Joe Flacco and Ravens Reach New Deal

According to the Baltimore Sun, potential unrestricted free agent QB Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens have reached a new contract,  The Super Bowl XLVII MVP will be at the Under Armour Performance Center on Monday to finalize the deal. Terms of the deal are not immediately known.

The deal was the Ravens top off-season priority and ensures the long-term future of Flacco, who went onto to have one of the best playoff runs of any quarterback during the Super Bowl era after what many considered an average and underachieving regular season.

Flacco was masterful during the Ravens’ title run, completing 73 of 126 passes for 1140 yards, 11 TDs and 0 INTs to produce a 119.7 passer rating. In the Super Bowl, he tossed three first half touchdowns while leading the Ravens to a 28-6 lead over a stout San Francisco 49ers defense before a power outage in the Super Dome cooled down Baltimore’s offense.Including playoffs, Flacco has posted 63 total wins in his first five seasons, ranking as the NFL’s most among all NFL QBs since 2008.

Flacco has thrown 102 touchdown passes in 80 career games in Baltimore.His teams have won the AFC North twice during his tenure and he has led Baltimore to three appearances in the AFC Championship Game and now, a coveted Super Bowl ring.

Flacco’s playoff success paved the way to a huge deal for Flacco—and rumors say that’s what he got. Some are reporting the deal to be worth $19.0 million per with almost $60 million guaranteed total.

SB MVP JOE FLACCO

These numbers are merely  rumors and have no confirmation from the Ravens or factual basis but speculating in sports has never happened before has it? Many are wondering if Flacco left the Ravens any money to keep other key pieces in place to defend the Super Bowl title. Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta told Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, “Joe’s not that kind of guy. Joe absolutely wants to work with the Ravens to ensure that they’re not impacted cap-wise. Joe doesn’t want to see anybody get cut as a result of this deal.” Glazer first reported the deal. 

The Ravens front office had until March 4 to reach agreement or apply the franchise tag on Flacco. This  deal will allow the Ravens  to use the tag on another player they otherwise may  not have been able to retain. The Ravens are loaded with what many consider to be prime unrestricted free agents. On defense alone, the Ravens face decisions on linebackers Paul Kruger, Darnell Ellerbee, cornerback Carey Williams and safety Ed Reed.

All are unrestricted free agents. For a list of all Ravens free agents, click here.

On Thursday the NFL announced the salary cap would move to $123 million. The retirements of Ray Lewis and Matt Birk  became official when the Ravens added the two players to their “reserve/retired” list.  This list allows the team to remove both players from their Salary Cap, while also retaining their contractual rights over the remaining years of both players’ deals.  While the team will still have to carry $4.35 million in dead money against the 2013 Salary Cap, this maneuver does open up $6.4 million in additional Salary Cap space for the team.

Currently, and according to the Russell St. Report, the Ravens presently have 47 players (prior to Flacco deal) under contract for a Cap commitment of $105,919,179.  With an Adjusted Cap of $123,678,377 (including the workout bonus deduction, but pending the incentives credit/debit), the Ravens currently have $17,759,198 in Cap space.

It will be interesting to hear the terms of the Flacco deal and how much of the of the almost $18 million in cap space No.5’s deal chews up. The Ravens may be turning to players like WR Anquan Boldin and DT Haloti Ngata to restructure their contracts to help retain some of the teams high end free agents.

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