Ravens: Brandon Williams on the ‘chopping block’ this summer?
By Justin Fried
The Baltimore Ravens roster could look vastly different than it does now a year in the future. Brandon Williams is one of the many Ravens players on the last year of his current deal.
Williams has been a mainstay of the Ravens roster for nearly the last decade. A third-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, few players have been more consistent than the 32-year-old Williams.
But with his contract set to expire next offseason, it’s far from a guarantee that he’ll be on the roster next year. He is, however, guaranteed to be on the team in 2021.
Right?
Could the Ravens really move on from Brandon Williams this summer?
Patrik Walker of CBS Sports recently released a list of one veteran from every NFL team that could be on the “chopping block” this summer. And he puzzlingly chose Williams as the Ravens’ representative.
This is a list of veterans who “could be looking for new jobs when September rolls around.” Essentially, this is suggesting that the Ravens could cut ties with Williams before the start of the season.
It wasn’t too long ago that releasing Williams actually seemed like a reasonable proposition.
The eight-year NFL veteran was considered a potential cap casualty this offseason with Baltimore facing a tight cap situation. However, that situation was resolved when the team restructured his contract.
Put simply, there is no feasible scenario in which the Ravens cut Williams. They essentially can’t.
His $12.92 million cap hit in 2021 is fully guaranteed which means the team wouldn’t save a penny if they were to release him.
In theory, they could save $1.5 million if he were to be traded, but that would still come with a massive dead cap charge of $11.42 million. At that point, they might as well just keep him.
Aside from there being no financial scenario where this is possible, it also wouldn’t make sense from a roster standpoint.
Baltimore is in win-now mode, and while they could use the additional cap space, it certainly wouldn’t make sense for it to come at the expense of one of their key defensive leaders.
The depth behind Williams is rather thin with veteran Justin Ellis likely next-up behind Williams at nose tackle.
This proposition just doesn’t make any sense both from a financial and logistical viewpoint. The Ravens won’t be cutting Brandon Williams this summer.
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His future beyond this year might be in doubt, but rest assured Williams will be on the roster come September.