New Contract

Quarterback Joe Flacco climbed to a new financial stratosphere when the Ravens made him the highest paid player in NFL history with a $120.6 million contract. Flacco received a $29 million signing bonus and is due option bonuses of $15 million in 2014 and $7 million in 2015 in the deal he signed Monday. He also emerged as a partner of sorts with the Super Bowl champions, joining a small fraternity of quarterbacks whose performance and salary-cap figures are pivotal to the health of their respective franchises.

Quarterback Joe Flacco climbed to a new financial stratosphere when the Ravens made him the highest paid player in NFL history with a $120.6 million contract. Flacco received a $29 million signing bonus and is due option bonuses of $15 million in 2014 and $7 million in 2015 in the deal he signed Monday. He also emerged as a partner of sorts with the Super Bowl champions, joining a small fraternity of quarterbacks whose performance and salary-cap figures are pivotal to the health of their respective franchises.

The Houston Texans have reportedly agreed to a contract extension with running back Arian Foster, a deal that will surely be discussed in the ongoing contract negotiations between the Ravens and running back Ray Rice. Both are 25, Pro Bowl players and key offensive contributors on teams that won their divisions in 2011. According to ESPN, Foster's new five-year deal is worth $43.5 million with $20.75 million guaranteed . ESPN is reporting that Foster will make $18 million during the 2012 season and $30 million in first three years of deal.

Joe Flacco is an elite quarterback now. Forget about Super Bowl rings, conference or division championships, win-loss record and ability. The Ravens made him elite Friday night when the two sides agreed to terms on a six-year, $120.6 million contract that made him the highest paid player in NFL history. Flacco now makes more money than the New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees and the Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning. An above average Joe has become "Elite Joe. " The question now is what happens to the Ravens, and where do they go from here as far as signing and re-signing free agents?

Cornerback Lardarius Webb reached an agreement on a five-year, $50-million extension with the Ravens five days ago and officially signed his contract last Friday so the reality has long set in. He knows that his financial future is now secure, and the new deal will bring increased pressure off the field. But he also knows that his new contract, which includes a $10-million signing bonus, doesn't change a thing about his goals and aspirations on the field.    “There are plenty of things that I can do better,” Webb said today in a phone interview with The Sun . “I can be an All Pro. I can make the Pro Bowl.

Union workers at Safeway and Giant Food in the Baltimore and Washington regions overwhelmingly approved a new contract Tuesday that increases wages and maintains key benefits. "It's a good day to be a member," said Tim Goins, executive vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 27 in Baltimore, which represents 8,500 Giant and Safeway cashiers, meat cutters and produce and deli workers in Central Maryland and on the Eastern Shore. Local 27 members and Washington area workers with Local 400 in Landover voted in separate meetings.

A month before longtime Baltimore County school Superintendent Joe A. Hairston said he will step down when his contract ends in June, the school board voted in private not to extend his employment. Hairston officially notified school board President Lawrence Schmidt on Monday morning in a phone call that he would not seek another four-year contract, after telling The Baltimore Sun on Thursday that he always intended to leave. "I am glad Dr. Hairston has told us he is not a candidate," Schmidt said, adding that it gives the board more than six months to hire a new leader.

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.

Dockworkers at the Port of Baltimore were scheduled to vote today on a new contract proposal amid uncertainty about the fate of one of their union locals.Bargainers for Local 953 of the International Longshoremen's Association still were meeting this morning with negotiators for management, represented by the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore Inc.The two sides had bargained through the night without reaching a conclusion. Meanwhile, the cargo clerks of Local 953 are working under an extension of their previous contract, which expired at midnight Friday, said Richard P. Hughes, business agent for Local 953.Hughes, unhappy with the concessions his members were forced to take in the contract talks ending last January, chose to bargain independently of the port's other four ILA locals this time around.

Howard County police union members approved a new contract that provides them modest gains for the next fiscal year, but union leaders want the county executive to ensure that they'll get several weeks of retroactive pay when the contract takes effect.In a secret paper ballot, 114 of 139 members of the Howard County Police Officers Association voted Friday for a contract giving them a 2 percent cost-of-living raise, a maximum 2.5 percent merit increase, and a minimum of three hours of pay for time they spend in court on their day off.But they asked County Executive Charles I. Ecker to add an amendment calling for retroactive pay for the lag time in between the start of the fiscal year and the date the new contract kicks in.The contract would take effect 60 days after the Howard County Council approves it. Even if the council approves the contract at its next meeting Monday, officers could be waiting until August for cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)

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 story seems too good to be true, even to Ravens running back Ray Rice. "We had a guy who lost his brother the night before a game and went out there and played on a Sunday," Rice said. "We lose Ray Lewis. We lost Terrell Suggs. Our whole defense was hurt at one point. We shuffle our offensive line. Our coordinator [gets fired]. "Listen, I need a ghostwriter to write this book, and I want all residuals on this one because this is going to be a great story. " In the middle of this story should be a chapter based in San Diego a little over two months ago. On Nov. 25, Rice manufactured 29 yards against the San Diego Chargers in one of the most improbable scenarios, leading to a 16-13 win in overtime that could be considered a critical step in the Ravens' ride to Super Bowl XLVII.

Morgan State University's faculty has overwhelmingly voted in support of President David J. Wilson, according to figures released by the university council Friday. More than 86 percent of Morgan faculty members who participated in the vote cast ballots to signal their confidence in Wilson, who has recently come under fire from some members of Morgan's Board of Regents. In early December, the regents voted 8 to 7 behind closed doors to not renew Wilson's contract when it expires at the end of the academic year.

A meeting of Morgan State University's Board of Regents planned for Thursday afternoon has been cancelled, university officials said. The meeting had been announced on the board's web page, but the notice was later removed. The purpose of the meeting had not been made public. Morgan was plunged into turmoil last month when the board voted 8-7 to seek a replacement for president David J. Wilson when his contract expires at the end of the academic year. Students, faculty and alumni rallied to support Wilson.

Question: What is the most guaranteed applause line in American politics today? Answer: Anything that allegedly benefits that fine group of Americans known as the middle class. Want proof? Well, just about every other sentence uttered at the Democratic National Convention paid homage to this esteemed socioeconomic group. Ditto for the GOP in Tampa, where speaker after speaker spoke of the virtues of the middle-income worker. From a political perspective, the drumbeat makes sense.

When a state agency tried to hire a new contractor to run a call center that fields inquiries about child support payments, an appeals panel intervened and called the process "deeply flawed" and "unreasonable, illogical and improper. " The move would have replaced the current company with a less-experienced firm that proposed running the center with about half as many live operators despite a projected increase in call volume. But in a rare move, the panel overturned the decision to award the new contract.

Bell Atlantic Corp. and its largest union reached a tentative agreement on a new contract yesterday morning, ending a bitter stalemate that stretched more than five months past the expiration of their last agreement.The Philadelphia -based phone company and the Communications Workers of America, which represents about 35,000 Bell Atlantic employees, said they would release no details of the agreement on region-wide issues until they resolve issues affecting individual locals.Talks on those issues were continuing yesterday.

Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso has signed on to lead the city school system for four more years, according to school board officials. After nearly a year of negotiations, Alonso, who came to the city in 2007, signed a $260,000 contract Thursday that includes a monthly $750 car stipend and undetermined performance bonuses for the school system's improvement over the course of the contract. His previous contract expired Thursday. The renewed commitment comes on the heels of the superintendent announcing this week that he would stay in Baltimore, even though the system noted its first significant declines on the Maryland School Assessments during his tenure.

Two Sundays ago the Orioles won for the 41st time, guaranteeing a winning record at the mathematical mid-point of the season - Wednesday's game in Seattle will be their 81st - for the first time since 2008. Despite a recent swoon, the club appears capable of at least pushing for one of two wild-card berths and a return to the playoffs for the first time since 1997. Baltimore is beginning to realize it, if maybe not quite believing it. Fans here have endured 14 straight losing seasons and, from June 18 to July 2, watched their birds of summer sputter to three wins in 13 games.

Cornerback Lardarius Webb reached an agreement on a five-year, $50-million extension with the Ravens five days ago and officially signed his contract last Friday so the reality has long set in. He knows that his financial future is now secure, and the new deal will bring increased pressure off the field. But he also knows that his new contract, which includes a $10-million signing bonus, doesn't change a thing about his goals and aspirations on the field.    “There are plenty of things that I can do better,” Webb said today in a phone interview with The Sun . “I can be an All Pro. I can make the Pro Bowl.