The Baltimore Ravens find themselves in an interesting position as they enter the 2016 season. They have 30 players about to hit free agency however one of them is more important than all the rest, Kelechi Osemele.
Osemele has proven to be a productive pass blocker and at 26 he can only get better. There are plenty of teams looking for a quality left tackle and Osemele should see significant interest if the Ravens cannot resign him.
Osemele is a 2nd round pick so he should see a second contract however he may push out another offensive lineman Eugene Monroe. Monroe is 28 and has a cap hit of $8,700,000 which is way too high if the Ravens intend to rebuild this defense. Monroe was a first round pick back in 2009 however his cap hit might be too much for the Ravens to handle at this point.
Having two productive left tackles is a good problem to have but the Ravens are currently ranked 29th in the NFL in terms of salary cap space. The Ravens currently have around $5 million in cap space which is not nearly enough to make a competitive play for any free agent. The organization is expected to ask Joe Flacco to restructure his contract at some point this offseason to help free up some cap space however this has yet to happen.
The Ravens have a ton of needs coming into the 2016 NFL Draft and will be in great position to fill up some holes on this offensive line. They will also need to try to solidify this defensive backfield and find Terrell Suggs heir apparent.
The team must also find another productive wide receiver since both Steve Smith Sr and Breshad Perriman are both coming back from serious injuries. It will be tough to see the Ravens drafting a wide receiver again in the first round but they might need to in order to compete with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals.
