Baltimore Ravens are set to gain salary cap space thanks to a roster move they made two months ago
The Baltimore Ravens signed wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for just one year, but they released him after the NFL's new league year began back in March.Beckham had void years attached to his one-year contract that kept his salary cap hit low for Baltimore, and both sides agreed to restructure the deal in January to […]
The Baltimore Ravens signed wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for just one year, but they released him after the NFL's new league year began back in March.
Beckham had void years attached to his one-year contract that kept his salary cap hit low for Baltimore, and both sides agreed to restructure the deal in January to help maintain as much cap space as possible for this year after releasing Beckham.
This could only be done if Beckham was released with a post-June 1 designation, which is coming up in a matter of days.
Ravens are pushing cap costs into the future with OBJ release
NFL cap rules change following June 1 of every league year. Remaining dead cap in any transaction gets split between the current year and the following year if it happens after June 1. Essentially, all the remaining dead cap following the current year goes into the next year. This ends up creating cap space for the current year.
By designating Beckham as a post-June 1 cut, Beckham was able to hit the free agent market in March, and the Ravens were able to realize some cap savings at that time as well. On June 2, they'll realize the full savings with this move.
Baltimore will gain an additional $1.2 million in cap savings on June 2 as this year's dead cap figure will drop to $2.8 million.
But when 2025 comes around, Beckham will still be featured on the cap sheet.
The Ravens have already paid Beckham his full contract, but releasing him as a post-June 1 cut means an additional $8.3 million has been moved to the 2025 cap sheet. That's how much OBJ will cost the Ravens in cap space a full year after he was released from the team.
Needless to say, it's a move to benefit the present, not the future.
Had the Ravens not released Beckham in this manner, it would've been harder for them to be cap compliant this offseason. They're only $5,719,934 under the cap as of now according to OverTheCap.com.
In his lone season with the Ravens, Beckham racked up 565 yards and three touchdowns on 35 receptions. He is now with the Miami Dolphins, his third team in four years. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal earlier this month.
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He must have made a mistake.
