oldno82

If his cap number for this year is really $7 million, the Ravens deserve an award for the contract and Bisciotti should have all of our thanks for putting up the dough---along with all the Ravens' fans.

Wow! I'm impressed. But I don't think I'm sold yet on the dynasty thing. I will say we definitely should have won the year before too though.

Yeah, I think Preston just gagged on his lacrosse stick.

You hit the nail on the head. You've got to pay a franchise quarterback because they're so damned hard to find and so important to your team. Before Joe we had something like 14 quarterbacks in 15 some years. I'm glad the deal is done.

Thats the plan but it does carry risks. The offensive line was a pleasure to watch after he rejoined it. I wonder what his weight is right now.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/24/a-proposed-joe-flacco-contract/ "If the Ravens want to make Joe Flacco the highest paid quarterback in the NFL, and if Flacco is satisfied to barely clear the bar set last year by Saints quarterback Drew Brees, theres a quick and easy way to get this contract done. Using Brees 2012 contract as the starting point, Flacco would get a $40 million signing bonus, a fully-guaranteed base salary of $5 million in 2013, and base salaries of $10 million in 2014, $13 million in 2015, $15 million in 2016, and $18 million in 2017. Under the rules of signing-bonus proration, $8 million would be applied to each years salary cap. That would result in a cap number of $13 million in 2013, $18 million in 2014, $21 million in 2015, $23 million in 2016, and $26 million in 2017. It equates to a five-year payout of $101 million $1 million better than Brees and, for now, making Flacco the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. The two sides would have to decide whether and to what extent the money due beyond 2013 would be guaranteed, for injury only or fully. Last year, Brees received $40 million in the first year, with $20 million guaranteed for injury only in future years. (The injury guarantees eventually convert to full guarantees.) The cap number in the final year would be a potential problem for the Ravens, since Flacco presumably would have one more long-term contract left before retirement. Specifically, the $26 million cap number in 2017 would translate to a franchise tag of $31.2 million in 2018. Thus, it would make more sense for the Ravens to tack on a sixth year at a base salary of, say, $21 million. This would keep the average north of $20 million per year and it would give the Ravens a more manageable franchise number of $25.2 million for 2019. Is it really that simple? Yes, it is. Which means that it likely wont happen this way. Even though it could be worked out in a matter of hours. Or, if both sides are truly motivated, a matter of minutes."

Yeah, that left me feeling a bit better. Boy, Ozzie really has his work cut out.

Depends on how much the cap goes up with the new TV revenue.

Yep it really caught on and increased very late in the season and the playoffs. I think Caldwell's play calling gets a lot of the credit with the way he got everybody involved on the Offense and took advantage of the weapons he had. He didn't try and force a system and play calling on the offense but instead came up with game plans and play calling that played to the strengths of many individuals. Also Harbaugh gets credit for listening to his players during that bye week.

Morty impressed me. I can't say I disagree with his analysis on anything. Wouldn't it be great to get Joe with a 2013 cap number of around $10 mil ?

Good stuff guys...thanx for the explanations!

Yes...thats what I thought too. I'm getting confused by all this cap/contract/guaranteed money business.

Crav, I thought I read on the net somewhere that Joe wasn't interested in guaranteed money just 20 mill a year.

The only reasonable way this gets done is to structure the contract by back loading it to 2015 and beyond when the cap goes up.

I feel bad the most for Mase. I'll never forget him playing and catching passes with only 1 good arm. All the guys who went to the Colts will have a chance to get there with them over the next few years.

That article was good news for finding a LT for next year.

For pure desire to play and win nobody wanted it more than Anquan.

I second that request.

They need, somehow, to have a very good draft: ILB, FS (assuming Ed's gone), DT, LT on O for starters. Joe won't perform well if he can't get protection---we all saw how good he was in the playoffs with McKinnie back in. Who played LT and RT in the Giants game? Anybody remember? If I remember right Joe had a good game that day and McKinnie wasn't in yet. I hope they can keep Boldin but I have a feeling he's going to be a cap casualty. We need somebody to step up there too. Suggs being healthy and hopefully fit will be great for our pass rush and having Webb back is priceless. They won't collapse next year but winning the division will be tough.

Thanks for the link, Max. I was hoping to watch it or DVR it too but nobody seemed to know until it was too late for me to do it. I read the whole thing. As always its informative. One thing hit me: Cass said the cap will only go up 1 million next year so we can't count on that to bail us out. We have to re-sign Joe and the management seems to know that but that doesn't necessarily mean its get done or goes easily. Didn't Drew Brees get pretty frustrated with the process last year and sound off about it?

Flacco has to be re-signed. The mere thought of all the incompetents we had the years we spent trying to find one is enough to make me puke. Lets not forget that the NFL game is really entertainment. Yeah, every so many years you do want to win the SB but year in and year out and game in and game out I watch the Ravens for entertainment. They weren't entertaining to me before they got Joe and he matured.

Thats true but the alternative---looking around for a QB as good as Joe---is even worse. It took the Ravens a looonnnggg time to get a quarterback even as good as he is.

I think this will settle out at 17-18 mil a year. But it may be that Joe just wants a 100M total contract. If that is true you could pay him in the neighborhood of $16 million a year for 6 years. I like the idea of incentives though.

With 6 broken ribs I'd be asking for morphine...I simply can't imagine playing with that.

That very well sums up all my feelings too, Spen.