Much to the dismay of many fans, Andrew Vorhees snuck onto the Baltimore Ravens' 53-man roster. After a disastrous 2025 campaign and a poor preseason showing, Vorhees is back in Charm City for at least one more year.
This was a business decision for the Ravens. Thankfully, they won’t need Vorhees to start in 2026; John Simpson and Vega Ioane will assume the starting roles, but Vorhees will serve as a backup. The reason he gets to stay is likely due more to money than talent.
Vorhees restructured his contract this offseason. He inked a one-year, $1.7 million fully guaranteed contract, per Spotrac. If Baltimore had parted ways with Vorhees on roster cutdown day, they would’ve endured $1.7 million in 2026 dead cap.
Looking at the situation the Ravens are in, they could use every extra dollar this upcoming season.
With cuts made & the initial 53 set, the Ravens are $10.652M under the Cap. This is full Cap accounting (53 + IR) since the Rule of 51 (only top 51 Cap #’s) ends next wk. This will go down $4.6-5M today once the PS is assembled. pic.twitter.com/lZfPMMRJVH
— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) August 31, 2026
Baltimore Ravens make money move in retaining Andrew Vorhees
$1.7 million sounds minuscule—you won’t lose too much sleep over that kind of dead cap penalty. However, Baltimore’s not in a position to lose money for 2026. They don’t have much cap flexibility right now.
With already over $18 million in dead cap, the Ravens weren’t in the business to add to that. So, they opted to keep Vorhees. And it’s for more than just money, too.
Money is one of the leading factors, but there’s also just not much talent available at guard. This team needed guard depth given the uncertainty at center, John Simpson’s inconsistent play, and Vega Ioane being a rookie. Combining experience with a cheap deal, Vorhees might be the best second- or third-string option you have at your fingertips.
He’s not a good player. It doesn’t take an NFL expert to realize Vorhees is not a starting-caliber contributor in this league. Ultimately, though, he brings a inexpensive, albeit uncuttable contract, and 20 starts.
That counts for something. No matter how you spin it, that familiarity playing in front of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is relatively important when you’re ironing out the depths of your roster.
Still, this shouldn’t exactly excite Vorhees. Great, you made the team. You’re not exactly in a good spot, though.
Vorhees put forth a horrendous effort last year, and this preseason brought much of the same struggles. It feels like the decision to keep him around comes more from a financial burden standpoint than from a talented and important cog in the offensive line room standpoint.
If Vorhees improves this year, it’d be a welcome sight. Unfortunately, he’s been taking step back after step back. He survived cutdown day, but it’s clear his time in Baltimore is on life support.
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