After four months of evaluating, signing, trading and drafting players, the Ravens are no longer in a position to be buyers this offseason, general manager Eric DeCosta said.
In a conference call with season-ticket holders Wednesday, DeCosta said that the team's "spent a lot of the money that we had this year." Trading for defensive end Calais Campbell and designating Matthew Judon with the franchise tag, among other smaller moves, have left the Ravens with a projected $8 million remaining in salary cap space.
The team's pending deal with free-agent guard D.J. Fluker would cut further into those savings, and the Ravens typically enter each season with enough financial flexibility to add players during the year.
But DeCosta said the Ravens' 2020 salary cap picture "could certainly change." Their most likely route to cap relief is through long-term deals with left tackle Ronnie Stanley or Judon, Pro Bowl players who are set to become free agents after this season. DeCosta said the front office has continued to negotiate contract extensions with both.
"Other than that, we don't have a lot of avenues to free up significant money this year," DeCosta said. "We haven't been able to get a deal done at this point. We remain optimistic. ... I'm not ruling out a possibility that we could do a long-term deal, but we haven't been able to get one done at this time."
DeCosta said that if the Ravens had the cap space, they would likely target a pass rusher or offensive lineman. Edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Everson Griffen are two of the top free agents still available, but both could be out of the team's price range.
