The Baltimore Ravens have a long list of players set to hit the open market once free agency begins in March. The most important player of the bunch is defensive tackle Justin Madubuike.
Fresh off a breakout season in which he netted a league-high 13 sacks among interior defensive linemen that earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors, the price to retain Madubuike has skyrocketed with Spotrac projecting him to land a four-year, $81.2 million contract with an average annual salary of $20.3 million.
The deadline to use the franchise tag is approaching on March 5, meaning the two sides will need to reach a new deal before then to avoid that route. The price for the franchise tag at every position was recently revealed for this offseason, with defensive tackles coming in at $22.1 million.
With the NFL announcing a record $255.4 million salary cap, franchise and transition tag numbers are also locked in. From a memo to clubs today: pic.twitter.com/SkUHnY8sPh
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 23, 2024
The good news for Baltimore is that the salary cap for the 2024 season was announced to be more than expected at $255.5 million, giving them more room to fit the $22.1 cap hit from the tag under the cap.
Wow. That’s huge for the Ravens. I had been using $245M, so that’s $10M more. That’s going to be very helpful for the Ravens’ Cap. https://t.co/FkxGn9KEv7
— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) February 23, 2024
It would still be preferable for the Ravens to reach a new deal with Madubuike before resorting to the tag to give them more money to operate with in free agency to try and build the best possible roster for the upcoming season.
