Ravens fans are waiting patiently as big name free agents get signed and players get traded to other teams. After cutting Derrick Mason, Willis McGahee, Todd Heap and Kelly Gregg and potentially losing a number of their players to free agency, the Ravens have quite a few holes to fill.

So what’s taking them so long to make a move?

Tony Lombardi of Ravens24x7.com reports that the Ravens are handcuffed by the salary cap at the moment and he sees only one solution.

Last week ESPN’s John Clayton reported that the Ravens were $1.8M over the cap and that number did not include the RFA tenders which totaled around $10M. Then the minimum salaries went up by $55K per player for about three-fourths of the team’s roster. Not all of those add into the cap because of the rule of 51, but that also took away another $1.5M or so.

Bottom line, until the Ravens can sign Ngata to a long-term deal or restructure other contracts, they appear to be handcuffed.

Ozzie Newsome has always acted as a patient general manager, but Lombardi wonders if their patience this season has more to do with a lack of money than a method of operation.  The Ravens need a wide receiver, a back up quarterback an offensive lineman and could certainly use some help in the secondary.  They need a few bucks though first.