Mrs. PFT and yours truly were having dinner at the Capital Grille in Indianapolis when I spotted Ravens V.P. of football administration Pat Moriarty and agent Joe Linta walking in and taking a seat at a nearby booth.
Which meshes with our report from earlier in the day that the first meeting between the Ravens and the representation of quarterback Joe Flacco would be occurring on Friday night or Saturday.
Which now may allow me to write off the entire dinner.
The Ravens and Linta haven’t negotiated since August. And with the team gambling and losing (by winning the Super Bowl), the time has come to pay the proverbial piper.
For Linta, who repeatedly has said Flacco should be the highest-paid quarterback in the league, the ability to deliver could push him onto the “A” list of all NFL agents. Failure to do so will give other agents plenty of ammunition to criticize him when recruiting other clients.
If a long-term deal can’t be negotiated, the Ravens will have to decide whether to use the non-exclusive level of the franchise tag or the exclusive level. As explained earlier in the day, the $6 million difference in 2013 quickly spirals out of control if Flacco decides to assume the injury risk and play on a year-to-year basis. If the Ravens use the exclusive tag in 2013, Flacco would make more than $80 million in three seasons of being tagged.