Flacco Agrees To Deal, Reported As Highest Ever

[Darth_Pelican]

per ESPN just now

[Darth_Pelican]

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=9006059

[JMarkJohns]

I get he had them bent over, but geez...

Highest ever? Really?! Rewind six games. Was he even going to be top-10 now?

[chunticakes]

elite.

[JMarkJohns]

Stupid. 6 years, 120.6 million.

Clearly still in the throws of post Super Bowl ecstasy.

[Ryan Fitzpatrick]

Stupid. 6 years, 120.6 million.

Clearly still in the throws of post Super Bowl ecstasy.

throes

[Ryan Fitzpatrick]

Flacco will make an average of $168,908 each day of the regular season for the next six years.

[JMarkJohns]

throes

Autocorrect on phone.

It's always doing this to me.

[Trill Clinton]

elite.

[JMarkJohns]

They just put 1/6 their payroll into a QB who a week prior to the playoffs was being discussed as a disappointment.

[BlackSwordsMan]

Not as bad as paying romo anything over $2 a game.

[Lincoln]

He got raped by that shit redskins d

[Jeff Van Gundy]

They just put 1/6 their payroll into a QB who a week prior to the playoffs was being discussed as a disappointment.

As a raven fan I agree. He played like a pussy in the regular season but played a helluva postseason. Its hard to fall in love with the guy, kind of feels like eli manning in some ways. Its going to be hard to be efficient next year especially if they dont keep boldin.

[Bill_Brasky]

He's always been solid in the post season and that's all that matters.

[JMarkJohns]

He's a good QB, but winning a Super Bowl doesn't make you elite. Maybe he's close, but he's not 20-per good. 12-15, sure, but he's effectively eaten up half Baltimores offensive payroll. Crazy.

[JMarkJohns]

He's always been solid in the post season and that's all that matters.

Sure, but he's more than tripled his cost. How effective will he be with 13 million fewer worth of weapons?

[djohn2oo8]

He'll be exposed without Boldin.

[Creepn]

Sad. Greedy bastard just killed the Ravens.

[JingleJangleJingle]

wtf lol...good for him horrible for the Ravens.

[dirk4mvp]

rofl, lol, lmao, etc

[Chinook]

The Ravens will be fine, I think. But I'm not happy about this deal.

I've been very adamant about how awful this new elite movement has been to teams' mindsets, and I think it got to Bisciotti here. He pretty much torpedoed his team's negotiating position.

Ozzie will make it work, though. Boldin's not going anywhere, though. From what I hear, Flacco's first-year cap number will be less than $10 Million. Even with Boldin and the other players, the Ravens have a few million left. If they extend Boldin and Jones and cut Leach, they'll have enough to sign some good players.

There's no reason to think the Ravens won't be near the top of the AFC for the next couple of seasons.

[Chinook]

He'll be exposed without Boldin.

First, he's not losing Boldin for a couple of seasons.

Second, I think people are assuming that Boldin was bailing Flacco out more than he was. Many of the miracle catches by Boldin were from designed passes. While a lesser receiver would not have made that catch, Flacco would not have tried that throw to a lesser receiver. Also, Boldin has had his share of key drops.

Boldin was great in the post-season, but I think people are overrating his usual impact. He's highly inconsistent.

[benefactor]

This isn't surprising...especially after he was crying to the media last January about not getting enough credit when the team wins.

The Ravens regretted this as soon as the ink dried.

[leemajors]

Sad. Greedy bastard just killed the Ravens.

He didn't give himself the deal.

[djohn2oo8]

He didn't give himself the deal.

He could have asked for less money to make the team better.

[leemajors]

He could have asked for less money to make the team better.

They could have offered less or brought someone else in. I have zero sympathy for teams that give out stupid contracts.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

He could have asked for less money to make the team better.

This is the first big payday of his career and might be the only big payday of his career, the QBs who take paycuts like Brady and Manning are in a different boat.

[Samuel Eto'o]

steal for the Ravens

[DPG21920]

Why do people get even report that full amount? It's one of the most stupid thing in all of sports to say "player x has a billion dollar contract"...Hardly anyone ever gets anywhere close to the amount of the contract.

[baseline bum]

Why do people get even report that full amount? It's one of the most stupid thing in all of sports to say "player x has a billion dollar contract"...Hardly anyone ever gets anywhere close to the amount of the contract.

I don't really know the NFL CBA; how much of that deal is likely to be guaranteed?

[symple19]

I was all for him getting a bigger contract, but 20 per does seem to be considerably too much. Will be interesting to see how the FO builds around him going forward, especially on defense where they have an aging unit that will be in need of serious upgrades.

Also, does this affect whether they will try to keep Boldin?

[Chinook]

I don't really know the NFL CBA; how much of that deal is likely to be guaranteed?

About $50-60 Million. Since he's a quarterback, he'll probably see all of it, though. If I understand the structure of it properly, the Ravens wouldn't really be able to cut him until after year four or so. By then, his cap number will probably be so high he'll have to restructure, binding the Ravens to more bonus money. That's the reason why Big Ben's seen his whole deal.

[Chinook]

I was all for him getting a bigger contract, but 20 per does seem to be considerably too much. Will be interesting to see how the FO builds around him going forward, especially on defense where they have an aging unit that will be in need of serious upgrades.

Also, does this affect whether they will try to keep Boldin?

It shouldn't. The Ravens are under the cap still. If they need to free a couple of mil, they can cut Jones and Leach. I expect Boldin to get an extension that limits his cap number. Something like 8/2 tacked on would drop his cap allotment by about $3 Million this season.

[DeadlyDynasty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jUBbCgMWmE

[monosylab1k]

Grossly underrated to grossly overrated in an instant :lol

[Trill Clinton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOitrK-BOxs

[Creepn]

Grossly underrated to grossly overrated in an instant :lol
:lol

[vander]

well, safe to say that Baltimore will not be a contender for a long time.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

The first few years of the deal won't be too bad (Flacco's cap figure for next year is under $10M) but they're fucked if/when the big numbers kick in. I don't think they have any intention of this contract going the full 6 years and expect to be able to restructure with Flacco down the road, Newsome just wanted to avoid franchise tagging a QB and gave in to a back-loaded deal that wouldn't hurt their cap flexibility too much this year.

The Ravens will still be right there with Denver and New England as AFC front runners next year. If they keep Boldin their offense is only some improved play calling away from being top tier, while their defense will still be good as long as what they have at inside linebacker isn't a huge liability. Flacco is still getting better while Brady and Manning are over the hill, and neither Denver or New England are going to improve THAT much over the off season. Only realistic way I see New England improving is if the Chad Ochocinco type move they make to address the receiver position works (since anyone who thinks they're going after Bowe or Jennings is kidding himself), or if a full off season for all the young defensive players makes a big difference. Denver has nowhere to go but down imo.

[Chinook]

The first few years of the deal won't be too bad (Flacco's cap figure for next year is under $10M) but they're fucked if/when the big numbers kick in. I don't think they have any intention of this contract going the full 6 years and expect to be able to restructure with Flacco down the road, Newsome just wanted to avoid franchise tagging a QB and gave in to a back-loaded deal that wouldn't hurt their cap flexibility too much this year.

The Ravens will still be right there with Denver and New England as AFC front runners next year. If they keep Boldin their offense is only some improved play calling away from being top tier, while their defense will still be good as long as what they have at inside linebacker isn't a huge liability. Flacco is still getting better while Brady and Manning are over the hill, and neither Denver or New England are going to improve THAT much over the off season. Only realistic way I see New England improving is if the Chad Ochocinco type move they make to address the receiver position works (since anyone who thinks they're going after Bowe or Jennings is kidding himself), or if a full off season for all the young defensive players makes a big difference. Denver has nowhere to go but down imo.

I totally agree with you.

I don't think most fans on this forum understand how the cap works in the NFL. It's not like the NBA, where Flacco's contract is going to count $20 Million against the cap every season. As you said, he won't cost much until a couple of years down the line, when Suggs and Ngata are off the books or close to it, when their replacements are still on rookie deals, and when cutting Rice and/or Boldin might make more sense. Suggs and Ngata combine for a more than $20 Million cap hit next season, and that didn't stop the Ravens from making Flacco the highest paid player. Smart teams know how to handle the cap and spend within their means. I think the Ravens overpaid Flacco, but I don't think they'll ever suffer for it.

If the Ravens fail to be a contender next year, it won't be because they don't have the money to improve.

[Chinook]

Flacco's projected cap hit according to Brian McFarland (one of the better capologists out there):

2013: $6.8M
2014: $14.8M
2015: $14.55M
2016: $28.75M
2017: $31.15M
2018: $24.75M

I don't think the Ravens will have any trouble keeping a good team around him for the next three seasons with those cap numbers. If the cap does go up by a good amount (more than $10 Million), I could see them being able to keep Flacco with only a little restructuring. Hell, Flacco could pull a Brady then and take a cheaper extension that drops the cap hits substantially.

Or the Ravens can cut him in 2016 and only suffer a $12 Million cap hit. That would free up $16 Million that season and leave them clear of any cap obligations going forward.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Yeah Flacco's an idiot if he thinks those last 3 years are gonna happen at that salary. If I were an NFL player I'd always take less money and have a contract that wasn't so backloaded.

[Chinook]

Hmm, now this is interesting:

http://russellstreetreport.com/breaking-down-the-early-reports-on-flaccos-new-deal/


If accurate, the following would be Flacco’s Cap numbers:
http://russellstreetreport.com/files/2013/03/Picture-2.png (http://russellstreetreport.com/files/2013/03/Picture-2.png)

So according to this chart, the team only saves about $3 Million by cutting Flacco in 2016 (18M salary - 15M in pro-rated bonuses from 2017-18). In 2017, the Ravens would save $17 Million by cutting him.

To me, this means two things: First, Flacco is going to be with the Ravens for the next three years come hell or high water. The split bonuses make the cap penalty for letting him go too onerous. Even in 2016, he'll probably be safe from getting cut provided the Ravens don't have a quarterback on a rookie deal like Kaepernick whom they want to start. Second, restructuring Flacco after 2015 is going to be tricky. One reason is that the salaries are too large to make doing a simple restructure work; Flacco would need to agree to an extension like Brady to allow the cap hits to spread out. Another is that Flacco will be 31 at that time, and in three years, taking $12-15 Million a year like Brady did will seem even less likely. As DUNCANownsKOBE has pointed out, the average salary for elite quarterbacks is going to keep rising to the point that Flacco's current average will not seem that much of an overpayment. It's going to be hard to convince Joe that he should make half the money of other quarterbacks when he's still in his prime. Therefore, if the Ravens and Flacco agree to a restructure, there is a very real risk that they will have to give Flacco a raise to make that happen.

If I were Ozzie, I'd try to draft a quarterback high in this or next draft to have some leverage in 2016. The Ravens can't go into negotiations with Flacco having all the cards again. That being said, I stand by my belief that the Ravens will not be hindered too greatly by Flacco's deal. Worst comes to worst, they'll only need one year (2016) to purge his contract. I'd trade the potential of having one down year for three more years of bringing back the same team.

[Darth_Pelican]

I just remembered that Flacco has never made the Pro Bowl. Interesting that the highest paid QB in history has never made a Pro Bowl.

[Chinook]

I just remembered that Flacco has never made the Pro Bowl. Interesting that the highest paid QB in history has never made a Pro Bowl.

He had a chance in 2010 as an injury replacement, but he declined because he was also injured. Jared Allen messed him up pretty badly in the middle of that season. The fact that Flacco didn't come out says a lot about his durability though. At least he's started every game of his career.

[Darth_Pelican]

He had a chance in 2010 as an injury replacement, but he declined because he was also injured. Jared Allen messed him up pretty badly in the middle of that season. The fact that Flacco didn't come out says a lot about his durability though. At least he's started every game of his career.

He's probably a front runner to grace the cover of Madden 2014 so that could change.

[DAF86]

I would be really surprised if he doesn't disapoint from this point forward.