Latest news with #Maulet
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Houston Texans add veteran CB Arthur Maulet to one-year deal ahead of training camp
The Houston Texans wanted to find a veteran defensive back ahead of training camp after Ronald Darby elected to retire in OTAs. Consider that mission accomplished entering Wednesday's start of drills. According to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media, the Texans and veteran cornerback Arthur Maulet have agreed to terms on a one-year deal. He's expected to compete for depth reps behind All-Pro Derek Stingley Jr. and standout sophomore Kamari Lassiter. Maulet, 32, spent the last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, where he never started but added value on special teams. While he appeared in 14 games for the Ravens in 2023, injuries limited him to just three appearances in 2024 ahead of his release in March. The Texans didn't face off against Maulet in the Christmas Day game after he suffered an injury earlier in the season. A former undrafted free agent from Memphis in 2017, Maulet has appeared in 85 games with 23 starts for the Saints, Colts, Jets, Steelers, and Ravens. He primarily has seen action in the slot while finding success as a blitzer. The Texans return to practice on Wednesday.
New York Times
19-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Ravens need to create salary-cap space. Here are several ways they could do it
The Baltimore Ravens are a deadline team, meaning they usually make moves when they have to, regardless of how obvious the decisions might be to those involved. That's typically applicable to how general manager Eric DeCosta and vice president of football administration Nick Matteo, the team's lead negotiator, approach the salary cap this time of year. Advertisement They create salary-cap space when they need it, making a few cap-related moves before free agency and then keeping other potential cost-cutting measures in their back pocket until they have to utilize them. Within the next couple of weeks, at least a few moves will be essential. Per Over the Cap, the Ravens are projected to have just under $6 million of salary-cap space heading into the new league year, and that's before any re-signings and the tendering of restricted and exclusive rights free agents. They'll need much more breathing room to do anything notable this offseason to improve, or even solidify, their roster. GO DEEPER Potential NFL salary-cap cuts for all 32 teams: From Cooper Kupp to Davante Adams and more Team officials will head to Indianapolis early next week for the NFL Scouting Combine, which will lead into the start of free agency and the league's new year. Teams can start talking to the representatives of pending free agents in just under three weeks. Baltimore won't be one of the more active teams on the free-agent market. The Ravens never are. However, they won't be dormant either. There's far too much at stake in a powerful AFC for DeCosta and company to have a passive offseason. But how much will the Ravens do? It will depend on how much cap space they're able — and feel the need — to create. They'll almost certainly have to do simple restructures at some point with a few of their highest-paid veterans to create space. Here are other moves they could explore. Some are more likely to happen than others. This is a formality. The Ravens and Williams, who lost his starting job around midseason and was a healthy scratch over the last seven games, agreed to a revised deal last month to facilitate his exit as a post-June 1 release. Because of his reworked deal, Baltimore created nearly $10 million of cap space. They'll get another $2.1 million after June 1. Advertisement The Ravens have to add some safeties this offseason, but Williams, whose play fell off significantly in 2024, needs a change of scenery. The Ravens' cornerback depth looks thin even with Maulet on it. However, they have precious few cut candidates and Maulet stands out as one of them. A critical piece of the 2023 defense, Maulet played in just three of Baltimore's 19 games in 2024 because of a multitude of injuries. He turns 32 this summer. Jettisoning him would open $2.25 million of space and lead to virtually no dead money on the cap. This move seems likely. Arguably, the biggest decision the Ravens have to make this offseason concerns Andrews, whose brutal showing in the season-ending playoff loss in Buffalo marred an 11-touchdown regular season. To be clear, the Ravens don't have to do anything with Andrews, who is entering the final year of his contract. He's one of the best and most accomplished players on the team, a deeply respected leader in the locker room and the favorite target of quarterback Lamar Jackson. However, he also carries the fourth-highest cap hit on the team at $16.9 million, and he's one of the few places Baltimore could go to open up a chunk of space. Even with $11 million of savings possible, just releasing him and getting nothing in return seems dubious. Andrews is one of the top tight ends in football and is still 29 years old. But if another team is willing to offer a Day 2 pick for him in a trade that would give the Ravens additional draft capital and significant salary-cap relief, they would have to listen. Baltimore's two other tight ends, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar, will also be free agents after the 2025 season. That complicates a potential extension for Andrews. Would the Ravens be able to pay both Andrews and Likely, an ascending player, over the next two offseasons, or is it one or the other? They clearly have some decisions to make with their all-time leader in receiving touchdowns. GO DEEPER Analyzing Ravens' biggest offseason questions: What's next for Mark Andrews? Ojabo, a second-round pick in 2022, has battled injuries and just hasn't gained any traction during his career. If he's still with the team come July, he might very well start training camp on the roster bubble, depending on who the Ravens add at outside linebacker this offseason. Still, it probably makes sense for Baltimore to give the 24-year-old an extended look in the preseason to see if Ojabo's figured anything out. Advertisement He wouldn't be the first young Ravens pass rusher to break out in a contract year. Still, they are up against it and every bit of cap space counts. Jettisoning Ojabo would trigger $1.8 million in savings. Of all the extensions the Ravens could execute with veteran players, this one probably makes the most sense. Henry told The Athletic's Dianna Russini before the NFL Honors Awards show that he wants to end his career with the Ravens. In rushing for 1,921 yards and totaling 18 touchdowns in 2024, he also showed he still has a lot of good football left. He is entering the final year of his contract and carries a salary-cap hit of just under $13 million. Extending a 31-year-old running back carries risk in general, but Henry is a freakish athlete and doesn't look like a guy whose performance is close to falling off the table. Lowering his 2025 cap number with an extension and keeping him in the fold over the next couple of years is seemingly a no-brainer. DeCosta acknowledged at the Ravens' end-of-season news conference that he will probably talk to Jackson, who doesn't have an agent, about his contract this offseason. Jackson's $43.7 million cap hit is the highest on the team, and it grows to over $74 million in 2026 and 2027. The two-time MVP's contract has to be addressed at some point, and star quarterbacks aren't suddenly going to get cheaper. Would DeCosta, whose negotiations with Jackson in 2023 represented one of the most challenging times of his career, be willing to jump right back into extensive talks just two years later? If he's not, the Ravens could still open up a significant amount of cap space by restructuring Jackson's deal. That, however, will kick even more money down the road. Washington, who was a revelation in 2024, stepping into a starting role for the struggling Williams and stabilizing a struggling pass defense, is a restricted free agent. To make sure he stays around, the Ravens will probably have to extend him a second-round restricted tender. The projected price is $5.2 million. That's not hefty for a starting safety, although an extension would allow Baltimore to get the 25-year-old on a longer-term deal with a lower 2025 cap number than $5.2 million. Advertisement At this time last year, Humphrey's future with the Ravens looked tenuous following an injury-plagued 2023 season. However, Humphrey rebounded this past year by re-establishing himself as one of the league's top corners and becoming a two-time first-team All-Pro. He turns 29 in July, but the more important number at play is his $25 million cap charge for 2025. That's the second highest on the team. An extension could lower that number significantly while easing some of Baltimore's long-term concerns at the position. He's a candidate for a restructure, too. There were legitimate questions last offseason about the team's decision to pick up the fifth-year option on Oweh, a 2021 first-round pick. That they did proved to be smart. Oweh doubled his single-season career high in sacks and had his first 10-sack season. If the Ravens declined that option and the 26-year-old was hitting the open market next month, Oweh would garner a ton of interest and a lot of money. Now, the Ravens potentially face another decision with Oweh. His cap number is $13.25 million. A contract extension would presumably lower that number and keep the talented Oweh off the free-agent market next offseason. Such an extension, though, won't be cheap. Double-digit-sack pass rushers in the primes of their careers get paid handsomely. This is where the Ravens' ability to evaluate their own will come into play. If they believe last year was just the start of Oweh becoming a more consistent and impactful player, an extension should be a priority. However, if they still aren't sure what Oweh's ceiling is, they may be hesitant to make a long-term commitment at the financial level it will take to extend him. GO DEEPER Ravens roster breakdown: Where will decisions need to be made this offseason? • There have been questions about the future of veteran nose tackle Michael Pierce, but the Ravens moving on from him would be more of a football decision than a salary-cap one. Releasing Pierce before June 1 would create less than $1 million of savings. • If the Ravens decide to move on from kicker Justin Tucker, who has been accused by 16 massage therapists of sexually inappropriate behavior as part of a Baltimore Banner investigation series, he'd most likely be a post-June 1 release, allowing Baltimore to save just over $4 million of cap space while absorbing the dead money over the next two years. Advertisement • Center Tyler Linderbaum and safety Kyle Hamilton can sign extensions this offseason, and the Ravens will almost certainly have those conversations. However, those types of deals would likely raise their 2025 cap numbers and not lower them. • Coming off a 12 1/2-sack season and heading into the final year of his contract, outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy could be a candidate for a short-term extension, as well. But his cap hit of $6.1 million in 2025 is already pretty low for a veteran who has been as productive as Van Noy the past two years. (Top photo of Odafe Oweh and Marcus Williams: Kevin Jairaj / Imagn Images)
