The NFL salary cap forces teams to make difficult choices, especially if they have quality players who warrant big contracts.
The Ravens certainly know this. They're paying the going rate for so many good players that they lose several young ones to free agency every year, simply because they can't fit the price tag under their cap.
The situation is especially precarious this year because they reportedly owe more than $20 million in "dead money" cap charges to Ray Rice and other players no longer on the team. It's forcing them to make harder-than-usual decisions, like trading Haloti Ngata for Jimmy Smith and Justin Forsett.