Joe Flacco Contract Is Well Underway

Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Today we got an update that we all pretty much knew was coming. Joe Linta(Flaccos agent) confirmed that contract talks began friday and will continue until a deal is reached. Linta said the first conversations were productive, but that both sides have a long way to go to get this done.

I am in the camp that believes both the Ravens and Flacco(i.e. Linta) need to suck it up and bite the bullet together and get this thing done. We all know Flacco is going to be a very rich man. He is going to make between 18.5 and 21 million per year on average. That is pretty much a done deal. Flacco is almost certainly going to be the highest paid player in the league, that isn’t up for debate. The only things left to resolve are the guaranteed money and the cap numbers(aka the contract structure).

This deal can’t have as far to go as Linta is suggesting. The numbers are already there all that is left is when Flacco gets paid what. Flacco should be taking a cap friendly deal, one that puts the big money in the later stages of the deal and includes a big signing bonus, I still believe this deal will get done within about a week and the Ravens will avoid having to either use the crippling exclusive tag or the risky non-exclusinve tag.