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.

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 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...

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...

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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"?

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.

Love him or loathe him, Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was the biggest story on a pretty ugly Sunday of NFL football as he engineered a 15-point comeback in the closing minutes to overtake the Dolphins, 18-15. Tebow had completed just four of his 14 pass attempts for 40 yards as Denver trailed, 15-0, with just over five minutes remaining in the game. With every Tebow pass that bounced off the Miami grass, hundreds of Tweets were chirped out into the blogosphere about how he was pretty much the worst quarterback in NFL history.

Both coach John Harbaugh and players like center Matt Birk and left tackle Bryant McKinnie agreed that Joe Flacco has been on the receiving end of too many hits lately. The only one who disagrees is the Ravens quarterback himself. Asked if he concurred with Harbaugh's assessment on Monday, Flacco replied, “No, I'm still a young guy, and that's part of playing quarterback, getting hit every now and then. Hey, if you've got to deal with it every now and then, that's what you have to deal with.

One of the few criticisms the Ravens have encountered after their 37-7 thumping of the St. Louis Rams on Sunday was the decision to have quarterback Joe Flacco run the offense in the last 3 minutes, 10 seconds of the game. Keeping Flacco in a game that had already been decided might put the franchise quarterback at risk to a season-ending injury, but coach John Harbaugh said during his weekly briefing Monday that allowing Flacco to play with reserves like offensive linemen Bryan Mattison and Jah Reid, wide receivers LaQuan Williams and Tandon Doss and running back Anthony Allen could provide benefits in the long run. “We did replace as many guys as we could,” Harbaugh began.

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?

Whether they look for a franchise quarterback at the top of the draft or a third-day gem in the weeds, the Ravens will start with the tape and let it direct them. Expectations are that the Ravens will take a late-round flier on a quarterback in next week's NFL draft. If they do, it'll be for a player who has passed all their reference points — just as with any other position. What does Eric DeCosta, the team's director of player personnel, want in a third-day quarterback?

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."

The date was April 26, 2003, and it was supposed to be a milestone in Ravens history. On that day, the Ravens drafted a franchise quarterback named Kyle Boller in the first round, the 19th pick overall. Nearly four months later, the Ravens had named Boller their starting quarterback. That was the beginning of the end of a successful run by the Ravens. If you want to trace the team's recent demise, it started on the day it announced Boller as the starter, which meant the franchise was mortgaging the present for the future.

While many teams are desperately looking for a franchise quarterback at the NFL Scouting Combine, the Ravens announced they will give more freedom to theirs. "We'll put more and more into his hands," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Thursday. "I think going into his fourth year, maybe it will be a little more exponential and maybe people will see it a little bit more. " Since being drafted in the first round in 2008, Flacco has proven to be one of the top young quarterbacks in the NFL. He is just the third starting quarterback to reach the playoffs in his first three seasons since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

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.