Salary Cap

Don't hold your breath Peter Schmuck Baltimore Sun In a perfect world, every major league team would have the same ability to sign free agents and there would be enough economic balance to force more quality players into markets that are less attractive than New York and Los Angeles. In that same perfect world, every team would then sink or swim on the quality of its management and the smaller-market teams would live happily ever after. In the real world, the Major League Baseball Players Association already won this battle.

A day after Ray Rice broke the silence about his contract status by saying he had outplayed his rookie deal, Ravens general manger Ozzie Newsome agreed with the Pro Bowl running back and indicated that he is happy with the progress the organization has made in long-term contract talks with Todd France, the agent for Rice. But Newsome seemed resigned that Rice would sit out offseason workouts, saying that a potential holdout is something that he and other team officials always discuss before designating a player as their franchise player.

A year ago, the New England Patriots, facing a salary-cap squeeze, decided not to give running back Curtis Martin a long-term contract.They let him play his third season for $247,900 and he became a restricted free agent at the end of the year.The New York Jets then enticed him with a six-year, $36 million deal that the Patriots decided not to match.The Patriots received first- and third-round draft picks for Martin, but scrambled to find a running game during this preseason.Facing a similar situation this year with linebacker Ted Johnson, they took the opposite tack.

A day after Ray Rice broke the silence about his contract status by saying he had outplayed his rookie deal, Ravens general manger Ozzie Newsome agreed with the Pro Bowl running back and indicated that he is happy with the progress the organization has made in long-term contract talks with Todd France, the agent for Rice. But Newsome said Wednesday at the team's annual draft luncheon that a potential holdout is something that he and other team officials always discuss before designated a player as their franchise player, including Rice.

Team owner Steve Bisciotti was strikingly candid, general manager Ozzie Newsome subtly expansive and coach John Harbaugh predictably consistent at the "State of the Ravens" news conference Wednesday. Here are the bullet points: • Time to shine: Bisciotti isn't daunted by the uncapped season the NFL is about to enter. In fact, he's almost ebullient about the prospect. "I don't see it hampering us in our ability to do things," he said, indicating that he expects the roster to stay pretty much intact.

In late July, the Ravens released four veterans who had played critical roles for the team in years past. To clear salary cap space, the Ravens said sayonara to Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Kelly Gregg and Willis McGahee. Heap returns to Baltimore on Sunday as a member of the Arizona Cardinals, but he might be sporting street clothes at M&T Bank Stadium. After catches 13 passes in the team's first four games, he has been sidelined with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Heap's primary heir apparent, Ed Dickson, has 22 receptions in six games.

The city of Baltimore received a sobering reminder about the business side of professional football Monday when veterans Derrick Mason, Todd Heap, Willis McGahee and Kelly Gregg were informed by the Ravens that the team has decided to release them from their contracts. The official announcement that NFL owners and the NFL players association had come to an agreement to end the lockout had barely sunk in when Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome issued a statement that outlined the team's plans to move quickly to create room to maneuver financially.

The owners want sweeping changes. The players want nothing to change.The owners say they want to save baseball from financial ruin and preserve the delicate competitive balance that allows Milwaukee to beat New York and Pittsburgh to clobber Los Angeles.The players say baseball has never been more balanced, and the owners know it.The owners say they don't want a fight, but will defend their interests if they have to.The players say much the same.Welcome to baseball's labor squabble for 1994.

Washington -- BE CAREFUL what you wish for, goes the adage. You may get it.The owners of major-league baseball want a salary cap -- on the ballplayers. The players refused, so for the first time in nearly a century there was no World Series.But this issue could spark America's rediscovery of an idea that once stirred the souls of millions: an income cap on everyone.Today, of course, it's hard to imagine red-blooded Americans clamoring to limit the income of the extremely wealthy. But clamor they did.In fact, the movement to cap income started about the same time as the National League.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The NBA and its players union yesterday announced settlement of a lawsuit by the union concerning revenues that determine the league's salary cap.As a result of the agreement, the salary cap, which limits what each team can spend on player salaries, will rise in the next two years.The NBA Players Association filed suit in December, contending that the league's NBA Properties, which handles the sales of T-shirts and related items, had under-reported revenues from those sales, lowering the contribution to the formula that determines the salary cap.Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, which expires at the end of the 1993-94 season, the league places revenues into a pot, then pays its players 53 percent of those revenues.

While there was plenty of angst among Ravens' fans earlier this month when several of their key players, including left guard Ben Grubbs and linebacker Jarret Johnson, left in free agency, team owner Steve Bisciotti greeted the news with acceptance. Don't misunderstand: Bisciotti wanted to retain Grubbs, Johnson, starting defensive end Cory Redding and reserve safeties Haruki Nakamura and Tom Zbikowski. He liked all five players and valued their contributions to the organization.

The Ravens are expected to be relatively quiet at this week's owners meetings at the posh Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., and that's almost certainly a good thing. That's because these meetings will be dominated by talk of the fallout of Bountygate with the New Orleans Saints, along with continued dialogue about the salary cap penalities leveled against the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. I arrived at the media room about 45 minutes ago and there is already a full-fledged media stakeout outside awaiting the arrival of Saints coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis.

This is probably pretty obvious, but it's important enough to mention that the next 32 hours will be huge in the Ravens' quest to retain Pro Bowl left guard Ben Grubbs . The Ravens have made what both sides have acknowledged was a substantial offer to Grubbs to convince him to eschew free agency and remain in Baltimore. All indications are that there isn't much leeway to expand on the offer. Free agents aren't allowed to negotiate with other teams until 4 p.m. tomorrow, but you can bet that Grubbs' representative, Pat Dye , has already gotten a good idea about what teams are interested in his client and what they're willing to pay. If Grubbs goes to free agency, that is a good indication that there will be another offer out there that surpasses the Ravens' bid. And I wouldn't be totally surprised if the Ravens then pull their offer and move on from Grubbs.

Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome and coach John Harbaugh provided a glimpse into the team's offseason plans Friday, and those plans very much include an aggressive run at re-signing Pro Bowl left guard Ben Grubbs. Earlier this offseason, Grubbs' departure for a huge free agent deal was viewed as a near formality, but Newsome said Friday that team officials have been negotiating with the player's agent, Pat Dye, with the hope of reaching a deal before the offensive lineman hits the open market March 13. “I'm pretty optimistic about it right now,” Harbaugh said.

With free agency set to begin on March 13, there have been a lot of questions about where the Ravens sit with the salary cap. That cap hasn't been officially set, though it's expected to be similar to last year's number. Either way, all indications are that the Ravens are in decent shape with the cap, certainly in better position than they have been the past couple of offseasons. That doesn't mean that the Ravens have the room to go on a free-agent shopping spree, because that won't happen.

In previous years there were roster spots for veterans that were considered safe, but that's not the case headed into 2012. At least not after last year when the Ravens cut key veterans including tight end Todd Heap , receiver Derrick Mason , defensive tackle Kelly Gregg and running back Willis McGahee . McGahee was expected to get waived because teams don't pay back up running backs $6 million, but there aren't as many obvious...

It's causing big problems in baseball and hockey, but the NFL Players Association says the league's new free-agency system that includes a salary cap is working just fine.And it might even help Baltimore's bid to bring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers here.The Buccaneers' player payroll increased by $11.4 million in the past two years, according to figures compiled by the NFLPA.The Bucs, who had the league's second-lowest payroll ($24,484,000) in 1992, spent $35,889,000 this year because of the rising salary levels caused by the league's new free-agency system.

Chris Webber's rookie contract with the Golden State Warriors would seem to have had everything a player could want: $74.4 million in guaranteed annual payments stretching over 15 years, whether or not he played.But after a year, Webber tore it up.Is he crazy?Probably not. When the Rookie of the Year exercised an option to cancel his contract, he was carrying out a predictable strategy born of pro basketball's convoluted economic structure."In some instances, these contracts are one-way streets running back to the player.

In late July, the Ravens released four veterans who had played critical roles for the team in years past. To clear salary cap space, the Ravens said sayonara to Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Kelly Gregg and Willis McGahee. Heap returns to Baltimore on Sunday as a member of the Arizona Cardinals, but he might be sporting street clothes at M&T Bank Stadium. After catches 13 passes in the team's first four games, he has been sidelined with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Heap's primary heir apparent, Ed Dickson, has 22 receptions in six games.

If you've been paying attention to the NBA's labor woes, this statement should sound familiar: "Unfortunately, we lose less money by not playing, and we know if we were to try to continue to play we would lose franchises and be in terrible, terrible shape. We are out of gas. " And you'll probably think you've heard this before, from a player involved in the collective bargaining process: "It's interesting that we're supposed to enter into a partnership that starts with a lockout.