The Ravens have reworked the contract of cornerback Lardarius Webb in order to create some additional cap space, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. According to Pelissero, it’s a simple restructure, with $4MM of Webb’s 2014 base salary converted into a signing bonus.
Webb, 28, had been in line for a $7.5MM base salary this season, with an additional $3MM in prorated bonus money resulting in a $10.5MM cap hit. Because his deal runs through the 2017 season, the new $4MM bonus will be spread out in equal $1MM installments over the next four years. So, by reducing Webb’s 2014 salary to $3.5MM and adding that additional $1MM to his prorated bonus total, the Ravens create $3MM in cap savings for ’14.
According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter), the Ravens now have about $6.95MM in cap room for the coming season, nearly double what they had before reworking Webb’s deal. It remains to be seen whether the team will need any of that space for a major signing – such as perhaps a Torrey Smith or Jimmy Smith extension – but at the very least it will provide some flexibility in case any in-season additions are required.