Is Joe Flacco Worth His Record Contract?

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco turned a lot of heads over the weekend when he signed a record-breaking six year/$120 mil contract that made him the highest paid quarterback in NFL history. Immediately after the announcement, football fans and league experts across the league questioned if Flacco deserved his hefty contract. I for one could not even begin to fathom how this came to be. Does one incredible playoff run really justify a record-breaking contract?

If you take a look at Flacco's regular season numbers, they're hardly mind-blowing. He has yet to throw for 4,000 yards or eclipse 25 TD's in a season in his five-year career. He's never been an All-Pro or appeared in any Pro Bowls, hell he's hardly even won any weekly accolades (He's won Offense Player of the Week twice and picked up a few awards from Pepsi in his rookie year back in 2008.) Flacco has guided the Ravens to the playoffs every season since coming into the league and guided them to 3 AFC Championships and a Super Bowl victory this year, which is impressive, but that's not enough of a reason to give him such an astronomical contract. He is a talented quarterback who steps up in big games and has arguably the best arm in the NFL, but he isn't in the elite tier yet. His contract is especially ridiculous considering that is making $20 million in almost the same time frame than the perennial MVP contender and future first ballot hall-of-famer Drew Brees, who had the previous record for highest paid quarterback of all-time with the 5 year/$100 mill deal he signed with Saints prior to last season. How does a guy like Flacco get more money than a guy like Brees who holds/has held numerous NFL records and has an entire trophy case full of individual awards? You could argue that Brees's contract is also ridiculous, but he's proven time and time again that he is worthy of such a large payday by putting up big numbers every year and keeping the team competitive no matter what (What he did on the field this season between dealing with the bounty scandal and being saddled with the worst defense in the league was incredible.) Another hit to Flacco's large contract is it comes only a few days after another proven superstar quarterback, Tom Brady, took a $3 million/year paycut to help the Patriots re-sign players and pursue other free agents. Brady, as much as I despise him, made the right move in taking a paycut. He wants the team to have the cap space to bring in/re-sign guys that will help the team stay competitive so he gave up some of his money to help them do so. Like the Patriots, the Ravens also have a ton of key players set to become free agents including Ed Reed, Danell Ellerbe, and Patrick Kruger, who were vital parts of their Super Bowl run that need to be brought back and Flacco just ate up a ton of cap space that hurts their chances of being able to re-sign all of these guys. If the Ravens lose these guys, you can expect Flacco to take even more heat for his epic contract.

I really don't mean to be this harsh  on Flacco, I am sincerely a fan of his and I was glad to see him and the Ravens get a ring in February. He is an undeniably talented quarterback and he will continue to grow even further as his career goes on. It just seems a little ridiculous to give him an elite-level contract when he hasn't put up elite-level numbers in the regular season, especially when the Ravens have so many key players that are entering free agency this offseason. His playoff performance was outstanding, but no matter how strong his play was in January and February this season, it's not worthy of a record-breaking contract at the moment. Flacco very well could prove his worth over the next five years and silence me and the rest of his critics, but for now he is just a second-tier quaterback getting paid like a first-tier quarterback.