The NFL trade deadline might not be for a couple more weeks but the Baltimore Ravens got an early start. The Ravens traded for cornerback Marcus Peters, sending the Los Angeles Rams linebacker Kenny Young and a 2020 fifth-round pick in exchange. But the move didn’t just cost Baltimore a player and some draft equity, they took a ding to their salary cap by taking on Peters’ contract.
According to Spotrac, the Ravens have an estimated $2.77 million in salary cap space remaining. Peters, on the final year of his contract, counts as $5.868 million against Baltimore’s 2019 salary cap while the Ravens also eat $361,152 of Young’s deal this season.
That doesn’t leave Baltimore with much breathing room for the remainder of the season. With injuries already ravaging the team and forcing them to add players to the roster, the Ravens likely have some moves in the back of their mind to free up some additional cap space if they need to sign someone else.
Contract restructures, trading a player away or even just flat out cutting someone remain options for Baltimore to gain some quick salary cap space if needed. It’s also possible the Ravens could lock Peters up to a long-term contract, making the numbers work more in their favor for 2019 by pushing some money into the later years of a deal.
The Ravens’ salary cap is tight right now after the trade for Peters but there are ways of tightening the purse strings to make more moves.
