ($1.84 million) and Ya-Sin ($1.6 million) also have more than $1 million in dead money on this year’s cap.
Another potential cap casualty for the Ravens is veteran tackle Morgan Moses, who is due to make $6.9 million in 2024. Releasing him would create about $1.4 million in dead money but would clear $5.5 million of cap space. Moses, 33, started 14 games at right tackle this past season. He signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Ravens before the 2022 season.
The Ravens could also clear $4 million in cap space if they release Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard, though he proved to be an important part of the Ravens’ offense under Todd Monken, just as he had under previous coordinator Greg Roman.
All-Pro tackle Ronnie Stanley offers one of the more compelling budget decisions for the team. He has never fully recovered from the ankle injury that came just days after he signed a five-year, $98.7 million deal in 2020. The Ravens could free up more than $8 million in cap space if they release Stanley, but they would also eat more than $17 million in dead money.
The team could designate him a post-June 1 cut, which would then clear more than $15 million in cap space, but the team would still be on the hook for more than $11 million in dead money. And they’d need to find a new starting left tackle.
The Ravens also could approach Stanley about reworking his contract in a way that lessens his cap charge this year while still keeping him in the team’s future plans. When healthy, he proved to be one of the top tackles in the league, but since suffering his injury early in the 2020 season, Stanley has missed 36 of the team’s 51 regular-season games.
The Ravens also could approach other high-paid stars, including Humphrey, linebacker Roquan Smith or tight end Mark Andrews about contract restructures or extensions that would lessen their cap charges for the 2024 season. But any such moves would only push more money further down the road, something the Ravens have generally preferred not to do.
DeCosta has acknowledged more than once that Jackson’s five-year, $260 million deal would affect the roster-building process, and Madubuike’s tag charge will do that as well. The Ravens still have roughly 20 players who are set to hit unrestricted free agency next week, and the Ravens will be hard-pressed to bring back many of them with their current budgetary constraints.
They do, though, now know that they will have Madubuike for at least another year.
See Also:
• Ravens’ Defensive Philosophy Remains Anchored In Physicality Amid Turnover
• Best Of 2023: Best Breakout Season – Justin Madubuike
• The Tyus Bowser Show With Guest Justin Madubuike (Nov. 8, 2023)
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox