OTL: Ravens Cap Tightens, but Our Captain Can Steer This Ship

With the draft now in the rear view, we’re in a bit of a dead time for NFL/Ravens news. So today, I want to focus on three bigger points that stand out to me as the teams head into OTAs this month.

The first thing that really stands out to me is this current cap situation:

This is not even about adding veterans late into the process of this offseason – we are talking big picture. This thought came up in my mind after the decision by the team to decline Tyler Linderbaum’s fifth-year option. Now, do I think Lindy will stay a Raven? Yes. However, the fact that they had to decline it partly because they couldn’t afford it without making some more moves speaks volumes about the cap situation the Ravens find themselves in. Now, even if they DID have more space, I also get why the Ravens didn’t pick it up, as all offensive linemen are grouped together to come up with the number, so Lindy would be getting the same money as a first-round tackle when as a center.

Linderbaum is just one piece of the puzzle. The cap is tight, and you can point to players all over the roster who will need to be paid in the near future.

Luckily, I am happy we have someone responsible enough who can deal with situations like this:

Moving on for now…

I am just so happy that EDC is the Ravens GM. As someone who has been slowly but surely losing faith in the GM for the team across the street down by the Inner Harbor, covering this Draft was like a warm hug. I loved this 2025 Draft and really like what he did in free agency as well. When the team basically has no cap space to do much of anything, you need draft picks and savvy moves to help build out the roster, and the Ravens always come through. Having someone like EDC there to handle that aforementioned cap issue makes me feel so much better about it. For the people who still don’t think EDC is good or is overrated, remember one thing: it can also be much worse.

For my money, the best move he has made this off-season is easily the drafting of Malaki Starks:

As you can see in this one highlight, we will see more head-turning and plays on balls in the air than Brandon Stephens ever gave us last year. Starks will be such a good Raven; I just have this feeling about him. It’s the same feeling I had when Kyle Hamilton, Linderbaum, and Zay Flowers got drafted as well. We got a true Free Safety that can also move all over the field. Over the last couple of weeks before the Draft, I had decided that Starks would be the dream fit for the Ravens at 27, and we got him. Starks is going to add so much to this defense and I can’t wait to see him on the field making impact plays deep for the Ravens for years to come.

Now we await pictures of players in shorts…

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