On Friday night, the Ravens and the representative of quarterback Joe Flacco engaged in their first contract talks in months.
Agent Joe Linta called his meeting with Ravens V.P. of football administration Pat Moriarty a “good start.”
Still, Linta said the two sides have a “long way to go.”
They’ve also got a short time to get there, if they hope to finalize a deal before the window closes on the application of the franchise tag. By 4:00 p.m. ET on Monday, March 4, a decision must be made by the Ravens regarding whether to use the non-exclusive version of the tag, the exclusive level, or no tag at all.
Or the two sides can get a deal done. The reality, however, is that few big-money, long-term deals of this nature are resolved before the team breaks out the franchise tag.
The biggest question regarding the application of the franchise tag is whether the Ravens will choose between exclusive and non-exclusive. We’ve got a theory based on information gleaned over the past few days in Indianapolis. But we won’t bore you with it now.
We’ll bore you with it eventually, just not now.