Speaking to reporters last week, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh made it clear the club would like to work out a new deal with Haloti Ngata that allows the veteran defensive lineman to remain in Baltimore for the foreseeable future. It sounds as if the two sides haven been talking, as Ed Werder of ESPN reports (Twitter link) today that the Ravens have a “very good” offer out to the 31-year-old Ngata.
Ngata isn’t a free agent, but he is in danger of being released if he doesn’t agree to some sort of extension or restructure that significantly lowers his 2015 cap hit. He’s currently scheduled to count $16MM against Baltimore’s cap next year, the highest such figure on the team.
Ngata is entering the final season of his contract, and Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com tweets that the Ravens want to tack on years to his deal, indicating that the club would rather lower the Oregon alum’s cap figure by extending him instead of requesting that he take a pay cut. Of course, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Werder’s classification of the offer as “very good” could translate as “team-friendly” — if the deal was satisfactory to Ngata, he probably would have already accepted it.
The Ravens currently have roughly $5.7MM in cap space, so even if Ngata agrees to bring down his cap figure, they might need to make a few more moves in order to create some financial wiggle room as free agency approaches.