Flacco Looking to Stay In Flight With Ravens After Super Bowl Win

604px-Joe_Flacco - Keith Allison

Joe Flacco Quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. Credit: Keith Allison

By Jesse Andreozzi 2-4-13

He has a Super Bowl ring. He has a Super Bowl MVP award. Theonly thing Joe Flacco does not have after guiding the Ravens to their second Super Bowl title in team history is a contract. The 28 year old quarterback’s five year, $29 million contract is due to expire.

However, winning the Lombardi trophy gives Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti strong incentive to lock up Flacco for the long term. Bisciotti reportedly told Flacco in private conversation that if the Ravens won the Super Bowl, Flacco could “stick it to him” in contract negotiations. Flacco would be wise to take Bisciotti up on his offer.

By winning a championship, Flacco puts himself in the company of elite quarterbacks like Drew Brees, Brett Favre, and Ben Rothelisberger, all of whom have signed $100 million contracts. It is unclear whether the Ravens will award Flacco with a similar deal. Last July, Flacco turned down a team offer of $16 million per year. The Ravens are also loaded with free agents, some of which want to bring back. However, resigning Flacco remains a top priority.

The Ravens could opt to use a $20 million franchise tag on Flacco for 2013, which would prevent him from signing with another team. The two sides could work on a long-term deal from that point.

“I’m optimistic,” Flacco said. “But who knows? There’s all kinds of crazy things that can happen with these contracts that we’ve all seen before.”