Baltimore Ravens: Joe Flacco Set Standard for Andrew Luck’s Contract
By Joe Serpico
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is now the highest-paid player in NFL history. He should thank Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco for the new contract.
Andrew Luck signed a six-year, $140 deal with the Colts Wednesday, which makes him the man to be in the NFL today. He will receive $87 million in injury guarantees, $47 million of which is guaranteed at signing. He will average $23.3 million per season under the new contact.
Who was the highest-paid player in the NFL prior Luck? That would be Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
Flacco set the mark for quarterback pay when he hit the jackpot following his magical postseason run that led the Ravens to their second Super Bowl victory. He signed a six-year, $120 million contract that offseason, making him the highest-paid player in terms of average annual salary. Aaron Rodgers would sign a five-year, $110 million contract just months later to take the title away from Flacco.
When he signed that contract in 2013, everyone knew that a new deal would have to be worked out heading into this offseason. There was no way the Ravens were going to enter the season with Flacco carrying a cap hit of $31.15 million.
That forced the Ravens to work out an extension with their franchise quarterback, a three-year, $66.4 million deal that would pay him $22.1 million per year. It would be the second time that Flacco signed a deal that made him the highest-paid player in the league.
Colts owner Jim Irsay – insert every derogatory comment you can think of about the Irsay family here – said he would pay Luck top dollar. He had to be looking around the league for similar contracts to base Luck’s new deal around.
So when Flacco broke the record again, Luck’s agents had Irsay right where they wanted him.
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One is a first-round pick and has a Super Bowl MVP trophy on his resume. The other is the former No. 1 overall pick and forced the legendary Peyton Manning out of town. The passing numbers are what makes the latter more enticing.
Luck, like reigning MVP Cam Newton, represents the new era of the NFL: bigger, more athletic quarterbacks. Luck has all the skills you look for in the passing game, but can also make plays with his feet. He is entering his prime, and despite a injury-riddled 2015 campaign, has been a winner throughout his career.
Let’s name the top quarterbacks in the NFL: Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson and Newton. You can make a case that Luck could (or should) be on this list. We cannot say the same about Flacco, despite what he has meant to the Ravens franchise.
Both had their 2015 season cut short due to injury, but the Ravens found out last season that Flacco cannot single-handedly carry the team on his back. Luck was dubbed a “once in a generation talent” when he came out of Stanford, and has played like a top pick should. He will keep the Colts in championship contention for as long as he stays in Indy, regardless of who is around him.
We can argue all we want about whether Flacco deserves to be the second-highest paid player in the league. Rodgers, Brady and Roethlisberger are deserving of more money than Joe.
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What you cannot argue is that Flacco’s agent Joe Linta has continued to set the standard for what quarterbacks will make in the NFL. Andrew Luck hit the NFL lottery, and he can thank Joe Flacco for it.