Ravens cannot afford to franchise him - they would lose too many guys they need to keep (need to find a way tp keep Kruger and Ellerbe)
It is a real shame Flacco turned down tens of millions in a fair market offer by the team. The article speaks about the player being happy with the team (winning = happiness, not an extra million or two). In order to win, you need to allow your team to keep other great players instead of breaking the bank while breaking the team.
LBs and DEs are easier to replace than QBs. They need to keep the QB. Not hat I don't want those guys to stay, but it's not even a choice.
Reall good QBs are hard to find. And when you draft them, you're taking a chance, a much bigger chance than any other position.
Kruger is as good as gone. He is already positioning himself for more money than the Ravens can afford. Flacco is likely going to have to be franchised. His agent has already said he is going to be asking Brees type money and I don't think the Ravens are ready to go that high. Ravens have some cap issues, but with Ray and Reed off the books they might be able to keep most of what they have.
As a sport fans I have zero interests in player contracts. I am surprised that some fans find any interest in it.
Come the first game in September 2013, the Ravens will absolutely field 52 players dressed and ready to play.
Maybe I'm naive, but I tend to believe the player might be happy with his current team, and want to see the team able to re-sign other good players so they can continue to compete, but the agent will be sure to disabuse him of that notion. I mean, how many millions of dollars does a guy need compared to playing where and with whom he has a good time? But the agent is all about the bucks and seeing his cut. It's show biz, as in show me the money.
Don't you know these guys have a family to feed?
Sorry couldn't resist. I have no issue with a player trying to get as much as he can. But I hate it when players say they have to feed their families during contract negotiations. Go get your money, but don't insult the fan's intelligence most of whom are middle class.
b_Ken, it's called loyalty. i don't recall any other team knocking down the door to draft Joe in the 1st round. your wife wouldn't leave you for a guy making $30K more. many are loyal to their company or are comfortable there and don't want to leave. it's not whether joe will go play for another team (ravens won't allow), question is: does he take the 5/7 year deal with $30-40M in the bank guranteed or take $16M (franchised) and take a chance on (1) an injury in a very high risk occupation or (2) skills deminish out of upper tier (top 10)?
First of all, it's not about loyalty for most pro atheltes.
let's get that fantasy out of the way first.
Second of all I'm sure the average guy's wife would leave him if Brad Pitt or Denzel Washington came calling.
Thirdly, Joe has played 5 years with virtually no injury and a lousy O line for a lot of that time.
4th, do we know that the Ravens have offered the deal you propose and if so , what's the yearly? I haven't seen any numbers coming from the Ravens.
On top of all that as I stated earlier, Schaub is making $13M per, the tag # is $14.6M per the story. If I'm Flacco's agent $13M is where negotiations start and since my client is worth more to most teams than Schaub(imo) it's only going to go up since he can get tagged and make more than Schaub for two seasons and still have a big payday coming. Classic case of pay me now, or pay me more later
Good article. He's in the Manning, Brady, Brees category. Unless he tanks this weekend, I think it will solidify it.
Question is...can they afford to sign him long term or do they franchise him and wait until some other money comes off the books (Lewis, Reed, Burk etc)?
I think they franchise him.
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