The Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco suffered through the kind of season that hasn't been seen in Baltimore for quite some time. Almost from the outset, the Ravens' 2015 campaign seemed doomed and, by the time the Cincinnati Bengals put an ugly exclamation point on the season in January, there was no hope left. But the Ravens will see the return of some important pieces like Terrell Suggs and, hopefully, Breshad Perriman next year, and with head coach John Harbaugh and Flacco still in place, Baltimore will again be expected to vie for the AFC North crown.
One of the team's biggest pieces of offseason business, though, will be getting Flacco's mammoth contract and cap hit down to a more manageable figure. Flacco, set for the fourth year of a six-year contract extension, will carry a $28.55 million cap hit in 2016. That figure jumps again to $31.15 million in 2017. And while Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome said Thursday, during media availability at the NFL rookie scouting combine in Indianapolis, that he can be "very active in free agency" with the $6.31 million in salary cap space they're currently slated to have available (plus whatever he's able to free up by cutting veterans), it also sounds like Newsome will be sitting down with Flacco's agent to see if something can be done about the quarterback's deal.
The Ravens will meet with QB Joe Flacco's reps tomorrow about the possibility of doing a new deal. His cap hits next 2 yrs: $28.6M, $31.2M.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 25, 2016
"If that possibility happens, it will be good both for the Ravens, and for Joe Flacco," Newsome said, per the team's website.
The likeliest outcome, at this point, seems to be an extension that allows the Ravens to lower Flacco's cap hit, freeing up money to sign and re-sign free agents and draft picks at the same time as it ensures Flacco won't be headed elsewhere anytime soon.
Flacco has said previously that he's open to restructuring and, with Newsome's comments, it sounds like negotiations on that will get started this week.
