Ravens linebacker Jameel McClain still hasn’t been cleared to return from the spinal cord contusion he suffered late last season, which calls his availability for the regular season into question.
It also means that his $3 million salary was too high for the Ravens’ liking, so the team approached McClain about a pay cut and were able to reach agreement on a lower salary for the coming season. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reports that his base salary has been sliced in half to $1.5 million and that his cap number will drop from $4.2 million to $2.7 million. McClain has one year left at a non-guaranteed $3.2 million on the three-year deal he signed before last season.
According to Wilson, McClain remains on the PUP list because doctors still find evidence of the bruise on his spinal cord on x-rays and he won’t be cleared to play football until those tests return clean. If that doesn’t happen, McClain could remain on the PUP list into the regular season and could conceivably wind up missing the entire year.
That’s obviously not an ideal scenario for the Ravens, who will go with Daryl Smith, Arthur Brown and others at inside linebacker as long as McClain is out, but at least it won’t cost them quite as much.
