Franchise Quarterback

Joe Linta , the agent for Joe Flacco , was pleased with the first day of talks with team officials about a potential extension for the quarterback who is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Linta maintained that the point of the meeting was not to start negotiating the contractual terms, but to make sure that both sides were on the same page with their interest in getting a deal done. “We just wanted to make sure that he was really as valued as much as we thought he was,” Linta said.

In a little more than two months, Joe Flacco went from a much-maligned quarterback to Super Bowl Most Valuable Player to the highest-paid player in the history of the NFL. The Ravens agreed to terms with Flacco on a six-year deal worth $120.6 million Friday night, according to team and league sources. There are still some issues to be worked out, but the 28-year-old quarterback is expected to finalize the deal Monday at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills. “We have the parameters of a deal completed with Joe,” Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said in a statement released by the team.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger was listed as limited in Wednesday's practice, which was interpreted as a boost in the arm for the Steelers who have dropped two straight games without their franchise quarterback. But a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review described Roethlisberger's workout as very brief, his light throwing ending even before some of his teammates reached the practice field. Does this mean that Pittsburgh will err on the side of caution and shelve Roethlisberger for at least another week to give his dislocated ribs and sprained right throwing shoulder more time to heal?

The Ravens may soon have to make a critical decision regarding their franchise quarterback, Joe Flacco. If they don't sign the Super Bowl MVP to a contract extension before the March 4 deadline to place the franchise tag on a player, the Ravens must decide if they want to employ the more expensive exclusive tag. If the Ravens use the exclusive tag, Flacco would be in line to make $20.46 million, the average of the top five salary-cap figures for...

ASHBURN, Va. -- If they ever bring back the TV show "I've Got a Secret," Bill Parcells will never qualify as a contestant.Parcells kicked off the NFL's annual collegiate draft yesterday by finally revealing his secret choice as the No. 1 pick and it was about as predictable as a rainbow following a rainstorm -- he selected quarterback Drew Bledsoe for the New England Patriots over Rick Mirer."

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is a polarizing figure in Baltimore -- mainly because he is a quarterback who plays football in Baltimore -- but CBS broadcaster and former Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms believes most NFL quarterbacks would be quite pleased with the success Flacco had in his first three pro seasons. “I’ve watched a lot of film on Joe Flacco over the last three years and I know this, you can probably go around and ask most of the quarterbacks in the NFL, ‘Would you like to have a career start like his has the first three years?

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers probably ar beginning to wish for a do-over on their decision to stake their future to rookie quarterback Ryan Leaf, who has had problems on and off the field and will watch today's game against the Ravens from the bench.But even if Leaf is a bust, the Chargers' instincts in acquiring him were sound.At some point, any team with high intentions needs to gamble on a franchise quarterback.The Ravens certainly do.No, it's hardly a safe course of action, as the Chargers are discovering.

The Ravens routinely work out free agents even if there is no definitive interest or positional need, but it certainly isn't a regular occurrence for a player once considered their franchise quarterback to return to the team's facility and audition for a job. That will happen Thursday as Kyle Boller, a former first-round pick who was a lightning rod for fan discontent during his five-seasons as a Ravens' quarterback, will be one of three veteran...

Each Wednesday we'll bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player to help you learn a little more about the team. Today's guest is quarterback Joe Flacco, who tossed a career-high four touchdowns in Sunday's 31-7 thrashing of the Chicago Bears. Flacco discussed the pressure of being a franchise quarterback, the impact of his sprained right ankle and the worst nickname he's been given. Question: What is your reaction when you hear the phrase "Joe Flacco, franchise quarterback"? Answer: I don't know, I'm just happy to be where I am and just trying to continually get better.

After watching the Ravens lose to the Steelers, I was frustrated and angry. Yes, the officials had a bad game. That's not why the Ravens lost once again to Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. They lost because the offense was just terrible in the second half. Think of the things that happened. Our offensive line got beaten with regularity. "The blind side" was not protected. Maybe Sandra Bullock could have helped. Our Harvard educated center didn't know the snap count. Either that or our "franchise quarterback" didn't know it. Our star running back, who hadn't fumbled all season, didn't protect the ball in the most critical game of the season.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Ravens' quest for a franchise quarterback finally ended when Joe Flacco capped a stellar postseason by engineering a Super Bowl victory. Now, a championship and Flacco's unresolved contract as a pending unrestricted free agent have created a complex reality. Flacco is poised to either be paid as much as a $20.46 million franchise tender next season or be retained through a potential blockbuster deal that could rival New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees' $100 million contract.

It doesn't take a football fan to feel good about the Baltimore Ravens winning the Super Bowl . As thousands gather Tuesday morning for a victory parade through the streets of Charm City, let us take stock of just what an extraordinary moment this is. A team that oddsmakers saw as a prohibitive fourth-seed underdog in the National Football League playoffs had to overcome away games against star-studded franchises like New England and Denver and...

Joe Flacco will play his last game under his rookie contract against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in Super Bowl XLVII, but owner Steve Bisciotti made clear that he intends to keep the quarterback in a Ravens uniform for a long time. Bisciotti said Thursday that the two sides were "real close" to a deal when the talks were tabled just before the start of this season, and he's "very comfortable" that an agreement on a long-term contract extension for Flacco will be reached in the coming months.

While Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has won some people with his play the past two weeks, Joe Namath's mind had long been made up. He didn't need to see Flacco out-shine Indianapolis Colts phenom Andrew Luck and outplay Denver Broncos future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning to conclude that Flacco is one of the league's better quarterbacks. In a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun this week, Namath said that he has a been of fan of Flacco's ever since he first saw him play with the Ravens and he doesn't believe “you can give Flacco too much credit.” “A lot of that respect comes from knowing how tough the position can be at times, what kind of valleys we can get into mentally, emotionally.

He has thrown his hands up in the air after a dropped pass, angrily ripped off his helmet after a stalled possession and loudly chastised himself after an errant throw. Joe Flacco's body language has been studied and scrutinized since the day he became the Ravens' franchise quarterback in 2008. Rarely, if ever, has the stoic signal caller, billed as "Joe Cool," shown as many outward signs of exasperation as he has displayed the past three weeks. "I am frustrated a little bit. Yeah, I could probably do a better job of not showing that, but I just feel like we're so close to being able to be a good offense," Flacco said.

Think the Ravens will be working a little this week on containing RG3? The Ravens play the Washington Redskins on Sunday at FedEx Field. And if they watched the Redskins' 17-16 win over the New York Giants on “Monday Night Football,” they know that Robert Griffin III, already one of the game's most explosive players, is only getting better and better as the season grinds on. Sure, Washington's franchise quarterback had plenty of help as the...

Each Wednesday we'll bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player to help you learn a little more about the team. Today's guest is quarterback Joe Flacco, who tossed a career-high four touchdowns in Sunday's 31-7 thrashing of the Chicago Bears. Flacco discussed the pressure of being a franchise quarterback, the impact of his sprained right ankle and the worst nickname he's been given . Question: What is your reaction when you hear the phrase "Joe Flacco, franchise quarterback"?

The Ravens decided against a reunion with Kyle Boller, but they will reunite Curtis Painter with Jim Caldwell. After a free-agent quarterback workout today that also featured Boller and Dennis Dixon, the Ravens have agreed to a one-year deal with Painter, who started eight games last year for an Indianapolis Colts team that was without Peyton Manning. Caldwell, now the Ravens' quarterbacks coach, was Painter's head coach for the previous three seasons in Indianapolis. In his career, Painter, 26, has appeared in 11 games, all but two of them coming this past season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger was listed as limited in Wednesday's practice, which was interpreted as a boost in the arm for the Steelers who have dropped two straight games without their franchise quarterback. But a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review described Roethlisberger's workout as very brief, his light throwing ending even before some of his teammates reached the practice field. Does this mean that Pittsburgh will err on the side of caution and shelve Roethlisberger for at least another week to give his dislocated ribs and sprained right throwing shoulder more time to heal?

When the Ravens used a first-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft to select Joe Flacco, little did anybody know that he would become the only starting quarterback in NFL history to reach the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. Four teams took a similar path in April. The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins chose Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III first and second in the draft, while the Miami Dolphins picked Ryan Tannehill at No. 8 and the Cleveland Browns selected Brandon Weeden at No. 22. Coincidentally or not, none of those teams advanced to last year's postseason.