Breaking Down Timing of Ravens Moving on From Justin Tucker

As flattering as Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta's statement was following the release of long-time kicker and franchise legend Justin Tucker on Monday, their parting of ways was unceremonious yet unsurprising.

Given the facts that the seven-time Pro Bowler is in his mid-30s, coming off his worst season of his otherwise Hall of Fame-worthy career, facing 16 allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior and the team drafted a kicker for the first time in franchise history, his days with the team were clearly numbered.

While the Ravens are facing criticism for labeling the roster transaction a "football decision", others are asking "why now?" after stating that they were willing to let the league's investigation run its course. Here are three reasons why this was the right time to move on:

Draft implications

The Ravens didn't hide the fact that they were doing their due diligence on the top kicker prospects during the pre-draft process. They sent senior special teams coach Randy Brown scouring all over the country to scout and work out potential targets for them to bring in to at least compete with Tucker, either as draft picks or priority undrafted free agents.

Had they released Tucker prior to the 2025 NFL Draft, the position would've been a glaring need for the team, which could've affected how the board fell for them in the later rounds. By keeping him until now, they not only ensured that they got their top-rated kicker prospect in Arizona's Tyler Loop in the sixth round but they got a chance to look at both him and undrafted rookie John Hoyland out of Wyoming at rookie minicamp and must have liked what they saw to be confident enough to let Tucker go.

Salary cap relief

Tucker was tied with Jake Elliott of the Philadelphia Eagles as the second-highest paid kicker in the league with an average annual salary of $6 million. The Ravens used a post-June 1 designation for his release, which will spread the dead cap hit for moving on from him over the next two years instead of absorbing it all on their 2025 salary cap. Earlier this offseason, they used the same designation when they released veteran safety Marcus Williams, a former prized free agent who had one of the highest cap hits on the team last season at $18.02 million.

While Tucker will stay on their books through the rest of May, they will get $4.2 million in cap savings and his cap hit of $7 million will be split up into a charge of $2.87 million this year and $4.64 million in 2026. With several looming contract situations for some of their talented young players, such as Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, Isaiah Likely and Travis Jones, every dollar counts. Those soon-to-be available funds will go toward keeping one or more of them.

Lessen pressure on successor

As if being the first player at his position ever to be drafted in the 30-year history of the franchise wasn't pressure enough for Loop, having to compete head-to-head with Tucker, someone he grew up rooting for and idolized when it came to the craft, throughout the summer and training camp would've been more mentally taxing than anything physically. Having to potentially replace the most accurate kicker in NFL history, who is widely believed to be the best ever to play the position, is already a daunting task, which would've been made even more pressure-packed had he still been on a roster and part of an organization where he is still beloved.

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