Baltimore Ravens

Ravens' Flacco knows contract negotiations are coming

Published Jan. 5, 2016 11:27 p.m. ET

foxsports

When Joe Flacco signed his six-year, $120.6 million contract in 2013, he knew it would be time to sit at the negotiating table again after three seasons. That time is now on the horizon as Flacco's reported cap number of $28.5 million for 2016 wouldn't leave nearly enough space to fill out the roster with much-needed quality players.

Flacco's cap hit for 2015, was almost half of what it is scheduled to be for next season at $14.5 million. It jumps even higher to $31.1 million in 2017 before settling back at $24.7 million in the final year of the deal. Coming to an agreement on an extension would benefit both sides since it would add more years onto Flacco's stay in Baltimore. Flacco is well aware that his contract will have to be addressed this offseason, per the team's official website.

“You know this day is going to come no matter what you do. There’s no way of getting around a big cap number at some point, or a consistently big cap number. You know the first few years of my deal, the cap number wasn’t very big, so you don’t really have any other way around it but then to have a monster one at the end of it.

"You know it’s coming unless the salary cap makes some kind of an enormous jump, but it’s really kind of out of my control. It’s an issue that these guys are used to dealing with day in and day out."

Flacco will turn 31 later this month. He hadn't missed a game his entire eight-year career until he tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee on Nov. 22. Flacco says his recovery is going well and is expecting to be ready for training camp.

"By August, I’ll be like eight months out of surgery. I don’t know what the timeline is on these things, but I’m in there doing the work. I’m expecting I’ll be ready to go. I really have no idea, though.

"I’m kind of just doing what they tell and trying to push myself as much as I can and take it step by step."