The 2026 Baltimore Ravens thread

xXMASHERXx

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They can't stand a black man with a seat at the table and given full-assurance from the top.
Biscoitti effectively shytted on a bunch of their racial tropes and agenda-ridden columns
People are going to spin things to create the story they want. I took Bisciotti's comments as him saying that he's going to listen to feedback from a few people including Lamar and wants to interview the final candidates together but ultimately the final decision will be made by him. From what I got from the press conference is that he really, really likes Lamar and will do everything he can to ensure he retires a Raven. That sounds like power to me.
 

STAN JONES

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People are going to spin things to create the story they want. I took Bisciotti's comments as him saying that he's going to listen to feedback from a few people including Lamar and wants to interview the final candidates together but ultimately the final decision will be made by him. From what I got from the press conference is that he really, really likes Lamar and will do everything he can to ensure he retires a Raven. That sounds like power to me.
he actually said he wants DeCosta to pick the coach

hes just gonna wait til the end to give his input but he said flat out this will be Erics hire

but I agree with everything else you said

what I took away from the presser was that Biscotti wants Lamar to be more involved with the off the field stuff

he wants him to speak up more when he has a problem with the roster or coaching but Lamar is naturally a non confrontational laid back guy
 

STAN JONES

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THE CONTRACT


Madubuike signed a 4-year, $98M deal in the Spring of 2024. That deal included $75.5M in guaranteed money, of which $53.5M was fully guaranteed. Madubuike’s 2026 base salary of $22M was initially guaranteed for injury only, but it became fully guaranteed in March of 2025.


Madubuike’s 2026 Cap number is $30.975M, which includes that $22M guaranteed base salary and the $8.975M bonus prorations from his signing and option bonuses. His 2027 salary is $22.5M, but none of that amount is guaranteed. The deal also includes two (2) void years in 2028 and 2029 to allow for the maximum proration of five (5) years for the signing and options bonuses.


Partly because of those void years (and a 2024 restructure), there is still a whopping $51.925M in dead money that must be dealt with in 2026 and beyond. That amount includes the $22M in 2026 guaranteed salary and $29.925M in bonus prorations for 2026-2029. Those bonus prorations are for money that has already been paid to Madubuike via bonuses and, injury or not, must at some point be accounted for on the Ravens’ Cap.


Madubuike’s 2027 compensation of $22.5M (which includes his $18.5M salary and a $4M Roster Bonus) is not guaranteed.


So, no matter what, if Madubuike’s career is over, there is going to be a lot of Salary Cap pain for the Ravens (to go along with the loss of their best defensive lineman).


RETIREMENT


This is easily the best scenario for the Ravens because it would relieve them of having to pay Madubuike’s $22M salary in cash and reduce the dead money to just $29.925M.




This, unfortunately, is also the least likely outcome.


To be clear, Madubuike is under no obligation to retire due to the injury, and he is 100% entitled to the fully guaranteed $22M. This is exactly why players and agents fight for both injury-guaranteed and fully guaranteed salaries.


If Madubuike did agree to retire and forgo his $22M fully guaranteed salary, the Ravens and Madubuike would likely restructure the terms of his deal to allow for the Ravens to use a post-June 1 release designation and split the $29.925M in dead money between 2026 ($8.975M) and 2027 ($20.95M). For Cap accounting purposes, they would also likely reduce his $22M salary down to the minimum of $1.215M (replacing the difference with a roster bonus due after June 1). Since Madubuike would be retiring, neither of those numbers matter much to him, but this accounting trick would allow the Ravens to receive the bulk of the Cap savings ($20.785M) in March, as opposed to having to wait until after June 1 to receive the savings (due to the post-June 1 release designation). This is a maneuver the Ravens have used in recent years with the release of WR Odell Beckham and the retirement of DT Micheal Pierce.


While having to take on $20.95M in dead money in 2027 is certainly not ideal, it’s far better than taking the entire $51.925M all in 2026 (which would be $20.95M more than his present Cap number of $30.975M).


Again, this is the best scenario for the Ravens’ Cap, but the least likely outcome.


NON-RETIREMENT


If Madubuike doesn’t retire, then he will spend the 2026 season on IR and receive the $22M guaranteed salary. His Cap number while on IR would be $30.975M.


The Ravens would then have four (4) options for handling 2027 and beyond for Salary Cap purposes:


  • They could still use a 2026 post-June 1 release, which wouldn’t save any Cap space in 2026 (due to the fully guaranteed $22M salary), but would again allow them to push $20.95M of the $51.925M in dead money into 2027.
  • They could restructure Madubuike’s contract by converting most of the $22M salary into a Signing Bonus which would prorate over the four (4) remaining years of the deal – 2 real years and 2 void years. If they were to convert $20M of the $22M into a bonus, it would reduce Madubuike’s 2026 Cap number by $15M (from $30.975M to $15.975M). This would then allow the Ravens to use a post-June 1 release in 2027, with $13.975M in dead money on the 2027 Cap and $21.975M in dead money on the 2028 Cap. To be clear, this method would actually add to the future dead money in 2027 and 2028, but does create $15M in Cap space in 2026 and pushes most of the dead money into 2028 when the increases in the Cap will in theory make it easier to accommodate.
  • They could just hold onto Madubuike until March of 2027 and simply release him (or process his retirement) at that time. This would also mean $20.95M in dead money in 2027.
  • They could emulate how they revised Beckham’s deal in 2024 by replacing the 2028 void year with a dummy salary. By adding the dummy salary in 2028, it replaces the void year in 2028 and allows the Ravens to do a 2027 post-June 1 release and spread the remaining $20.95M in dead money between 2027 ($8.975M) and 2028 ($11.975M).

Of these choices, this last one is probably the most likely scenario for how this will play out if Madubuike cannot resume his career. It allows the Ravens to push out the dead money as far as they can and lessens the impact of the dead money in any given year. This would still mean dead money of $30.975M (2026), $8.975M (2027) and $11.975M (2028), which still isn’t very palatable, but is probably the best of several bad options given that there is $51.925M in dead money that must be addressed.


Again, the hope is that there will be good news at some point and Madubuike will be able to return next year, but the scant amount of public information to date coupled with the squeamish way in which Harbaugh addresses questions about Madubuike, doesn’t paint a bright picture for the 28-year-old two-time Pro Bowler from Dallas, Texas.


 

Piff Perkins

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I watched that press conference and was really impressed by your owner. Clear ego on display as you'd expect from a billionaire, but he also displayed clear emotional intelligence and competency. Also seemed to allude to the GM being safe for now as a means of getting him to lock the fukk in. I really fukked with how he shot down the bullshyt reports about Lamar having issues with Harbaugh or the OC. That shyt is lazy agenda pushing from the media. Dude missed some games late and caught more hell than Burrow has in years despite missing far more games.

Parallels between the Lions and Ravens this offseason are wild. Recently paid player potentially facing career threatening recovery VS cap cutting consequences. Big changes guaranteed but a core set of young players/vets ensure you can get right back to competing if you fix the obvious issues. And o-line concerns. People around here want your center but I assume there's no way you let him walk in free agency.
 
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