The Baltimore Ravens have suffered quite a few losses on the defensive side of the ball so far this offseason, but on Sunday, they filled one of their holes when they came to terms with former Denver Broncos linebacker Elvis Dumervil on a five-year contract.
Dumervil, who had initially agreed to take a pay cut with the Broncos, was released by the team that drafted him over a week ago after his agent failed to get the paperwork back to Denver by the agreed-upon deadline.
So far this offseason, the Ravens have lost linebackers Paul Kruger and Dannell Ellerbe, along with safety Ed Reed and cornerback Cary Williams to other teams during the first few weeks of free agency. In addition to those losses, the Ravens traded away wide receiver Anquan Boldin to the San Francisco 49ers and saw both linebacker Ray Lewis and center Matt Birk retire. The signing of Dumervil on Sunday will help fill at least help fill the void left by Kruger, who signed with the Cleveland Browns.
During his six seasons with the Broncos, Dumervil had 63.5 sacks and 16 forced fumbles. He also made the Pro Bowl three times.
With Dumervil coming to Baltimore, he will be reunited with linebackers coach Don Martindale, who was with the Broncos during Dumervil\’s breakout season in 2009. It is speculated by Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun that Dumervil might rotate with second-year linebacker Courtney Upshaw in 2013, with the former Bronco seeing most of his action on passing downs.
According to several media reports, Dumervil will get a $7.5 million signing bonus and a first-year base salary of $1 million. That would make his 2013 cap hit only $2.5 million, if those numbers hold true.
It had been reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers had an interest in Dumervil following his release from the Broncos, but due to the current salary cap situation in Pittsburgh, those reports were likely not true.
