Looking to lower the team's salary-cap burden for the 2016 season, the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco agreed to restructure his contract on Wednesday, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.
Caplan reported the quarterback and team agreed on a three-year extension that will keep him in Baltimore until 2021, citing a source. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports confirmed the report, adding that the new contract "will keep him among the highest paid QBs in the game."
La Canfora noted the deal will save Baltimore around $6 million this season and over $13 million in the next two seasons. La Canfora also reported the new deal will include quarterback records for bonus money, new money and "other metrics."
While full details of the extension have yet to be made available, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Flacco will receive a $40 million signing bonus. The Ravens have yet to officially announce the extension but they're set to hold a 2 p.m. EST press conference with Flacco on Wednesday.
Flacco was due an $18 million base salary for 2016, with an additional $40.6 million coming over the following two seasons.
The Ravens would have been saddled with a $28.55 million cap charge on Flacco in 2016, which would have risen to $31.15 million in 2017. That number was the third-highest in football and second among quarterbacks, behind only Drew Brees. Brees, Flacco and Ndamukong Suh are the only three players in the sport who had cap hits of more than $25 million in 2016.
Of course, none of this would be a problem if Flacco were performing like one of the best players in the sport, but he hasn't been. Flacco threw for 2,791 yards and 14 touchdowns against 12 interceptions before going down with a torn ACL and MCL 10 games into 2015.
He was completing a career-high percentage of his passes (64.4), but his underlying numbers were disconcerting. Flacco's QBR reached a career low, he ranked 26th in Football Outsiders' DVOA and Pro Football Focus gave him below-average marks across the board. The Ravens began the season 1-6 before finishing 5-11, tying their worst mark since their inaugural season in 1996.
"It's just frustrating because you're not winning the game. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how it happens. It's frustrating," Flacco told reporters in October. "You go home and you think about it. You think about it in the locker room, on the plane, on the bus. It's just the nature of what we do."
Flacco's contract restructuring may open up enough money for Baltimore to add more weapons on the outside.
Wideout Steve Smith announced he'd be returning for at least one more season after going down seven games into the 2015 season, but he turns 37 in May and is coming off an Achilles tear. Kamar Aiken filled an underneath role admirably and looks like a long-term starter, which means the Ravens should focus mostly on finding a downfield threat. Breshad Perriman, who Baltimore selected 26th overall in last year's draft, missed his entire rookie campaign due to a partially torn PCL, which casts doubt over whether the Ravens could count on him as a consistent contributor this coming season.
With running back Justin Forsett having also seen his season cut short due to a broken arm, there are plenty of reasons to expect the Ravens to regress positively to the mean in 2016. Flacco's willingness to free up some cap space for Baltimore should make that transition easier.
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from Bleacher Report - Baltimore Ravens http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2611233-joe-flacco-ravens-agree-to-new-contract-latest-details-and-reaction
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