The Baltimore Ravens and Joe Flacco have come to a historic contract agreement, making the quarterback the highest paid player in NFL history after leading his team to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
According to ESPN.com, Adam Schefter is reporting that the Ravens have agreed to a six-year, $120.6 million contract with Flacco, making him the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history and the highest-paid player. Drew Brees is currently the highest-paid played in the NFL and the details are still being worked on for Flacco's contract.
Sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that Flacco will sign the contract officially on Monday. Fox Sports was the first outlet to report that Flacco agreed to the contract. General manager Ozzie Newsome said that the outline of the deal is completed and that the details are still being worked out.
Flacco essentially bet on himself this season after rejecting a contract extension from the Ravens and now will cash in with historic numbers. Flacco was paid $6.76 million this season after playing out his rookie deal and he will now make $168,908 each day of the regular season for the next six years of his career, taking him through his prime.
The Ravens hoped to make the deal before the franchise deadline on Monday so that they would suffer a salary cap number at around $19.5 million, giving them some flexibility heading into the offseason.
The Ravens may be players in free agency this year after making the deal, as general manager Ozzie Newsome said earlier this month that: "If we are able to get a deal done, it will allow us to participate more in the (free agent) market, if we so choose."
Baltimore has a number of important free agents that they may choose to sign, including Ed Reed, Bryant McKinnie and Paul Kruger among others. Running back Ray Rice wrote about the deal on Friday on Twitter: "Dinner and a few nights on Joe Flacco when we get back well deserved #Ravens."
Flacco has been one of the most successful quarterbacks to start his career, winning and starting playing off games in each of his first five seasons. This year he hit another level in the postseason, leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers while throwing for 11 touchdowns and no interceptions.
During the regular season he led the Ravens to a 10-6 record while throwing for 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The deal was likely to get done since the Ravens did not want to use the franchise tag, but the team would have done so if they could not reach an agreement. During the playoffs Flacco went 73 of 126 for 1,140 yards and is the only quarterback to ever win a postseason start in each of his first five years.
"We've never lost a great, great franchise player from the beginning," Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said. "I'm just very comfortable that it will get done."
Flacco now has the highest paid contract in NFL history and has the chance to play out his full contract with the Ravens, which would be the most of the eight past $100 million contracts that have been signed. The most earned on one of those was Brett Favre with $55 million, while Calvin Johnson, Michael Vick and Larry Fitzgerald are the latest three on the list.
