Joe Flacco Gambled in the Offseason and Now Will be Rewarded

Before training camp began in 2012 the Baltimore Ravens offered Joe Flacco a sizable contract extension, Flacco took the gamble and walked away from the deal. That was a big risk; Flacco could of have had a bad season, gotten hurt or ended the season losing in the AFC title game, again. Instead he had a good season, got his team in the playoffs and did something only Joe Montana has done. Flacco threw 11 touchdown passes with zero interceptions in the Ravens playoff run; Montana did it in the 1989 season en route to winning the Super Bowl and MVP honors.

Besides the Super Bowl win and MVP honors on Sunday, Joe Flacco can boast he has won more regular-season and postseason games (63) since the start of the 2008 season. Flacco is the first quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons and his nine postseason wins tie him with Tom Brady for most by a quarterback in his first five seasons. So what is Joe Flacco worth?

Well, when you look at Drew Brees, the Manning’s and Tom Brady they make about $20 million a season. One would think Flacco could easily land a contract in that scale, but wait; the Ravens do have a card to play. The Ravens could hit Joe Flacco with the franchise tag. That means Flacco would make around $14.6 million next season. I expect the Ravens to put the franchise tag on Flacco but only to buy time to get a long term deal done. So Ravens fans do get nervous I think you see #5 playing quarterback for the next few years and I think he will become the highest paid quarterback in the NFL when they get the deal done. Joe Flacco took a big risk and now has won the lottery.