Joe Flacco And Ray Rice “Not Close” To New Contracts

According to Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times, the Baltimore Ravens are nowhere close to reaching a long-term deal with either QB Joe Flacco or RB Ray Rice.

Joe Flacco

Flacco is in his last year of his rookie contract and has plenty of reason to want a new deal from the Ravens.  He has won more games in his first four years than any other quarterback before him.

Baltimore is obviously interested in preventing him from reaching the open market, but previous reports have mentioned that he’s seeking top-five quarterback money. Flacco’s a decent player, but he has to understand that the higher his demands are, the more likely he’s going to strain his relationship with the team, considering that Ray Rice’s contract will also have to be addressed.

Ray Rice

Speaking of Rice, he has no plans of reporting to the team’s OTA workouts as long as he’s without a long-term contract.

Baltimore has already used their franchise tag on him once so they’re looking at a 20% increase should elect to go that route again next season. Rice too has been reported to have high contract demands but he appears to be willing to come down on his asking price a bit.

It’s not going to be easy to get both players locked into long-term deals and still have extra cash to address other positions. This year’s draft is obviously very important for the Ravens, as they’ll have to fill out their roster will young, low-cost options  while they continue to work on new contracts for Rice and Flacco.