Baltimore Ravens Begin Shortened Offseason by Cutting Heap and Mason

Let the front office work begin. Following the end of the 136-day NFL lockout, the Baltimore Ravens have begun to get their house in order. According to multiple sources including the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens have informed the top two pass catchers in team history that they will be cut on Thursday.

Both Todd Heap and Derrick Mason will become salary cap casualties as soon as the team announces cuts this later this week.

Mason, 37, ranks first in the Ravens' history in catches with 471 and receiving yards (5,777). Heap, 31, is the Ravens' all-time leader in receiving touchdowns with 41 and is second in receptions (467) and receiving yards (5,492).

Heap was the Ravens' first-round draft pick (31 overall) back in 2001 out of Arizona State. Mason signed with Baltimore in March of 2005 as an unrestricted free agent and then re-signed again before last season for two more years.

Heap and Mason are not the only reported veteran cuts expected. According to the Ravens Insider in the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens have also informed nose tackle Kelly Gregg and running back Willis McGahee that they will also be cut on Thursday.

Gregg completed his 12th year last season in the NFL and 10th for the Ravens. The veteran nose tackle is a fan favorite and has adopted the nickname Buddy Lee over the years for his resemblance to the Lee jeans mascot.

The McGahee cut is the only non-surprise of the four that have been announced. McGahee was going to make starter money ($6 million) as a back-up.

Releasing Gregg, McGahee, Heap, and Mason will free up $18.6 million in salary-cap space for the Ravens, who after the new collective bargaining agreement, are $1 million over the cap (according to the Ravens).

The Ravens are expected to try to re-sign Heap ($4.6 million), Mason ($4.5 million) and Gregg ($3.5 million) to less money. Some are already beginning to speculate that the ravens are targeting the top free agent on the market, Raiders cornerback, Nnamdi Asomugha.

Ravens veteran center Matt Birk commented in the same article, "Its part of the business," you're surprised, but you're not. It happens every year to guys. It's part of our game that is unfortunate for a lot of reasons. But the salary cap is a big reason why our game is so competitive and popular. Hopefully, the Ravens can find a way to re-sign them, but all of those guys will land on their feet somewhere."

Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome had this comment about the cuts, “With this agreement comes a new salary cap, unlike last season when there was no cap,” We will be making a number of roster moves in the next 48 hours that will free up salary cap space. This will give us the ability to make offers to our players we want to re-sign, plus put us in a position to sign free agents from other teams.”

All NFL teams are expected to condense almost five months worth of offseason activity into roughly two weeks. It is fair to expect more news to be available than most NFL fans can soak up. However, stay tuned to the Bleacher Report for your entire up to the minute Ravens and NFL news.