The Ravens want to work out a long-term deal with quarterback Joe Flacco, but their new quarterbacks coach wants to make it clear that he can’t turn water into wine and he can’t turn Flacco into Peyton Manning.
Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports that the Ravens and Flacco’s agent are planning to get together during the Scouting Combine to begin work on a long-term contract extension for Flacco. So the team sounds committed to Flacco for the long run, just as Flacco has said he wants to be the quarterback in Baltimore for years to come.
New Ravens quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, however, had some interesting comments to the team’s web site in which he cautioned that no one should expect Flacco to morph into Manning just because Caldwell, who coached Manning for a decade in Indianapolis, is now coaching Flacco.
“Everybody’s different,” Caldwell said. “[Flacco] has his own strengths, and what we want to try to do is accentuate those. I’m not here to try to make him like any other quarterback in this league, like Peyton Manning or Brad Johnson or the other guys I’ve coached. That’s not my goal. He is who he is. What we want to do is just help him perfect what he does well.”
Caldwell wasn’t criticizing Flacco with those comments, just stating the reality that Flacco is who he is, and that while Caldwell may be able to help Flacco improve, Caldwell can’t turn Flacco into a totally different quarterback. If the Ravens are talking to Flacco about a long-term deal, they’re apparently satisfied that he’s a good enough quarterback as it is.