how much cap space do the ravens have?

[chow184]

Ed Reed-wants a new deal,the DPotY is only making 550K this year........

Ray Lewis-wants a new deal with a 50 million dollar signing bonus

Todd Heap- pro bowl TE that will be a UFA after this season

Jamal Lewis- 2000 yard RB that will be a UFA after this season

I could see them franchising Jamal Lewis,but I don't know how they would have any money to sign heap after that.

Heap in a skins uni in 06?

I would love to have Heap :notworthy

[Voice of Reason]

I don't think we will have the cap space to sign a player like Heap next offseason. We could barely resign our own players this year, and cap problems are only expected to get worse in the years to come.

Plus, Cooley is fine for me.

[Walking Deadman]

Heck,according to PFT (via Mike Preston of the Balt. Sun).

Ray Lewis wants a 50 million signing bonus!!!!!

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

LEWIS WANTS $50 MILLION BONUS

It's been no secret over the past year or so that Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is looking for a new contract, even though he signed an extension in 2002, which contains more-than-fair salaries for the next four seasons.

According to Mike Preston of The Baltimore Sun, Lewis wants a signing bonus of (if you're not sitting down we suggest that you do so) $50 million dollars.

Fifty million dollars.

Even in his prime, Lewis didn't deserve that kind of money. Now that scouts see him on film getting blown up on the run by rookie linemen, the conclusion is that he's a slightly better than average player.

Ray seemed to acknowledge these concerns: "My job is not to take on offensive linemen, but to make running backs not want to play against me."

In commenting to Preston regarding his absence from involuntary voluntary workouts, Lewis might have inadvertently confirmed rumors of a rift with fellow Ravens defender Ed Reed. Addressing rumors that Lewis, Reed, and tight end Todd Heap could be colluding in their efforts to get extensions, Lewis said, "Last offseason I trained with Ed Reed, but this year I'm on my own."

Last year, of course, Reed became the NFL defensive player of the year, wresting the crown from Ray. And, as rumored, Reed's ascension is causing friction between these two Ravens.

Indeed, Lewis' semi-rambling quotes regarding his anticipation for the upcoming season suggest that the NFL's version of the Mean Machine hasn't demonstrated the kind of chemistry that propelled them to the Super Bowl five years ago.

"Last year, there was a lot of personal stuff going on, petty stuff, in the locker room. This year, I'm just going to play football. I don't want to be a GM, I don't want to be a coach. I'm going to be a player again, and end up being the Most Valuable Player, not just on defense, but for the entire league."

That last sentence indicates that Ray might be feeling a little threatened by Reed, who is still working under the back end of his rookie deal -- and who wants a big piece of the same pie from which Lewis wants $50 million.

Frankly, we don't see this one ending well. Reed, not Ray, is the future of the Ravens defense. And everyone knows it.

Except Lewis.

"When we reworked Ray's deal in 2002," said G.M. Ozzie Newsome, "that deal was done to allow him to retire as a Raven."

Key word: Retire. The team envisions that Lewis has four more years in the tank, and the last thing they're gonna do is invest $50 million (or even $15 million) up front in a guy whose best days can be found in Tony Siragusa's personal video collection

[Die Hard]

Originally posted by Voice of Reason

I don't think we will have the cap space to sign a player like Heap next offseason. We could barely resign our own players this year, and cap problems are only expected to get worse in the years to come.

Really?

Could you be more specific please? Where did you get this information?

Because as someone who understands the cap pretty well.... I'm pretty sure we can sign 3 Todd Heaps next season.

And the reason why we had problems with signing our own picks this year... because the team didn't budget to set aside $10M for a single cap hit for a disgruntled player.

If it wasn't for HAVING to trade Coles... this team could've signed another 2-3 marquee free agents this offseason IN ADDITION to Smoot and Pierce.

[Mr. S]

Wow, just when Lewis is finally out of the limelight from his 2000 antics, he finally shows what he's made of again. Reed, Lewis, TO, Jamal Lewis, they all must be hanging out together all the time or something. Hopefully Sean Taylor stays away and doesnt follow that path.

[VAsBeachBoy]

Imagine if TO had stayed on that team, what a group of misfits and moneygrabbers that team would be...

[refuze]

Mark Brunell cap hit anyone?

[Dallsux]

Ya know what? It's May of 2005. We are coming off of a 6-10 season with many more questions to come about THIS season. Can we please stave off the 2006 trade scenarios until NEXT season? Please? We have NO idea what will take place over the next 10 months. Heap could get injured or traded THIS season to Buffalo. Who knows. Maybe Payton Manning will get injured & in a bizarre twist, the Colts sign Todd Heap as their starting QB & he takes them to the Super Bowl & beats the Eagles 38 - 3. :whoknows:

Eitherway, I would like to get thru this season first before we start discussing how we could fit yet another star into our cap space next season. :2cents:

[soljaofjesus]

thats alot of people they have to resign

[Leonard Washington]

they'll do what they gotta do. i forsee them ignoring ray ray and paying everyone else. unfortunately for them, they let hartwell go, so lewis holding out could be a problem.