The Baltimore Ravens have one monster cap hit to deal with this offseason and that's Joe Flacco's with $28,550,000, now obviously Flacco will not be released. It is likely his deal will be reworked so that the cap hit is not as brutal.
The same could not be said about Jimmy Smith or Lardarius Webb. The Ravens secondary was an absolute disaster last season and a lot of the blame falls on both Webb and Smith; sure a lot of people were injured but to only record 4 interceptions between the two of them is not worth $19,100,000. Webb's cap hit this year is $9,500,000 while Smith's is $9,600,000 which is entirely too high for 2 cornerbacks in one of the worst defensive backfields in the league.
Smith seemed to be the more productive cornerback as he recorded 3 interceptions, 10 pass defenses, a sack, a defensive touchdown, and 54 combined tackles. Webb at age 30 missed a game this season, but managed to have the same amount of combined tackles as Smith. Webb would also tally 11 pass defenses and an interception. The choice seems pretty clear as the Ravens could draft a new lock down corner or a solid pass rusher in the 2016 NFL draft. If Webb does not want to restructure his contract than the Ravens will have very few reasons to keep him around and releasing Webb would allow the Ravens to become bigger players in free agency.
The Ravens have a couple of needs as we enter the offseason. Primarily at safety, offensive line, outside linebacker, and wide receiver. With a number of talented free agents hitting the open market this season it would be wise for the Ravens to invest in some more effective players.
To make matters worse, the Ravens only have around $7 million in cap space currently and would need to release some players before free agency begins. The name that immediately comes to mind is Dennis Pitta who has a $7,200,000 cap charge. The Ravens will need to be smarter about who they allocate their resources too if they hope to get back into the playoff picture.
