The Ravens will resume talking about new contracts for center Matt Birk and quarterback Joe Flacco next week.
Joe Linta, who represents both players, met with the Ravens at the combine in Indianapolis and will sit down with the team again in hopes of hammering out the deals. There was a report that Birk would retire during the playoffs, but he and Linta have made it clear since then that he plans to return for another season. They’ve made no secret of their preference to remain with the Ravens, something Linta reiterated to Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times on Tuesday.
“Matt’s desire is to remain with the Ravens, if a deal can be reached,” Linta said. “We’ll be talking with them.”
Birk made $3 million last season and has started 96 straight regular season games for Minnesota and Baltimore. If the Ravens do bring him back, they will probably also look for someone who can move into the spot come 2013 as Birk will turn 36 before the start of next season.
PFT reported that the Indy discussion about Flacco was “productive,” although no numbers were exchanged between the two sides. The Ravens have said that locking up Flacco for the long term is a major priority for them this offseason, but it is difficult to know how easy that will be until numbers start getting pushed across the table.