The NFL salary cap has been set at a record-high $279.2 million, the league announced Thursday during the NFL Scouting Combine.
That's an increase of $23.8 million from last year. It means the Ravens currently have about $12.2 million in salary cap space.
"It gives us a little bit more, but when you're starting with as few dollars as we have, it's a savior," General Manager Eric DeCosta said earlier this week at the Combine. "But we still would like to have more money."
DeCosta joked that Vice President of Football Administration Nick Matteo is looking for "couch cushion coins." The Ravens have multiple options to clear more salary-cap space, but DeCosta indicated that they won't be heavy hitters in free agency regardless.
"You guys know the Ravens – right player, right price. We don't have a lot of cap room," DeCosta said. "We're not a team that's going to make a lot of splashes, generally speaking."
Top Safety Prospects Both Look Up to Kyle Hamilton
Kyle Hamilton is entering just his fourth season and he's already become the player prospects look up to.
Georgia's Malaki Starks and South Carolina's Nick Emmanwori, who are considered the top two pure safeties in this year's draft class, both talked about the possibility of teaming up with Hamilton in Baltimore.
The Ravens are looking for another safety to mix with Hamilton, Ar'Darius Washington, and others. Starks or Emmanwori could give Baltimore a dangerous trio.
Baltimore loves moving around its defensive backs, and that's what Starks is promoting about his game.
"I think my biggest [strength] is being versatile, being able to move around, being able to line up inside, outside, in the box, being able to understand the defense, communicate," Starks said at his podium session in Indianapolis on Thursday.
A three-year starter at Georgia, Starks went from playing more in the box to single-high safety and in the slot. He was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award (given to the nation's top defensive back) each of the past two seasons.
Emmanwori is a bigger-bodied prospect (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) who is highly athletic and showed a playmaking edge with six interceptions and two touchdowns the past two seasons. He and Hamilton would give the Ravens two monsters on the back end of their defense.
Myles Garrett Reportedly 'Not Open to' Negotiations With Browns
It seems the Browns and star pass rusher Myles Garrett are in a standoff.
General Manager Andrew Berry reiterated at the Combine earlier this week that the Browns are "not interested" in trading Garrett, who made a Feb. 3 request to be dealt.
The Browns want to sign Garrett, who has two more years on his contract, to a blockbuster extension. However, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported Thursday that Garrett is "not open to" negotiations with the Browns.
