Ironically, still a middling fantasy QB.

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I think Flacco is nowhere near what he thought he was worth but he's worth whatever the ravens decided to pay him. The guy is a 20 td/60% completion type of guy and we should never see his name anywhere close to the names of brady, manning, etc on any list....... But the ravens had to lock up the qb position and because newsome is one of the best (if not the best) gm's in the league, the players they lose as a result will have little effect. The ravens might take a step back in the next year or two (still playoff calibre team) but will be back in business shortly after. It's much easier to fill the holes on your roster when you have your qb cemented for the foreseeable future. Even if it is Joe Skinny

From the pen of a Steelers fan who officially declared 2012/13 as the worst year of football ever

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Flacco is a winner and an elite quarterback, but this is ridiculous.

The Ravens caved into his agents demands IMO.

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It was a no-win situation though because if they franchised him at the high tag then the cap hold would screw them in free agency and if they franchised him at the low tag then other teams would have signed him to this sort of deal or higher and then they'd have just matched.

This is one of those situations where if the Ravens had gambled a year or two ago that what they had in Flacco was someone capable of playing at an elite level then they'd have avoided this situation. Now it would seem that Flacco did a bit of gambling on himself and it paid off but the Ravens easily could have saved $20 million or more had they locked him up sooner. But that's easy to say in hindsight.

And just to put this into context. Drew Brees got $100 million for five years at 33 years old and Peyton Manning got $96 million for five years at 36 years old and a broken ****ing neck. Now is Flacco as good as those guys? No but I don't think he's that far behind at the point where they signed their deals AND Flacco is only 28 and this deal was signed a year after those guys signed so inflation counts.

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I agree, they should have locked him up much sooner. From the moment he came into the NFL, I knew the Ravens were set at quarterback. The kid played with such poise and flew under the radar until this year. I mean, think about it. Flacco's resume is mighty impressive and his agent did a great job promoting all the value he can bring to the Ravens long term. All the players were behind him too, everyone had his back.

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I see the word "elite" thrown around a lot when discussing Flacco, is he or isn't he? I'm curious as to what makes Flacco elite and if he is, why is it ridiculous that he got paid this money?

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wow, just wow

you can't tell me this makes any sense, sure he should get paid but you've got QBs like Rodgers and Brees making half that money...I mean he's even making more than Brady, that's just absurd. Sorry MD, you can try to spin this anyway you want but the Ravens wayyyyyyyyy overpaid

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And that is all I was trying to say. I'm not saying that Flacco isn't good, or Flacco didn't help the Ravens win the Super Bowl, or that the Ravens had to lock up Flacco.. I'm just saying that they grossly over-paid for this guy.. But then again, who isn't grossly over-paid in pro sports these days??

I just know that in a few years, the Ravens will be trying to trade Flacco and this contract. Its way too much for one player..

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Ummm so now you are just making shit up. Brees makes nearly as much annually after he signed his own huge contract last year just for one year shorter. Is it absurd that a year after Brees signed a $100 million deal for five years at age 33 that Flacco would sign a $120 million deal for six years at age 28 oh and he just happens to be doing so after winning Super Bowl MVP? Absolutely not. This is the way the market works. Shit keeps escalating.

And as for Rodgers. The reason he isn't making that amount is because the Packers gambled that they new what they had in him and gave him a sweet offer after just his first season as a starter. That was back in 2008 and they gave him a six year $65 million deal, which looks awesome now but he was relatively unproven coming off a mediocre first season as a starter. When his deal is up after next year do you really think he's not going to get similarly paid? Hell he's probably going to make more. And he should. This is the free market.

And just so we are clear. All the smart teams know that there are certain positions that you spend whatever it takes to lock down because you are helpless without top notch talent there. Quarterback is that position and the Ravens will gladly ante up for the security of knowing they have a good quarterback for the next six years. That's six more years they can keep making runs at the playoffs.

Every year the Ravens (and other good teams like the Patriots) spend big at the necessary positions and then use their excellent scouting and player development to fill the rest of the holes on the cheap. And they will continue to do so with Flacco at the helm.

Just try to imagine the Ravens without Flacco in there. Who are they going to start? Tyrod Taylor? They had no leverage. They couldn't even use the franchise tag because the cheap one would have allowed teams to make bids (and trust that some desperate team would have bid as much if not more because no one realizes how terrible it is to not have a quarterback until they don't have one) and the big franchise tag would have ruined their cap space for free agency.

Simply put the Ravens have a better chance of winning with Joe Flacco than they do without him and that's by miles. In the salary cap era especially the days where you could build a juggernaut all over the field and not have top notch quarterbacking play are gone. Flacco is getting compensated this way because that's what the free market demands.

I wish Flacco would have taken a home town discount.

But the following statements are all true:

Flacco is playing a sport where the average career is 3.5 years.

NFL contracts aren't fully guaranteed.

There is an extensive history of NFL players experiencing severe chronic injuries long after retirement.

So why would Flacco take a home town discount?

I'd also posit that if we were living in some world where everything got reset and every NFL player was a free agent that Flacco wouldn't get the biggest contract but I guarantee he'd be in the top 15. He just took advantage of his impeccable timing. It's that simple.

And yeah, I will admit that there is some hubris on my part with my expectation that the Ravens will just continue to fill in the gaps on the cheap while continuing to draft and develop good talent but why should I expect any different? This management team has been together for years and they have proven time and time again that they know what they are doing.

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This contract isn't going to be a steal in a few years but it's going to look way more reasonable as other top QBs sign their next deals. And with how lucrative the NFL is the cap is just going to keep rising so it's going to get easier and easier for the Ravens to deal with this situation.

It's so easy to say he's overpaid but please explain to me what leverage the Ravens could possibly have used to get him to sign for cheaper.

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