Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco signed a contract that will make him the highest-paid player ever. Flacco’s deal following the Ravens’ Super Bowl victory will run the team $120.6 million over the next six years, averaging a record $20.1 million per year, with a $29 million signing bonus and $52 million guaranteed over the life of the contract.
This amount surpasses Drew Brees’ deal as he takes in $20 million a year from a five-year, $100 million contract. The next few players down the highest annual salary list include Denver’s Peyton Manning ($18 million per year), Buffalo’s Mario Williams ($16.66 million), Detroit’s Calvin Johnson ($16.5 million), Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald ($16.06 million) and the New York Giants’ Eli Manning ($13 million).
I do not entirely agree with Baltimore’s decision to pay their quarterback such an amount and tie themselves down to such a contract for six years. He helped lead the team to their second Super Bowl victory in Baltimore’s young history and was named Super Bowl 47’s MVP. But to pay him more than what other teams pay Brees, both Manning brothers and Johnson seems like overkill after his previous contract expired.
The case against Flacco’s deal first stacks him up against other QBs in the league in an overall career scope. Peyton Manning led the Broncos to a 13-3 season and the AFC’s No. 1 seed. They lost in the division round to the Ravens, but Manning has had consistency throughout the season. Flacco and the Ravens went 10-6 and made the playoffs and clinched a playoff spot despite a three-game losing streak they rode at the time. They did not enter the playoffs with momentum, yet they gained steam at the right time.
Eli Manning, in both of his Super Bowl victories in the 2007 and 2011 seasons, led the Giants to the playoffs through the Wild Card round and defeat the New England Patriots, No. 1 seed in the AFC, to win. As noted before, he takes an annual salary of $13 million. He played out runs similar to Flacco’s twice and he still makes less than his older brother, who has one ring.
Tom Brady ($6.4 million) fought Drew Brees in the 2011 season for the single-season passing yards record and broke the single-season passing touchdowns record in 2007 when he threw 50.
His regular season passing stats also sit on a lower level than others. His passer rating this season was 87.7, 12th in the league. Aaron Rodgers ($8 million per year) clocked in the best rating at 108.0, followed by Peyton Manning (105.8), rookies Robert Griffin III (102.4) and Russell Wilson (100.0) (who get the rookie salary of $390,000) and Matt Ryan (99.1). Even Tony Romo (90.5) and Philip Rivers (88.6) rated higher than the Super Bowl MVP during the regular season, and neither of them made the playoffs.
Other position players also show regular-season performances worthier of a high-paying contract than Flacco. Calvin Johnson set the single-season record for receiving yards as he caught for 1,964 yards and averaged 1,306 yards per season in his six-year career. Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards, 8 short of Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105 set in 1984. He has a career average of 5.0 yards per carry and 1,474.83 yards per season. Johnson makes $16.5 million in salary. Peterson takes in $8 million a year.
Flacco was 19th in passing efficiency with a 59.70 percent completion rate. Ryan was at the top of the league with 68.62 percent, then Peyton Manning at 68.61 percent, and then Rodgers (67.21), Griffin III (65.65) and Romo (65.59). Romo also threw 19 interceptions, tied for the most in the league with Brees (62.99 and 10th in the league)
The case that supports Flacco’s record deal justifies the deal to some end short of brilliance. Over the first five years of his career, Flacco has won 63 games (regular season and playoffs), more than any QB in NFL history won in his first five years. He won six road playoff games, also a record. Peyton Manning won his only Super Bowl ring in his ninth season.
However, Ben Roethlisberger ($11.6 million) won his first Super Bowl in his second season and his second in his fifth season. Pittsburgh won 40 as the AFC’s No. 6 seed with an 11-5 record and 43 as the No. 2 seed with a 12-4 record. Roethlisberger, at this point in his career, won his second Super Bowl ring three years after his first. Brady won three Super Bowl rings in his first five seasons and has since set NFL records. New England has missed the playoffs three times in Brady’s 13-year career (his debut season in 2000, 2002 and 2008).
Also, as a look into Flacco’s future, Brady and the Patriots have not won a Super Bowl since 2004, losing their two most recent appearances to the Giants.
Flacco came through when it counted, yes. But so did the Mannings, Roethlisberger (twice), Rodgers, Brees and Brady (three times). Whoever drew up Flacco’s contract let their emotions come into play when they thought it was a great idea to pay him $20.1 million a year and take up a huge piece of their cap room. All because of one year, his contract year, which the higher-ups of a team tend to remember better than the rest.
I hope the Ravens think longer and harder if they want to sign Flacco again when his new contract expires in 2019. At this point, though, they have already committed at least $52 million to this gamble. If he doesn’t pan out, they stand to lose more than money. They lose a bargaining chip to retain future draft picks and try their hand at free agents. They have a lot on the line to expect Flacco to do this again. This time, they don’t get Ray Lewis to pump them up as they want him to go out on top. They may or may not get Ed Reed back. They forgot Ray Rice helped carry quite a bit of the load this season as a dual option and he makes $2 million a year. Jacoby Jones came up huge in the playoffs and his salary runs the Ravens $3 million.
In short, the main reason the main office botched this deal was they forgot the team that Flacco had around him. Take Rice, Jones, Lewis or Reed out of the Super Bowl and the 49ers lift Colin Kaepernick on their shoulders and parade him around San Francisco as he kisses his tattooed biceps. Take one of them out of the playoffs and the Ravens don’t pull off a Mile High Miracle and Peyton gets one more round with Brady. Take one who was there more often in the regular season and the Ravens probably don’t make the playoffs and Flacco’s kicking the can down the road. Flacco does not make this team. The team makes this team. This humongous investment in one man takes too many risks and shows too little a scope into the future.
