Marcus Peters Signs Extension; Ravens Cap Talk

On the eve of their final game of the 2019 season, the Baltimore Ravens made a strong financial move in signing Marcus Peters to an extension worth $42 million over three years, which will keep him on the team through the 2022 season. It includes $32 million guaranteed with $20.5 million in cash coming in the first year.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

For Peters, the three-year deal provides him with another crack at free agency at 29-years old. Considering the Ravens are his third team in four years after he came into the NFL with character questions after getting dismissed from the team at Washington, it represents a deal that makes him a very rich man and provides him with three more years to work his way into another huge three year deal once the cornerback market adjusts up past $20 million per year like it should. He’s also slated as the top cornerback for what will be a top defense, with Earl Thomas providing help over the top, which will increase his value by his next deal and just plain be a positive experience as a player.

For Baltimore, Peters is Pro Football Focus’ #3 rated cornerback behind a surprise in Quinton Dunbar of the Redskins at #1, plus PFF’s cornerback of the decade Richard Sherman at #2. Peters is more highly ranked than Stephon Gilmore, who is one of the top candidates for Defensive Player of the Year in the NFL this season, and Casey Hayward, Jr., a perennial top cover guy.

Peters would have been the top rated cornerback on the market, but Byron Jones, who was PFF’s 14^th ranked cornerback now takes the seat as the top guy on the market. Slot cornerback Brian Poole of the Jets, plus Troy Hill of the Rams will also be highly pursued, but won’t be paid as much as Peters would have or Jones will be.

The cornerback market is long overdue for a jump as Josh Norman and the Redskins set the market at $15 million all the way back in 2016 with Xavien Howard just barely passing that at $15.05 million with his May 2019 extension. Over the last year, Pro Football Focus, and others, have communicated that cornerback may be the second most important position on the field behind quarterback, which makes them more valuable than both pass rushers and wide receivers.

Meanwhile, Odell Beckham and Tyreek Hill signed contracts worth $18 million per year, then Michael Thomas hit $19.25 million on an extension, while Julio Jones blew past that to $22 million per year. Last offseason, Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack reset the pass rusher market via their holdouts at $22.5 and $23.5 million per year respectively. Their contracts really set a reset on all non-quarterback markets as even linebackers like CJ Mosley benefitted with a $17 million per year deal with a New York Jets organization and their drunken pilot.

With these data points in mind, Byron Jones and his representation team (Jared Fox and Alan Herman of Sportstars) should be seeking out something that at minimum eclipses $19 million per year, which may be part of the rub between a stubborn Jerry Jones and Jones’ representation. Jerry Jones is probably still angry about having to shell out five-years $75 million to a running back because he held out during what looked like a potential Super Bowl campaign that will end with Jason Garrett’s likely firing. Many have reported that Jones and the Cowboys haven’t really even been in communication regarding a new contract, so it seems likely he’ll hit the market and hopefully provide a much needed reset for everyone else that comes after him.

By the time Peters’ contract is over, his $14 million per year should be far below a market that may be near $25 million per year, which I’m sure his team of CJ LaBoy and Douglas Hendrickson (Wasserman Sports) understand. His red flags were always going to be an issue, while the money provided in guarantees and first year money are likely what enticed them enough to sign the contract. And, while I might have held out for more in free agency, but considering he was just traded mid-season, that’s not a risk I want to take if I get a contract offer like the Ravens provide with so much benefit.

This is why the Ravens are such a smart organization, just another example in a long line of them. While Peters gets the benefit of guarantees and first year money, the Ravens, who had $51.5 million in cap space before the deal, get to frontload the contract into the final year of the current CBA, a year before Lamar Jackson is able to start negotiating his extension. The contract’s construct is similar to what the 49ers did with Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract that had a $37 million cap hit in 2018, which was 20.9% of the cap, before dropping down to $19.85 million this year (10.5%) then averaging just under $27 million per over the next three years. Both moves put teams in position where they could get tremendous value against the cap for impact players at the most impact positions in the sport.

This contract benefits both sides, which is, of course, why they came to an agreement prior to free agency. That said, the Ravens benefit from things outside of Peters’ talent, so it will be viewed as a steal for them, but we shouldn’t fault LaBoy and Hendrickson for that. It’s a solid play.

We don’t have the complete numbers on the new deal, so I can’t say with certainty how much cap space the team will have, but with $7.5 million slotted to go to their draft pool, I would imagine they still have about $20-25 million to spend in free agency. Just on the point of cap flexibility, the Ravens have a ton.

Ronnie Stanley’s in the fifth-year of his rookie contract, which could mean an extension is coming that lowers that number if necessary for cap purposes. Tony Jefferson only played five games, but he was one of PFF’s worst safeties in those five games, while Chuck Clark had a 72.8 grade in his stead and the defense has been terrific. Clark earned an 81.9 coverage grade as well. Releasing Jefferson would clear $7 million in cap space.

Brandon Carr has a $7 million cap hit with just $1 million in dead money. Although he will be 36, Marshall Yanda, who was PFF’s fourth highest graded guard, will be in the final year of his contract in 2020 with $4 million in dead money versus an $11 million cap hit, so another extension could be in order to clear some space if necessary.

Plenty can be done to retain who the team wants to retain and maintain the same strong roster into 2020 that they had this year. Free agents include defensive tackle Michael Pierce who had a 91 grade in 2018, but fell to 69.1 this year, which might impact his market down towards $10 million per year.

Matthew Judon is a productive edge defender who continues to get better with each passing year. He’s clearly an impact player and is worth keeping, at the right price of course. According to Over The Cap’s new valuation tool, which is in our premium content part of the site, his value to the Ravens has been $11.6 million. My first instinct was that he would be a $12 million per year player, so his OTC valuation aligns with that.

Other players the team will want to retain are center Matt Skura and running back Gus Edwards. Skura is a restricted free agent, while Edwards is an exclusive rights free agent. Skura suffered a knee injury against the Rams that ended his season. If he were to get an RFA tender on his original round, which was undrafted, so it’d be a seventh round tender, he’d cost about $2,144,000. If the Ravens put a second round tender on him, it’d cost $3,278,000.

Considering he’s the starting center for one of the NFL’s better offensive lines, I’d imagine the Ravens put a second round tender on him, so if a team were to sign him away, they’d have the consequence of losing a second round pick. As an ERFA, Gus Edwards will be signed to something that costs less than $1 million.

Reserve safety and full-time special teamer Anthony Levine is another inexpensive player that the team may want to retain.

Baltimore can pay Peters all this money in year one, still maintain this current roster, and add nine draft picks. One first, second and third round pick, plus three fourths. All picks that could add strong contributors in 2020 to put the Ravens in position to win what could be back-to-back Super Bowls if these next few weeks play out as this 11-game winning streak has.