The Baltimore Ravens are sitting pretty after having just won the Super Bowl. But now that the victory parade has happended and all of the celebrating is over, the team must now get down to business and begin to think how they will follow up last year's big season. The first step in the 2013 season starts with quarterback Joe Flacco. Set to become a free agent, the Super Bowl MVP is looking for big money. If the Ravens are not prepared to offer him what he wants, his time in Baltimore could be up.
Flacco's agent, Joe Linta, is doing all the negotiating he can to get his client the best contract possible. He is meeting with Baltimore team officials on Friday during the NFL Combine to begin working on a new deal. This is the two sides first negotiating session since last August.
Linta began trading phone calls with the Ravens in recent days in order to schedule necessary face-to-face meetings. The Ravens will look to hammer out a new deal by the time free agency begins March 4, in order to officially take Flacco off the market. If they can not reach a contract agreement, Baltimore will be expected to use their franchise tag on the quarterback, essentially giving him a guaranteed one-year deal. It will most likely not be in the pay range Flacco is looking for.
Flacco currently makes less that $7 million. He is looking to become one of the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks. Drew Brees makes on average, $20 million per season, while Peyton Manning makes $18 million a season. They currently top the scale of the league's highest paid players.
Baltimore Raven's general manager Ozzie Newsome is optimistic a deal will get done. He is hoping to sign Flacco to a long-term contract sooner rather than latter. A franchise tag would take up $20 million of cap space this upcoming season.
In 2012, Flacco threw for 3,817 yards on 317 completions and 22 touchdowns during the regular season. He only threw 10 interceptions on 531 throwing attempts.
