I love Joe Flacco’s confidence. It’s part of what makes a QB great. Joe unabashedly states he thinks he’s “the best”…and you’ll get no argument from his new wife Dana…
Flacco hopes the negotiations on his contract extension wrap up before the start of the 2012 season. If that doesn’t happen, Flacco says, coming to terms could get more complex.
“I want to get something done before the year,” Flacco told WNST Monday in an hour-long interview. “I hope that we both want to get something done before the beginning of the year because when the year comes and goes and I haven’t been re-signed, then that’s when things can start to get complicated.
“You don’t want to get to the point where you play out your contract and you get to those complicated situations where they can put the franchise tag on you and things like that. I don’t really want it to get to that point just because of that. If we do, it’s not going to be a distraction, it’s just going to be what it is.”
Flacco added that if a deal wasn’t done before the end of the offseason, he would still be open to it getting done in September as opposed to waiting until 2013. Heading into his fifth NFL season, Flacco made it clear that he doesn’t want to play for any other team.
“I want to play football for the Baltimore Ravens,” he said. “There’s nothing else in the world I’d rather be doing.”
As for the contract structure and details that are currently being discussed between his agent, Joe Linta, and the Ravens, Flacco says he isn’t involved. He’s already expressed to his agent how he feels and he lets Linta handle the rest. Asked if he is aware how much other quarterbacks are making, Flacco said he hasn’t really paid attention.
“It’s not about the money. It’s about what you feel you deserve. At the end of the day, they’ll take care of it and I’ll be waiting.”
Ever since Linta proclaimed his client as a top-5 quarterback in February, the notion has been heavily debated among fans and pundits. As far as his record goes, Flacco has won more games in his first four years than any other quarterback in NFL history. But his individual passing statistics aren’t among the top 5. Of course, to Flacco, there’s no question about where he ranks.
“Without a doubt [I’m in the top 5],” Flacco said. “What do you expect me to say? I would assume everybody thinks they’re a top-5 quarterback. I think I’m the best. I don’t think I’m the top 5, I think I’m the best. I wouldn’t be very successful at my job if I didn’t feel that way.”
“That doesn’t mean that things are going to work out that way. It just means that’s the way it is – that’s the way I feel that it is and that’s the way I feel it should be.”
Flacco said it doesn’t bother him that people don’t put a lot of stock in his winning record. He would like to throw for 40 touchdowns a year and throw for 5,000 or 6,000 yards, but only because he believes that would help make the Ravens a Super Bowl-winning team. If becoming world champions meant the offense would have to run more, then he is fine with that also. However the Ravens get the job done, he hopes the city will get behind him.
“I’m looking for support out there in Baltimore because every time we seem to [throw more] and then every time we seem to run for 250, everybody wants to go back and forth and we’re this kind of team, we’re that kind of team,” Flacco said. “You know what kind of team we need to be? We need to be a Super Bowl-champion team. … I love winning. And I’m going to continue to win no matter what my numbers are.”
Call me old-school, but I like that kind of talk from a QB… Kind of reminds me of another Joe who wore #12 for the Jets….
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