SALARY CAP: Baltimore Ravens 2026 Offseason Roster Preview

PLAYERS PRESENTLY UNDER CONTRACT

The Ravens currently have the following 40 players under contract for 2026 (with Cap Numbers indicated):

QBs (2):  Lamar Jackson ($74.5M); Cooper Rush ($2.649M)

RBs (3):  Derrick Henry ($5,589M); Justice Hill ($3.917M); Rasheen Ali ($1.148M)

FBs (0):

WRs (6):  Rashod Bateman ($6.298M); Zay Flowers ($4.466M); Tez Walker ($1.275M); LaJohntay Wester ($1.059); DeAndre Hopkins (VOID); Tylan Wallace (VOID)

TE (1):   Mark Andrews ($6.98M)

OL (5):  Ronnie Stanley ($9.889M); Roger Rosengarten ($1.756M); Andrew Vorhees ($1.171M); Emery Jones ($1.426M); Carson Vinson ($1.122M)

DL (5):  Nnamdi Madubuike ($30.975M); Broderick Washington ($5.86M); Travis Jones ($5.563M); Aeneas Peebles ($1.049M), John Jenkins (TBD)

EDGE (3):  Mike Green ($1.686M); Adisa Isaac ($1.54M); Tavius Robinson ($1.325M)

LBs (4):  Roquan Smith ($32.719M); Trenton Simpson ($1.72M); Teddye Buchanan ($1.231M); Jay Higgins ($1.021M)

CBs (6):  Marlon Humphrey ($26.276M); Nate Wiggins ($3.496M); T.J. Tampa ($1.25M); Bilhal Kone ($1.074M); Roger Longerbeam ($1.049M); Keyon Martin ($1.005M)

S (3):  Kyle Hamilton ($10.683M); Malaki Starks ($3.768M); Keondre Jackson ($1.005M)

ST (2):  Tyler Loop ($1.066M); Nick Moore (TBD)

The above 40 players are under contract for a total Rule of 51 Salary Cap commitment (which includes dead money from players no longer on the team) of $274,596,351 (keeping in mind that we don’t yet have details on the John Jenkins and Nick Moore extensions).

ASK THE CAP MAN: What’s the “Rule of 51?”

Present projections for the 2026 Salary Cap indicate that the Cap will be in the $295-300M range. This would be an increase of $16-21M over the 2025 Cap of $279.2M. The Ravens will most certainly hope it reaches that range (and hopefully beyond) and will definitely pray that it won’t be any lower.

So, using the figure of $295.5M for the estimated Cap, the Ravens will initially have around $30M in Cap space (which includes approximately $9M in 2025 Cap space carryover), accounting for just the 40 players presently under contract.  But, keep in mind that if contract extensions are not reached with DeAndre Hopkins and/or Tylan Wallace, who both have contracts that will void in mid-February, that number will drop to 38.

This will be the basis for a lot of early reports on the status of the Ravens’ 2026 Salary Cap, but again, it is important to keep in mind that this number is based on just the present 40 players that are presently under contract and nowhere near representative of the team’s Cap with a full roster.

So, between now and Wednesday, March 11^th at 4:00 p.m., when the new league year and free agency begins, the Ravens have a lot of work to do.

PRACTICE SQUAD FREE AGENTS (FAs)

The Ravens have 17 players on their Practice Squad and on Practice Squad Injured Reserve.  Many of these players will be re-signed to 2026 “Future” contracts within the next couple of days or weeks.

OT Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan

OL Kenyon Green

OLB Malik Hamm

WR Cornelius Johnson

WR Keith Kirkwood

LB William Kwenkeu

LB Chandler Martin

DT David Olajiga

DB Amani Oruwariye

OL Jared Penning

CB Marquise Robinson

DE Kaimon Rucker

FB Lucas Scott

OL Laken Tomlinson

DT Josh Tupou

RB Jonathan Ward

TE Scotty Washington

These players will sign 1-year deals with the applicable league minimum salary ($885K, $1.005M, $1.075M or $1.145M).

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS (ERFAs)

ERFAs are players with less than three (3) years of service time (“accrued” seasons) in the league.  In order to retain ERFAs for the following year, the Ravens must tender the player with an ERFA tender by the first day of the league year on Wednesday, March 11^th.  Based on the player’s length of service in the league, the player will receive a 1-year deal with the applicable league minimum salary ($885K, $1.005M, $1.075M or $1.145M). Once tendered, these players are fully under the team’s control and are not free to negotiate with other teams.

This year the Ravens have four (4) players who is an Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA):

OL Corey Bullock

LB Carl Jones, Jr.

DT CJ Okoye

WR Dayton Wade

Given their minimal impact on the Salary Cap, the Ravens (and most teams) usually tender all of their ERFAs.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (RFAs)

Restricted Free Agents are players whose contracts have expired and who have three (3) years of accrued service time. In order to attempt to retain the player’s services, the team must tender the player with an RFA offer. Once tendered, another team can sign the player to a RFA offer sheet, but the Ravens then have seven (7) days to match that offer sheet and retain the player under the terms of that offer sheet. If the Ravens were to choose not to match the offer sheet, they would then receive compensation based on the level of RFA tender made to the player.

Under the terms of the CBA, the RFA Tender amounts increase annually at the same rate as the overall Salary Cap.

There are basically 4 RFA tenders: 1^st Round Tender, 2^nd Round Tender, Low Tender and Right Of First Refusal (ROFR).

* 1^st Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of a 1^st round pick – $7.893M (est).

* 2^nd Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of 2^nd round pick – $5.658M (est).

* Low/Original Round Tender: allows the team to receive compensation of a draft pick equal to the round in which the player was originally drafted – $3.605M (est).

* ROFR: allows the team to simply match an offer, with no draft pick compensation or for players who were UDFAs – $3.453M (est).

The Ravens have one (1) player who is a pending Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) this year:

RB Keaton Mitchell

Given the sharp increase in salary from the non-RFA minimum for 4^th year players ($1.145M in 2026) to the RFA tender amounts, the Ravens have recently shied away from giving RFA tenders and instead either offered a one- or two-year deal in lieu of the RFA tender or simply non-tendered the player making them a free agent.

Mitchell, though, is going to be an interesting case.  Since he was an UDFA, there is no draft pick compensation with the ROFR or Low RFA tender if Mitchell were to sign an offer sheet elsewhere.  But, is the 2^nd Round RFA tender, at $2M+ more, too much for a reserve RB?  Earlier in the season, the answer looked like “no,” but with his increase usage as the season has progressed, the 2^nd Round tender seems more likely.

The Ravens could also pursue a 2- or 3-year deal with Mitchell, which would allow for a smaller 2026 Cap number than the 2^nd Round RFA tender, while also secure Mitchell’s services into the future.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (UFAs)

The following 20 players are Unrestricted Free Agents (UFAs) and will be free to sign with other teams if they haven’t re-signed with the Ravens before Free Agency begins on Wednesday, March 11^th at 4:00 p.m.:

CB Chidobe Awuzie

DT Taven Bryan

OL Ben Cleveland

OL Daniel Faalele

S Alohi Gilman

WR DeAndre Hopkins (VOID)

LB Jake Hummel

QB Tyler Huntley

DE Dre’Mont Jones

TE Charlie Kolar

TE Isaiah Likely

OL Tyler Linderbaum

OL Joseph Noteboom

OLB David Ojabo

FB Patrick Ricard

P Jordan Stout

DL Brent Urban

OLB Kyle Van Noy

WR Tylan Wallace (VOID)

DB Ar’Darius Washington

FRANCHISE TAG

The window for using the Franchise Tag begins on Tuesday, February 17th and ends at 4:00 on Tuesday, March 3^rd.

The Ravens don’t appear to have any candidates for the Franchise Tag this year.

2026 DRAFT PICKS

The Ravens will have the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft and presently are expected to have 11 total picks in the 2026 draft.  They presently have their own 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Round picks. The Ravens traded their own 6^th Rd pick to the Jets during the 2025 draft and their own 7^th to the Rams as part of the 2024 Tre’Davious White trade.  The Ravens acquired the Chargers’ 5^th Round pick (Oweh trade) and the Eagles’ 7^th Rd pick (Jaire Alexander trade) during this past season. The Ravens are also expected to receive four (4) Compensatory Picks for the 2025 free agency losses of OL Patrick Mekari (5^th), CB Brandon Stephens (5^th), OL Josh Jones (7^th) and CB Tre’Davious White (7^th).

This would give the Ravens the following eleven (11) picks – 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 5^th, 5^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 7^th.

Based on their present draft position, the Ravens will likely have a rookie Cap of somewhere in the $16M range (depending on where the 2026 Salary Cap is eventually set).  While that number won’t factor into the team’s initial Cap calculations, it is something that the Ravens will be very mindful of as they otherwise build their roster.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/01/09/baltimore-ravens-salary-cap/salary-cap-baltimore-ravens-2026-offseason-roster-preview/