The Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens are asking wide receiver Anquan Boldin to take a paycut or be released, reports Alex Marvez of Fox Sports.
Anquan Boldin contract: Ravens ask wide receiver to take pay cut
The defending Super Bowl champions are at a crossroads with their leading receiver over the last three seasons. Asking Anquan Boldin to take a paycut is essentially a necessary move for the team’s future.
Evan Habeeb-US PRESSWIRE
Boldin, coming off an outstanding playoff run that culminated in 104 yards and a touchdown on six catches in Baltimore’s 34-31 win over San Francisco in Super Bowl XLVII, is allegedly being asked to renegotiate the $6 million base salary he’s due for the 2013 season.
Flacco's cap number
While the Ravens are able to keep their quarterback's 2013 cap number under control, it jumps up considerably by 2016 at $28 million. Boldin has previously said he’d retire if he was released from the Ravens, something Marvez wrote, through a source, that Boldin is now reconsidering.
The Ravens signed WR/KR Jacoby Jones signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract in free agency last year, and he’s due a $1 million roster bonus on March 16. There was some speculation he may be released, considering he only had 30 catches last season. However, in the wake of the possible release of Boldin, the move to renegotiate his deal before the start of free agency on March 12 could be the basis on which a decision about Jones is made.
Boldin has 186 catches for 2,645 yards and 14 touchdowns in three seasons with the Ravens. In seven years with the Cardinals, he averaged over 1,000 yards a season, but hasn't reached that mark in Baltimore.
Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Joe Flacco cashed in with a $52 million guaranteed contract this offseason, keeping him in Baltimore before he hit free agency. That deal carries with it just a $7 million cap hit for 2013, but skyrockets to $28 million in 2016. In today's marketplace for quarterbacks, that essentially means he'll get his deal restructured, but the Ravens are looking to transition a roster from the current position at the top of the league into a comfortable future.
Perhaps Boldin's age as well as his salary doesn't fit with that. Reportedly, the Ravens wish to make linebacker Dannell Ellerbe their top priority, and seem content to let linebacker Paul Kruger walk in free agency.
It’s not out of the question they re-sign free safety Ed Reed, either.
It's likely whatever conclusion they reach with Boldin will affect Jones, and perhaps those situations will affect the future contract of wide receiver Torrey Smith, possibly the Ravens' most valuable player for the dollar.
For more Baltimore Ravens news, features and info, head over to Baltimore Beatdown.
More in the NFL:
See More:
