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UPDATE: CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reports that Ngata did not turn down a contract extension, as previously reported by NFL Network.
The idea that Haloti Ngata turned down any sort of lucrative contract extension w/BAL is unfounded, per multiple sources. Not even close
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) April 17, 2014
Below is the original story ...
Each offseason, we see lots of teams restructure certain contracts in order to create cap space. The Ravens apparently tried to do that with defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and the big man gave them the Heisman.
According to Albert Breer of the NFL Network, Ngata rejected the prospect of a "lucrative" and "long-term" offer from the Ravens this offseason.
Earlier this offseason, the Ravens inked pass rusher Terrell Suggs to a long-term deal that will let him retire in Baltimore and allowed the Ravens to free up some cap space.
They apparently wanted to do the same thing with Ngata, which makes sense. He has a massive $16 million cap hit in 2014 and will enter the final year of his contract in 2015.
At 30 years old, Ngata probably has one more reasonably big contract left in the tank. Ostensibly he'd prefer to stick with the Ravens and act a the fulcrum of that defensive line.
But it's possible that Baltimore didn't go as high with their offer as he wanted. Ngata isn't staring down the pipe of a long deal that will keep him from hitting the market.
With that cap number, he kind of holds the leverage right now. And if performs well in 2014 and stays healthy, that will only increase as he goes into the last year of his current deal.
