By Joe Schiller
The Ravens aggressively pursued defensive tackle Gerald McCoy following his release by the Buccaneers this offseason but ultimately fell short when McCoy opted to sign a one-year deal with the Panthers to stay in the AFC South.
The Ravens' heavy interest spoke volumes after watching Terrell Suggs, Za'Darius Smith, and Brent Urban depart in free agency. That's 16 sacks to replace from the NFL's top overall defense in 2018, nearly 40% of the total team sack total.
It's not a surprise the Ravens went after McCoy, one of the league's most disruptive interior defensive lineman. As Baltimore heads into its second training camp practice on Friday, the pass rush continues to be one of the biggest question marks. A definitive starter has yet to emerge opposite Matthew Judon and mix of veteran and young talent will compete for the job.
But even after missing out on McCoy, the Ravens could have a second chance to score another free-agent interior pass rusher. The Packers released defensive tackle Mike Daniels on Wednesday in a surprise move, and it should pique General Manager Eric DeCosta's interest.
For a team that already pursued McCoy, it would make sense to target another interior pass rusher on the defensive line.
Daniels totaled two sacks and 18 combined tackles for the Packers in 10 games last season, before being placed on the injured reserve list with a foot injury. Pair the injury with the fact that Daniels was slated to count $10.7 million against the Packers' salary cap this season and it makes sense why Green Bay released the 30-year-old.
Michael Pierce and Brandon Williams are proven run stuffers, but they aren't consistent pass rush threats. The duo has combined for just 8.5 sacks, and Daniels could help fill a void in the interior pass rush. He's recorded one of the highest pressure rates among interior defensive lineman over the last four seasons.
Highest pressure percentage, interior D-Linemen (2015-18):1. Aaron Donald 17.8%2. Geno Atkins 14.83. Fletcher Cox 14.24. Chris Jones 13.35. Sheldon Richardson 12.66. Malik Jackson 12.37. Mike Daniels 12.18. Kawann Short 11.49. Jurrell Casey 11.010. Cameron Heyward 10.9
— Steve Palazzolo (@PFF_Steve) July 24, 2019According to Russell Street Report's Brian McFarland, the Ravens have around $11.7 million in cap space to work with. It's significantly more than they've had in recent seasons and enough to realistically target Daniels.
With Boykin's deal now on the books, the Ravens enter Training Camp with $11.696M in available Cap space.
FWIW, for comparison sake, over last 5 years, the Ravens have entered TC w/ the following amount of Cap space:2018: $8.5M2017: $5.6M2016: $11.6M2015: $8M2014: $4M https://t.co/C3Jk29qyOB— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) July 19, 2019
Daniels reportedly made his first free-agent stop with the Cleveland Browns, but left without a deal according to Browns' beat reporter Nate Ulrich. There's hasn't been any reported interest from the Ravens, but it wouldn't be surprising to see DeCosta and comapny take a chance on a savvy veteran with the ability to rush the passer up the middle.
