Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports that the Ravens and QB Joe Flacco continue to work on a restructured contract that would provide Baltimore with some cap relief.
The parties reportedly remain close to an agreement and are planning to meet again on Monday following Combine workouts. According to Florio, it’s still possible that a deal will be in place at some point in the next 2-4 days.
Even so, Florio mentions that Flacco could push to best his record $20.1 million per year average for a brand-new deal or Aaron Rodgers‘ $22 million in new-money average.
Florio also doesn’t rule out the possibility that the Ravens could elect to keep Flacco at his current price, given that the salary cap has increased by more than $32 million since they signed him to this contract.
He carries a cap figure of $28,550,000 for the 2016 season, and represents one of the easiest sources of cap space for the Ravens. According to OverTheCap.com, restructuring his contract could free up $11,410,000 in available cap space for the Ravens.
The problem with reworking his contract and converting a large portion of his salary into a signing bonus is that it would result in a massive 2017 cap figure of close to $36.5 million.
With this mind, he best course of action for the Ravens would likely be to sign Flacco to an extension.
Flacco, 30, is in the third year of his six-year, $120.6 million contract that included $52 million guaranteed. He’ll make base salaries of $4 million (2015), $18 million (2016), $20.6 million (2017), and $20 million (2018) over the remainder of the agreement.
Flacco finished the season having thrown for 2,492 yards while completing 64.8 percent of his passes to go along with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions over the course of nine games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 33 quarterback out of 37 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding a new deal for Flacco as the news is available.
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