Just a week after the Baltimore Ravens signed PK Billy Cundiff to a 5 year deal, the team did the same with P Sam Koch. The Ravens have now locked up significant members of the special teams units for the foreseeable future. Koch is coming off what could be considered his best year as a punter in which he averaged 43.6 yards per punt and knocked a career high 39 kicks inside opponents 20 yard lines. Here is what Koch’s agent Steve Mudder had to say about his client and his new deal:
“I can tell you that Sam is very pleased with the contract and he is excited to be staying home in Baltimore for at least another five years,” said Steve Mudder, Koch’s agent. “Sam is a Raven to his core, and this long term deal is what he has wanted ever since his rookie contract expired after the 2008 season.”
“He is excited to continue playing for coach [John] Harbaugh and coach [Jerry] Rosburg — you can’t stress enough the value and stability they offer to a specialist like Sam and their role in his development as an elite punter in the NFL,” Mudder said. “He knows what they expect from him and what their standard of excellence is, and that certainty is added comfort.”
It is good to see the Ravens get the deals done for Cundiff and Koch. In a normal off-season the club would begin working on deals for other free agents they wish to re-sign, but with the looming labor strife some of the big number deals for players like Haloti Ngata and Marshall Yanda may not get done as quickly.
I'm guessing that the Ravens have a pretty good idea as to what the new salary cap number will be?!?!While these contracts are not guaranteed, they will certainly have salary cap implications. Don't get me wrong, both kickers should have been 1 and 1A on the Most Valuable Ravens list, in my opinion, but don't they have bigger fish to fry with other free agents like Yanda?!? While Ngata will most likely get the Franchise Tag, these kickers seem to garnering some pretty high figures (again, realize they're not guaranteed, but CAP numbers). Are they bringing back "Mr. 2-catch End Around"? Is Housh in the plans? Seems a bit odd to me that they are targeting kickers with some hefty cap numbers with all of the uncertainty about the new cap…
Not really MGW.
The base salaries are very reasonable and even if each guy was cut, say after year 3, the cap implications are minimal.
Yes, they have bigger fish to fry. And those contracts take a hell of alot longer to get done.
The CBA uncertainty is really gonna have an affect on the big ticket guys. They are talking to Yanda right now but nothing is imminent.