We’ve long believed that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco doesn’t get enough credit for his accomplishments in four years of football. Still, it was difficult to agree with agent Joe Linta’s argument that Flacco, based on his wins and losses, merits a top-five contract.
It’s even harder to agree with Flacco’s own assessment of his skills.
“I assume everybody thinks they’re a top-five quarterback,” Flacco told WNST in Baltimore, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I mean, I think I’m the best. I don’t think I’m top five, I think I’m the best. I don’t think I’d be very successful at my job if I didn’t feel that way. I mean, C’mon? That’s not really too tough of a question. But that doesn’t mean that things are gonna work out that way. It just means that that’s the way it is, that’s the way I feel it is, and that’s the way I feel it should be.”
We understand the attitude, and the importance of confidence. But like Eli Manning’s characterization of himself as “elite” in August 2011 (you know, before he went out and proved it), the better answer in these situations is something along the lines of, “That’s not for me to decide. Those labels are determined by others.”
So far, Flacco’s supreme confidence isn’t resulting in a new contract.
"[I]t either gets done or it doesn’t,” Flacco said of the negotiations. “And I’m not really too involved in the process besides letting him know how I feel and letting him take care of that and letting the Baltimore Ravens take care of their side. And that’s really my involvement. It’s not about the money, it’s about what you as a player feel that you deserve. And at the end of the day, they’ll take care of it and I’ll be waiting.”
But if he thinks he’s the best quarterback, then he necessarily thinks he deserves to be paid more than any other quarterback.
If that’s the case, Flacco will be waiting for a while.