Joe Flacco - Pro Football Rumors

AFC North Notes: Flacco, Eifert, Browns

October 21st, 2016 at 8:37pm CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens announced that quarterback Joe Flacco was back at practice today. It’s a positive step forward for the QB after he was diagnosed with irritation in the joint of his throwing shoulder and missed practice earlier in the week. Still, it’s not clear whether he will play on Sunday against the Jets. If he can’t go, Ryan Mallett will get the start and the Ravens will likely look to sign another QB to back him up. David Fales, currently on Baltimore’s practice squad, would be the obvious candidate.

Here’s more from the AFC North:

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis says that the team will soon determine whether tight end Tyler Eifert will be make his 2016 debut on Sunday, as Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com writes. Lewis doesn’t have a timetable on Eifert, but he says that it will not be a game-time decision. Eifert, of course, was scheduled to return from ankle surgery earlier this month but suffered a setback when he hurt his back.
The Browns worked out offensive tackle Darrion Weems on Friday, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Weems, 28, had played on roughly a third of Denver’s offensive snaps this season before being waived last week, but graded as one of the worst interior lineman in the league, according to Pro Football Focus.
Given the health issues on their roster, the Ravens should be expected to make at least one transaction before Sunday’s game against the Jets, argues Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Running back Lorenzo Taliaferro is one option to be promoted to the active roster thanks to his special teams prowess, per Zriebec, while corners Asa Jackson and Robertson Daniel also stand a chance to be signed since the Ravens are dealing injuries to their defensive backfield.

AFC Notes: Flacco, Incognito, Jets, Bengals

October 19th, 2016 at 9:45pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has irritation in the joint of his throwing shoulder and was withheld from practice Wednesday to try to improve the situation, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It’s not immediately clear whether Flacco will be ready to play against the Jets on Sunday, though head coach John Harbaugh believes he has a “legitimate chance” (via Marc Sessler of NFL.com). If Flacco can’t go, Baltimore will probably look to add a quarterback to place behind Ryan Mallett. The Ravens don’t have any QBs on their practice squad.

Here’s more from the AFC:

With the Bills’ Richie Incognito preparing to face his former team, the Dolphins, this week, the guard revisited the 2013 Bullygate scandal in Miami that led to a three-month suspension and left him unemployed for a year and a half. “I’m still searching for the lesson in all of it,” Incognito told Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel. League investigator Ted Wells concluded Incognito subjected then-teammate Jonathan Martin to “a pattern of harassment” that included racial slurs. “Jonathan and I were close friends. I cared about him,” Incognito said of Martin. “If anybody was there for Jonathan it was me.” Martin left the Dolphins amid the scandal in 2013 and spent parts of the next two seasons with the 49ers and Panthers. He’s now retired. Incognito has since held his own in Buffalo, which signed him to a one-year contract in February 2015. He went to his second Pro Bowl last season and subsequently re-signed with the Bills on a three-year, $15.75MM deal with $5.4MM in guarantees. “I can sleep good at night knowing what happened and what my actions were. I’m not saying I was a saint. But I sleep well at night knowing what I did,” added Incognito, who maintains that Martin and his camp concocted a false narrative.
The Jets benched quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in favor of Geno Smith on Wednesday, but Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News isn’t exactly convinced the move will energize the 1-5 team. Restarting the Smith era is “destined to fail,” writes Mehta, whose reasons include the 26-year-old’s poor on-field production since entering and the lack of maturity he has shown in his four NFL seasons. Mehta expects Smith to quickly flame out in his latest audition, thereby paving the way for second-year man Bryce Petty to take the reins under center.
Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since suffering a back injury Oct. 3, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Thanks to both his back issue and offseason ankle surgery, the 2015 Pro Bowler hasn’t yet debuted this year. That could change Sunday against the Browns, per Dehner, who notes that Eifert was merely a limited participant Wednesday and will need to partake in a full practice before rejoining the Bengals’ lineup. The Bengals have gone a disappointing 2-4 this year without Eifert, who’s coming off an outstanding season. With 52 receptions, 615 yards and 13 touchdowns, the ex-Notre Dame star logged career highs across the board last year.
The Patriots worked out receiver Dres Anderson and linebacker Trevor Reilly on Wednesday, tweets Doug Kyed of NESN. Anderson went undrafted from Utah last year and spent some time with the 49ers, though he didn’t see any regular-season action. Reilly suited up 29 times and made 10 tackles with the Jets over the previous two seasons.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Quarterback Notes: Flacco, Brees, Manning

March 5th, 2016 at 12:32pm CST by Ben Levine

Despite what the Ravens may be saying, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio is convinced that Joe Flacco‘s new contract is simply about saving money. The team’s website published an article earlier this week stating that the extension was about winning, not money.

“We did not do a deal to gain cap room,” Newsome had said (via Florio). “We did a deal so Joe Flacco could be on this football team for the next six years.”

However, the quarterback basically admitted that the new contract was intended to create more cap flexibility.

“We’ve got a bunch of good players and we’ve got a great foundation already but with the way the deal was before I mean it might not have been this year but at some point there was gonna be a strain on what we could do and what kind of guys we could bring in,” Flacco said on PFT Live. “You don’t wanna see any of the guys on your team have to be let go because of some issue with the cap and I wanted to play here. I wanted to play here, I want to play here, continue to play here for a long time.”

Let’s check out some other notes regarding several of the league’s top signal callers…

Considering the extra flexibility, Flacco would like to see the Ravens bring in some reinforcement on the offensive line. When appearing on PFT Live, the quarterback also seemed to hint that he’d prefer the team re-sign Kelechi Osemele. “The one thing is I would say we need to get our O-line solidified, see who’s going to be there for sure,” Flacco said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “We’ve got a couple guys, at least one guy who’s out in the open there, whether we’re going to get a contract done with him or not. So once we get those guys nailed down and see who they’re going to be, I think that’s the biggest part of a championship, as far as the offensive side of the ball.”
Drew Brees‘ 2016 cap number will balloon to $30MM in the next several days, and Florio wonders if the 37-year-old will break the recent monetary records set by Flacco. A new deal may benefit each side, especially since the Saints will owe the quarterback $43.2MM if they tag him in 2017.
Even if Brock Osweiler ends up leaving Denver, Mike Klis of 9 News can’t envision the Broncos bringing back Peyton Manning. Despite a successful four years with the franchise, the writer is convinced that it’s time to begin the “post-Manning era.”

Ravens Sign Joe Flacco To Contract Extension

March 2nd, 2016 at 9:07pm CST by Luke Adams

9:07pm: Albert Breer of NFL.com tweets the yearly breakdown of the contract: in addition to the $40MM signing bonus, Flacco will earn base salaries of $4MM, $6MM, $12MM, $18.5MM, $20.25MM, and $24.25MM.

12:05pm: Flacco gets $66.4MM in new money on his three-year extension, according to La Canfora, who notes (via Twitter) that the $22.1MM+ new-money average is a record. For his entire contract, the Ravens quarterback will average just under $21MM per year, says La Canfora, adding (via Twitter) that Flacco’s cap hits will be reduced to about $22.5MM in 2016 and $24MM in 2017.

ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports that $44MM of Flacco’s new deal is fully guaranteed, including the $40MM signing bonus and his $4MM base salary for 2016.

10:47am: Flacco has officially signed his three-year extension, the Ravens announced (via Twitter).

10:27am: With the Ravens set to hold a press conference at 2:00pm eastern today to announce Flacco’s new deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the new contract features a $40MM signing bonus, which would be the largest in NFL history, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com adds (via Twitter) that the extension will free up about $6MM in cap space for Baltimore in 2016, and a total of about $13MM for the next two years.

9:55am: The Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco have agreed to terms on a new contract, a source tells Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). According to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the agreement will add three more years to Flacco’s current contract, locking him up through the 2021 season.

Flacco, who signed a six-year deal with the Ravens three years ago, had been projected for a cap hit of $28.55MM in 2016, and that number was set increase to $31MM+ in 2017. General manager Ozzie Newsome insisted at the start of the Ravens’ offseason – and recently reiterated – that the team has a plan to work around Flacco’s massive cap hit, but it always seemed likely that the two sides would rework the contract this offseason. The new deal should lessen Flacco’s impact on Baltimore’s 2016 cap.

Since winning the Super Bowl three years ago and signing his new mega-deal, Flacco has been up and down. After throwing more interceptions (22) than touchdowns (19) in 2013, he was excellent in 2014, setting new career highs in passing yards (3,986) and touchdowns (27).

In 2015, for the first time in his eight-year NFL career, the extremely durable signal-caller failed to start all 16 games for the Ravens, having sustained a torn ACL in November. In 10 games, Flacco completed a career-best 64.4% of his passes, but threw just 14 TDs to 12 INTs, and Baltimore was 3-7 in those games — it was the first time since Flacco became the Ravens’ starter that the team finished below .500.

Still, while his performance in recent years has perhaps not been elite, the terms of Flacco’s contract dictated that something had to give this offseason. Since he and agent Joe Linta held the majority of the leverage in negotiations with the Ravens, it will be interesting to see what kind of terms they secured on the new extension. Heading into the offseason, Flacco’s $20.1MM per-year salary ranked eighth among all quarterbacks, per Over The Cap. The new deal will likely elevate him back into the top five.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Joe Flacco, Ravens Moving Toward New Deal

February 29th, 2016 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens continue to make progress on a new deal that will lower Flacco’s 2016 cap hit, according to multiple reports. Per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, no deal is expected to be completed today, but both sides remain confident that it will happen this week.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) also report that an agreement between the two sides is expected soon. Florio suggests something will likely get done within the next two to four days, while La Canfora says it will happen no earlier than Wednesday. Each report indicates that the Ravens and agent Joe Linta are meeting again today now that the scouting combine has wrapped up.

Flacco, who signed a six-year deal with the Ravens three years ago, is currently projected for a cap hit of $28.55MM in 2016, and that number will increase to $31MM+ in 2017. General manager Ozzie Newsome insisted at the start of the Ravens’ offseason – and recently reiterated – that the team has a plan to work around Flacco’s massive cap hit, but it would obviously make things easier in Baltimore if the club can reduce that figure by $10MM or so.

To create significant cap savings on a new deal for Flacco without creating massive problems in future seasons, the Ravens will likely have to add two or three new years to the quarterback’s contract, extending it rather than simply restructuring it.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extra Points: Kaepernick, Draft, Flacco

February 27th, 2016 at 9:52pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Concern is growing at the scouting combine regarding injured Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, who is recovering from a torn ACL and MCL he suffered in January. Multiple NFL teams have failed Smith at the physical, while three have already declared they won’t draft him, according to Jeff Legwold and Adam Schefter of ESPN. This comes on the heels of a Friday report stating that Smith might miss all of next season.

Prior to his injury, the expectation was that Smith would be an early first-round pick, but some clubs now believe he’ll be a Day 3 selection, per Tony Pauline of WalterFootball.com. Smith took out an insurance policy on himself last summer, so he’ll collect a tax-free $700k if he doesn’t go in the first round and another $100k with each missed pick thereafter, tweets ESPN’s Darren Rovell. Thanks to his insurance policy, Smith could make as much as $5MM if his draft stock plummets, per Rovell.

And now for some notes on QBs:

The fact that Colin Kaepernick wants out of San Francisco leaves the 49ers with little to no leverage in trade talks, writes Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Potential Kaepernick suitors could now be inclined to wait until a possible release by April 1, when his $12MM salary becomes guaranteed, rather than give anything up for him. If cut, Kaepernick would likely make less per year on his next deal, but his desire to get away from the 49ers outranks his motivation to cash in, per Barrows.
The Ravens and Joe Flacco‘s agent, Joe Linta, have made “significant progress” in their talks to rework the quarterback’s contract and are expected to have further discussions Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports (link via Jamison Hemsley of ESPN.com).
North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz has been the most impressive signal-caller at the combine, three NFL head coaches told Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole (Twitter link).

AFC Notes: Flacco, Jaguars, Patriots, Dolphins

February 26th, 2016 at 2:31pm CST by Luke Adams

After reporting earlier today that the Ravens are growing increasingly optimistic about their chances of reworking Joe Flacco‘s contract, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) hears from another source that talks between the Ravens and agent Joe Linta have indeed been productive. A new deal may not be completed this week, but it’s getting closer, according to Zrebiec.

Flacco’s contract, which includes cap hits of $28MM+ in 2016 and $31MM+ in 2017, is a tricky one for the Ravens, since asking the quarterback to take a pay cut isn’t an option. In order for Baltimore to get some cap relief for more than just ’16, the team will likely need to tack on at least two years to Flacco’s deal.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

The Jaguars‘ willingness to go after older free agents this offseason shows that the team believes it’s closer to contention than it has been in past seasons, according to Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, who notes that 18 of the 20 free agents Dave Caldwell signed in his first three years as GM were under 30 years old. “Now that we’re at that point in time where we can compete and compete for championships I have no issue with signing guys that are 30, 31 and 32,” Caldwell said.
As of Thursday, the Patriots remained in a holding pattern when it comes to their major offseason financial decisions, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. Howe suggests that the team has engaged in the early stages of talks with free-agents-to-be Tarell Brown and LeGarrette Blount, but haven’t yet approached most veterans about pay cuts or extensions.
The Dolphins are saying they want to keep the majority of their free agents and release candidates, but given their limited cap room and their 6-10 record in 2015, continuity across the board may not be the best option for the franchise, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
The odds of a downtown stadium plan coming together for the Chargers in San Diego are long, but not impossible, says Logan Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

QB Rumors: Manning, Flacco, Kaepernick

February 26th, 2016 at 10:06am CST by Luke Adams

After repeatedly expressing since the Super Bowl that there’s no timeline for Peyton Manning to make his decision on whether or not to retire, Broncos general manager John Elway admitted during an appearance on NBCSN’s Pro Football Talk that he’ll need – and get – an answer before Manning’s 2016 salary becomes guaranteed on March 9th. Elway said on Thursday that the veteran quarterback still needs a little more time.

Here are a few more quarterback-related notes and rumors from around the NFL:

The Ravens are growing more confident that they’ll be able to get a reworked deal done with quarterback Joe Flacco, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Zrebiec cautions that nothing is done yet, but says the outlook is improving. Any agreement between the two sides would, of course, reduce Flacco’s $28.55MM cap hit for 2016.
Per Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), the 49ers view Colin Kaepernick‘s 2016 base salary ($11.9MM) as reasonable, and continue to believe that he has plenty of upside, so the team is still debating how to handle his trade request.
With Carson Palmer set to turn 37 later this year, the Cardinals will need to identify a potential replacement for him at some point in the not-too-distant future. But as Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com writes, that doesn’t mean the club will draft a QB this spring, since GM Steve Keim insists he doesn’t want to force a pick.
Texans head coach Bill O’Brien and GM Rick Smith have no problem with owner Bob McNair publicly expressing that the team needs a solution at quarterback, says Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Both men acknowledge that McNair is right, and as John McClain of the Houston Chronicle outlines, O’Brien has a lengthy checklist for what traits he looks for in QBs.
Generally speaking, teams lock up their starting quarterbacks before they reach unrestricted free agency, but there are several intriguing options set to become available this year, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, who thinks 2016’s class could be the deepest and most interesting group of free agent QBs in years.

Ravens Make Aggressive Offer To Kelechi Osemele

February 25th, 2016 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

The Ravens have offered to make pending free agent offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele their second-highest offensive player behind Joe Flacco, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Head coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Baltimore has made an “aggressive” offer to Osemele, adding that the team views him as its left tackle (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun).

When general manager Ozzie Newsome spoke to reporters on Wednesday, he referred to Eugene Monroe as the team’s left tackle, with Osemele facing free agency, but as Zrebiec writes, it was hardly a ringing endorsement of Monroe’s place in the starting lineup, or even on the roster.

While the Ravens are willing to make Osemele their second-highest-paid offensive player, they may have to do so by a significant margin in order to retain him. In terms of per-year salary, guard Marshal Yanda is currently right behind Flacco among offensive players, with an annual salary of just under $8MM. In terms of total value and guaranteed money, Monroe ranks second behind Flacco, with $37.5MM and $17.5MM respectively.

Unless Osemele is willing to take a hometown discount, I’d expect the Ravens to have to pay him upwards of $10MM per season on a four- or five-year deal, since he’s viewed as a left tackle. If he hits the open market, there will likely be at least one or two clubs willing to pay him that much, so it’ll be interesting to see how his talks with the Ravens play out.

Here are several more Ravens updates:

While Newsome insisted on Wednesday that the Ravens don’t have to rework Flacco’s contract this offseaon, Harbaugh would be surprised if the two sides don’t address Flacco’s deal (Twitter link via Zrebiec).
Harbaugh confirmed that the Ravens are talking to Trent Richardson, though he cautioned that the deal isn’t done yet, per Zrebiec (Twitter link). We heard earlier today that Richardson is expected to sign with the team as long as he passes a physical.
Whether or not Richardson comes aboard, Harbaugh sees Justin Forsett as part of the Ravens’ 2016 outlook, meaning he’s not considered a potential cap casualty, per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com.
Tight end is a priority for the Ravens, with Crockett Gillmore having undergone surgery on both his shoulders and Nick Boyle facing a 10-game suspension (link via Hensley). Zrebiec notes (via Twitter) that Harbaugh was “all over” Boyle, telling reporters that – while the team has no plans to cut the tight end – “there’s no explanation for dumb.”
Zrebiec passed along several quotes from Newsome’s Wednesday presser, along with interpretations of what those comments meant. Among Newsome’s most notable statements? The GM expects safety Lardarius Webb back at his current cap figure.
Zrebiec tweets that Newsome also challenged quarterback-needy teams to give him a call about the sixth overall pick in the draft.

Joe Flacco’s Agent To Meet With Ravens

February 22nd, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Joe Linta, the agent for quarterback Joe Flacco, tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that he expects to meet with the Ravens this weekend at the draft combine in Indianapolis. While that doesn’t mean any sort of restructuring or extension for Flacco is imminent, those topics will certainly be on the agenda if and when the Ravens meet with Linta.

Flacco, who signed a six-year deal with the Ravens three years ago, is currently projected for a cap hit of $28.55MM in 2016, and that number will increase to $31MM+ in 2017. General manager Ozzie Newsome indicated at the start of the Ravens’ offseason that the team has a plan to work around Flacco’s massive cap hit, but it would obviously make things easier in Baltimore if the club can reduce that figure by $10MM or so.

Of course, as Florio observes, a simple restructure of Flacco’s contract would only be a band-aid solution for the Ravens. Converting a portion of his base salary to a signing bonus could create more than $11MM in cap savings for 2016, but it would bump up his 2017 hit to more than $36MM. So, in all likelihood, if the two sides get something done this offseason, it will involve tacking at least a couple more years onto the contract to spread out a signing bonus.

As of last week, the Ravens and Flacco reportedly hadn’t discussed reworking his deal, so if the two sides do meet this weekend at the combine, it figures to be the first time they engage in any real negotiations. For his part, Flacco has said he would be interested in working something out with the club.

“I know it’s a huge number,” Flacco said last month, referring to his cap hit. “I’m open to doing something. I want to be here for a while.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.