thundercleetz

Completely different situation, this is very much a win-win for both Brady and the Pats. Sure Brady could have signed a larger deal on the open market, but (1) no way the Pats would ever let him hit the market. After his current deal expires Brady would be 37, Pats could franchise him for a year, making him 38. Who would give Brady more guaranteed money than he is getting now at 38? (2) Like RavenMad said, Brady could retire in a year and walk away with this guaranteed money where otherwise he would have to keep playing until he was older to make the larger salaries you see for these younger QBs. Bottom line, this deal has no effect once-so-ever on Flacco, Ryan, or Rodgers. Brady may have saved his team money in the current year, but if he retires before the end of the deal (likely), or shows some decline in the last couple of years, his team could be on the hook for some serious dead money.

Wow I wonder what would happen if you applied that logic to other public projects and services. That would open the door for a lot of people to claim back taxes.

Welcome to the board and thanks for the congrats! We have a couple of other Steelers fans who post too. I am really looking forward to our games this year too. After this Super Bowl this is the first time I can say the Ravens and Steelers are on even ground. In the past the Steelers have always been the older brother, now I feel like we are two, even elite teams. Look forward to hearing from you in the future!

Happy birthday!

How about Ben Grubbs? We offered him a fair deal and he took a few million more and missed out on a ring.

That is awesome! Have a good time at your dinner, max!

I already pre-ordered the NFL Films Blu Ray on the 2012 Ravens. I also bought a program from the Super Bowl. Haha

Just joking I meant the statue. Would Ray Lewis be wearing his brace that looks like a robotic arm.

Robot arm on or off?

I would not be surprised at all to see Flacco become the leagues highest paid QB BUT it will not be for long. The agents of Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan are watching Flaccos situation eagerly. Flaccos agent is in the perfect position to set the new market for upper echelon QBs. Once Flaccos deal gets done Rodgers and Ryan will use that as a starting point and probably ask for more. Flacco will get his deal first because he is an UFA whereas Rodgers and Ryan both have one-year remaining on their deals. This is no different than 2008-2009 when Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers signed their extensions. On March 4, 2008, Roethlisberger signed an eight-year, $102 million contract with $33.2 million guaranteed. On August 6, 2009, Eli Manning signed a six-year, $97.5 million contract extension with $35 million guaranteed. On August 24, Rivers signed a 6-year, $92 million dollar extension with approximately $38 million guaranteed. These three deals then set the market for average QBs like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kevin Kolb. The deals for Flacco, Rodgers, and Ryan will do the same thing. Their deals will be higher than what Ben, Eli, and Rivers got.

I would not be surprised at all to see Flacco become the leagues highest paid QB BUT it will not be for long. The agents of Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan are watching Flaccos situation eagerly. Flaccos agent is in the perfect position to set the new market for upper echelon QBs. Once Flaccos deal gets done Rodgers and Ryan will use that as a starting point and probably ask for more. Flacco will get his deal first because he is an UFA whereas Rodgers and Ryan both have one-year remaining on their deals. This is no different than 2008-2009 when Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers signed their extensions. On March 4, 2008, Roethlisberger signed an eight-year, $102 million contract with $33.2 million guaranteed. On August 6, 2009, Eli Manning signed a six-year, $97.5 million contract extension with $35 million guaranteed. On August 24, Rivers signed a 6-year, $92 million dollar extension with approximately $38 million guaranteed. These three deals then set the market for average QBs like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kevin Kolb. The deals for Flacco, Rodgers, and Ryan will do the same thing. Their deals will be higher than what Ben, Eli, and Rivers got.

For the record Letterman is a big Colts and Peyton Manning fan.

Cool purple socks!

Bingo! No way Boldin is let go. Since Caldwell has taken over he's gone back to being an elite receiver. RavenMAd is right on the mark, Boldin will get a three-year extension that will cut his Cap number by half or more. It is a win-win. Boldin gets a big upfront bonus, we get him under contract for three more years and a lower number this season.

I was not alive when the Colts were here but I am proud as heck to be a Ravens fan. Some of my best memories in my twenty-four years have been from watching the Ravens. I was only twelve years-old when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001 but I remember everything about that season. I have a Wheaties box from that season on my desk at work and a co-worker and I were looking at all the individual scores from that season going over the games: the loss in Miami in the pouring rain on Sunday night, Shannon Sharpe's long reception capping a huge comeback against Jacksonville, Banks throwing an INT in the end zone to lose against the Skins, Del Greco missing the kick that started the end of his previously elite career, the Titans playoff win, Goose sacking Gannon twice in the AFC Championship, the memories go on and on. As awesome as that season was, this season beats it! The incredible plays we witnessed, the ups and downs, the fact that almost everyone of our wins came down to the wire, this is one of the most magical seasons by any team ever! Then throw in the fact how we lost in the playoffs last year and that this was Ray's last year, incredible! Not to mention, being old enough to partake in the partying in Fed Hill that happened after the win!

That was really cool! I like at the end after the president hung up both Ozzie and Harbaugh at the same time were like wow! Awesome video.

Who knows maybe in twenty years we'll be saying the same thing about players today and PEDs.

Ozzie is going to have his hands full but he has not disappointed yet! Obviously Joe will get his pay day, and rightfully so. Losing Ellerbe and Kruger would be brutal. Here are two guys IMO who are getting better and have their best football still ahead of them. Ellerbe was a beast in the Super Bowl and Kruger has looked like the next Jared Allen the past two months. I would really hate to lose either of these guys. I really cannot wait to see what Flacco can do with a full offseason with Caldwell as the OC!

What a bad ass!

This is probably a blessing in disguise. As ignorant as Culliver's comments were, I bet his feelings are representative of how many players in the league feel. Maybe this will enlighten Culliver to share with other players around the league how he was wrong on this issue.

I hardly see how one Super Bowl with one player who may have used a deer antler spray that has already been confirmed as a bogus drug containing no banned substances by a specialized doctor in the world's best medical institution makes us even with four Super Bowls where nearly a whole team for a fact used steriods. Whatever though, I am not taking anything away from you guys. I respect the hell out of the Steelers. And I know the Steelers respect us. There is a reason why Cower picked us to beat the Niners, he knew that college, pistol gimmick wouldn't fly against an AFC North team. Even the Seahawks Super Bowl win, your defense was incredible and Jerome Bettis and your offensive line did some serious damage in that game. Despite that called back TD, the Seahawks were flat the rest of the game and you deserved to win. I also agree with you somewhat, a lot of these "banned substances" are a joke. A player could take nyquill for a cold and if they are tested the next day they would fail a test. The whole idea of testing for PEDs is to catch the people who are taking substances to cheat to get ahead (real steroids and HGH). It should not penalize players who are trying to recover from an injury, have a treatable condition (i.e. aderall for players who have ADHD), or who are sick and mistakenly take something that they have no idea about. The fact is that the banned substance list is miles long and it is niave to believe that the league can simply hand players a list and expect them to be properly educated. That lastest poll where 75% of NFL players do not trust their team doctors is telling. These doctors are clearly of no help. The program needs to be completely revamped. With this win, the Steelers are no longer a notch above the Ravens. We are even. This century we both have two Super Bowls, with two different coaches. We both have Super Bowl winning QBs. That intimidation of not being able to win the big one is gone. I cannot wait for our matchups next season! Oh yeah, Flacco says Ben can kiss his Super Bowl MVP trophy!

Yea yea yea keep crying. You should be thanking us for keeping the Niners away from six Super Bowls. We earned our win, all those plays you mentioned are highly subjective. We could argue all day. As far as the Koch safety, that is a loop hole in the rules. Harbaugh was smart for exposing it. It was like Coughlin last year running twelve men on the field against the Pats. Smart coaching call. Between the holding on the safety and Justin Tucker kicking a practice kick on the field in Denver, there will be two rule changes thanks to the Ravens. Have a nice offseason knowing we're the champs.

    Really we are bringing up PEDs and tainted Super Bowls? http://www.amazon.com/False-Glory-Steelers-Steroids-Courson/dp/0681411872/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360007023&sr=8-1&keywords=steel+curtain+steroids As far as the officiating: It was very consistent and the refs did not decide the game. The teams were able to adjust and it was very fair. In baseball hitters have to adjust to how the strike zone is being called in a game, in football teams have to adjust to what the refs are calling and what they are not. Torrey Smith was held the whole game, and the 49ers did a great job of using that to their advantage. How about Flacco being hit out of bounds on the prior drive? That would have set up a first and goal, potentially ending the game right there. Comparing the Ravens to the Steelers win against the Seahawks is not accurate at all. That was a one-sided, inconsistently called game.

Over there in Northern Ireland, you're going to have a long wait today! The Super Bowl doesn't come on until what, 10:30-11:30 at night?

I cannot sleep either. And tomorrow is going to be even worse waiting.