Predicting The Last 5 Roster Spots, Cap Hit For All Players

Sep 15, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Justin Forsett (21) carries the ball against the Oakland Raiders during the third quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Raiders defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 19-9. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to lunchtime links, where we round up all of the latest Raven’s news in one place for your consumption.  Today we bring you the last 5 players in and the last 5 out in regards to roster spots, where the Ravens rank on defensive line depth, who the talk of the team is so far, and the cap hits for every player currently on the roster.

Shehan Peiris at Bleacher Report is predicting the last 5 in, last 5 out for the Raven’s roster.  We have been speculating a lot lately on who is going to stick on the final roster, and there appears to be great competition at virtually every spot. Peiris thinks that Asa Jackson is going to stick for another season, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see him gone.  We wholeheartedly agree that Jah Reid needs to go.

Jamison Hensley at ESPN brings us the salary cap hit for all 90 players currently on the roster.  Two that stick out in the group are Ray Rice ($8.75 million) and Haloti Ngata ($16 million).  We already know that Rice isn’t going anywhere, but that cap number is huge and next year’s is almost as big.  I think it’s safe to say that this is a make or break season for Rice. Hopefully Ozzie can work out an extension with Ngata that can lower this year’s hit a little, but the Ravens still have around $4.6 million to work with regardless.

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Matt Miller at Bleacher Report is ranking defensive line depth for all 32 NFL teams, and the Ravens come in at 11th.  We agree that the team has a good mix of veterans and youngsters, and this line has great potential.  We like the odds that Ngata returns to his disruptive self this season, which makes getting to the ball a whole lot easier for the others guys.

Russell Baxter has the talk of every team so far this offseason.  For the Ravens, it’s Gary Kubiak, with honorable mention going to Ray Rice.  We agree with Baxter’s assessment, though you could make a case for any number of others.  Kubiak’s level of success in Baltimore will have a huge effect on both his and the team’s future direction.

Finally, Jason Marcum is setting realistic expectations for the Raven’s rookies this season.  We fans often blow our expectations out of proportion, so a little reality check is nice from time to time.  Marcum expects, among others, for C.J. Mosley to beat out Arthur Brown and play at least 50% of the snaps this year.

Who do you think will stick on the final roster?  Did any of the Raven’s cap numbers surprise you?