Superbowl Champions want to tie up QB now to avoid him leaving for nothing.
Joe Flacco is in a position to get paid more than $100m by the Baltimore Ravens after guiding them to a Superbowl victory and winning the game’s MVP award.
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However, with his rookie contract expired, the Ravens need to make a big decision quickly if they want to make sure he plays for the team next year.
The Ravens know sooner or later they are going to have to pay big money for the services of the 28-year-old, its just how they determine how much and what direction they go in that could be the problem.
The first scenario is to meet his demands and pay him the money. While it seems straight forward, deciding how to structure the contract could play a big part in the salary cap that the Ravens must work in, and signing him to a massive deal could spell the end for other key players such as Paul Kruger and Ed Reed.
The most likely situation is that they put the ‘Franchise Tag’ on him, which means he will earn $20m on a one year deal, allowing more time to discuss a long-term contract.
This will ensure he stays a Raven for another year, but the cap hit could be even worse than had a contract been agreed before this.
While unlikely, SI.com‘s Peter King believes that if the Cleveland Browns were to offer Flacco a contract that was top heavy in its salary, the Ravens may not be able to compete with the Browns and would have no power in keeping hold of its prized asset.
Baltimore would be crazy to let their Superbowl MVP walk less than a month after winning the championship, but they will need to start speeding up the process, or more teams will start to believe that they have a shot at signing the hottest player on the market this year.
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