Flacco's agent says Ravens made a dumb move

[The Raven]

I can't stand how much of a loud moth Linta is. He'd be a much better agent if he learned when to shut up. The only time you ever hear about him is when he's making some bold claim about a client or bad mouthing a team.

 

Isn't that the only time you hear anything from anyone in sports media? When there's a bold claim or trash talking? It seems that most press is bad press, especially in this part of the year.

[Moderator 2]

If he was really on top of stuff he would update his website lol

[DMH_in_WA]

I don't really care about the economics of it.  You were either going to pay him then or now.  If I had to care, I like that they waited a year.  They got him for only $7million in a year they won the Superbowl and that means it pushed his bigger salary cap numbers out one extra year allowing a bit more freedom with some of the other players whose contracts are up in the next 2-3 seasons.

 

As for Linta, the problem I have with him is there was no need for this.  None at all.  The pressure and scrutiny from the anti-Flacco hate train that permeates the NFL fanbase and even some in the media had died down in the wake of other QBs getting their paydays.  By all accounts, he's looking great at camp ... everything going well.  Now, you've just taken him and put him right back under the microscope.  The other NFL fan sites are back to ragging on him .. you know the media is going to pick up on it and you know someone is going to ask Flacco about it.   It's another distraction for no gain what-so-ever.

 

And I know people are going to say, "Joe doesn't pay attention to that ..."  But Flacco is human .. he'll pay attention to it .. he'll have to answer questions about it  ... and yea, he'll probably disregard it after dealing with it ... but why make him deal with it in the first place?

[NaveSenrag]

Isn't that the only time you hear anything from anyone in sports media? When there's a bold claim or trash talking? It seems that most press is bad press, especially in this part of the year.

True enough. But it's one thing for Flacco to say he thinks he's elite, and another for his agent to be bragging about how much money he screwed the Ravens out of.

[jimmypowder]

[quote name="NaveSenrag" post="1478991" timestamp="1369701588"] True enough. But it's one thing for Flacco to say he thinks he's elite, and another for his agent to be bragging about how much money he screwed the Ravens out of.[/quote] Yep

[Ravenslifer]

I'm pretty sure the Ravens have no problem paying 4 million dollars a year extra for a quarterback who just had one of the greatest postseason runs in NFL history and will only be 28 next season.  It's one thing to believe your quarterback is capable of winning a Superbowl, and another thing completely to have a guy who's already done so and, according to Steve Biscotti himself, is just entering his prime.  Besides, everyone knows that the deal will be renegotiated so the cap hits will stay within reason.

[ravensfan520]

Its still a good deal on both ends... even Linta said it was a 3 year deal... at that point if he is underperforming we can cut him or we can restructure him... therefore win... win...

[The Oakland Cathedral]

Its still a good deal on both ends... even Linta said it was a 3 year deal... at that point if he is underperforming we can cut him or we can restructure him... therefore win... win...

I don't think cutting him is an option at this point unless his arm falls off...

[ThePurpleWall]

his Agent isn't bright.

[SteelersProphet]

I Agree that he should not be bragging but he is right that the ravens made a mistake........if they just gave him an extra million it would have saved them a lot more that's just math. also what's a million dollars extra for your franchise Quarterback. My wife always says that the ravens don't treat Flacco like a franchise Quarterback.....they keep doing things he doesn't like.....example firing Zorn.....It seems like a million would have kept flacco off the open market and made him feel wanted, but instead they played chicken with their franchise player....I don't get it

[Gordo52]

Who knows. If Joe got his contract last year maybe we don't win the Super Bowl. I'm sure when Joe was playing out of his mind in the playoffs he had that in the back of his mind.

[SteelersProphet]

Who knows. If Joe got his contract last year maybe we don't win the Super Bowl. I'm sure when Joe was playing out of his mind in the playoffs he had that in the back of his mind.

 

that's true but the ravens didn't due that on purpose......when they made the call to let him play out his contract it was needlessly Risky

[CARavensFan]

that's true but the ravens didn't due that on purpose......when they made the call to let him play out his contract it was needlessly Risky

 

This whole argument is a little like the chicken vs.the egg.

 

IF the Ravens had paid Flacco what he and his agent were asking then they would have had him locked up long term at a lower rate, but then Flacco may not have gone on that crazy run that lead us to the Super Bowl.

 

By the same idea, if Joe had gotten hurt or not played the way he did he would have been worth less thanthe original offered contract.

 

Both sides took a gamble, Joe won that gamble and got paid accordingly, and now his agent brings up that history to make himself look good.

 

Still I bet if you had asked Steve if he was willing to pay an extra $35 million to get anouther Super Bowl win he would have signed up right away without hesitation.

[CapoRocky]

I'm pretty sure the Ravens have no problem paying 4 million dollars a year extra for a quarterback who just had one of the greatest postseason runs in NFL history and will only be 28 next season.  It's one thing to believe your quarterback is capable of winning a Superbowl, and another thing completely to have a guy who's already done so and, according to Steve Biscotti himself, is just entering his prime.  Besides, everyone knows that the deal will be renegotiated so the cap hits will stay within reason.

Joe earned this contract.  I'm sure someone told him that if he wants the big money then he needs to go out and earn it.  He did!

[CapoRocky]

I don't think cutting him is an option at this point unless his arm falls off...

Who uses fax machines anymore?

[SecretAgentMan]

Who uses fax machines anymore?

Denver.... That's why Dumervil is here :P

[SteelersProphet]

This whole argument is a little like the chicken vs.the egg.

 

IF the Ravens had paid Flacco what he and his agent were asking then they would have had him locked up long term at a lower rate, but then Flacco may not have gone on that crazy run that lead us to the Super Bowl.

 

By the same idea, if Joe had gotten hurt or not played the way he did he would have been worth less thanthe original offered contract.

 

Both sides took a gamble, Joe won that gamble and got paid accordingly, and now his agent brings up that history to make himself look good.

 

Still I bet if you had asked Steve if he was willing to pay an extra $35 million to get anouther Super Bowl win he would have signed up right away without hesitation.

 

im ok with the ravens decision to Gamble if Flacco's asking price and what they were willing to pay were far apart.....or if it was someone other than your Franchise QB.......but if what the agent says is true and it was just over one million Then I don't understand why they didn't at the time choose to give him what he wanted if it locked up your franchise guy and made him feel like he was wanted.......it just seems like a small price to pay for so much in return

[RavenFan28105]

I have no idea if this is suppose to go under a new topic or not, but NFL.com posted an article about Linta clearing up the comments he made yesterday. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000207038/article/joe-flacco-rep-clarifies-baltimore-ravens-dumb-quote

[Fang]

He's a jerk, no question. He's rubbing it in our face. He's an "I told you so" kind of guy. That doesn't make him wrong. 

 

He's handling this poorly, though, and he comes off very petty. Hey, maybe Joe fires him for it. 

 

He also represents Cary Williams and Lardarius Webb & Gino Gradkowski, too. We're going to have to deal with him for a while, it would seem. 

 

He's not right either. He's doing nothing here but Monday morning quarterbacking. Aren't we all "right" after the fact? You can't tell me Linta wasn't crapping his pants after the Denver game in Baltimore and Joe's pick 6.

 

At the end of the day Linta isn't right about anything here, but he is showing us how classless he is. Regardless of how this turned out, you don't call your client's boss and your own customer "dumb". Linta's attempt to put his comments into context on 105.7 this morning was just pathetic.

 

The Ravens are the 2012 Champions. There's nothing dumb about that.

[ravensdan]

im ok with the ravens decision to Gamble if Flacco's asking price and what they were willing to pay were far apart.....or if it was someone other than your Franchise QB.......but if what the agent says is true and it was just over one million Then I don't understand why they didn't at the time choose to give him what he wanted if it locked up your franchise guy and made him feel like he was wanted.......it just seems like a small price to pay for so much in return

 

 

I would like to make 2 points on this.  One, the one million dollar difference is what was reported, we really don't know all of the ins and outs of that negotiation and we never will.  All of these reported differences for different peoples are contracts are reported that way in the media for a reason. 

 

Second point, Linta is probably playing with fire making that type of comment that his current and future clients might not take too kindly too, but then again his hard ball cocky aproach could attract others, remember his main priority is selling himself to future clients, he owes nothing to the teams.  Or us as fans, he owes his client, the player, that's it.  However making it difficult on his future players to negotiate with teams due to a comment like this could come back to backfire on him. 

[cwfRaven]

I won't argue the fact that it cost the Ravens more money to wait. I also don't disagree that waiting was a gamble for both sides. What I take issue with, is that Linta would be so cocky about it. Let him gloat to his family or snicker behind closed doors but to publicly state that the Ravens made a dumb move? Totally classless.

 

BTW - if (God forbid) Joe HAD gotten hurt or something, who would have the one that made a dumb move then?

 

Idiot.

[jimmypowder]

Hindsight is always 20-20 Mr. Linta. Swallow a little pride and be a little humble particularly considering

you really don't have that many clients.

[Alexir]

Backing off my initial comments. Heard Linta on radio, it was out of context. He was defending Flacco actually because the media asked him if he and Joe felt responsible for the Jettison of Boldin due to the cap.

He is ok in my book. Went on to praise the FO and how he has a great relationship with Pat Moriarty.

I feel like dumb was wrong choice of word usage but his message wasn't out of anger or hate. Just thought it was dumb they didn't take cap friendly offer

[GrimCoconut]

He's not right either. He's doing nothing here but Monday morning quarterbacking. Aren't we all "right" after the fact? You can't tell me Linta wasn't crapping his pants after the Denver game in Baltimore and Joe's pick 6.

At the end of the day Linta isn't right about anything here, but he is showing us how classless he is. Regardless of how this turned out, you don't call your client's boss and your own customer "dumb". Linta's attempt to put his comments into context on 105.7 this morning was just pathetic.

The Ravens are the 2012 Champions. There's nothing dumb about that.

He was right. It doesn't matter if it's out of hindsight or not. It's clearly a fact we should have done it last year. We didn't. Nothing we can do now. I do remember many people, fans and media alike, stating we should have done a deal last year. I remember being inundated with the subject that we need to get it done and not play hardball.

In this one instance, we "lost". It's not a big deal. Our franchise won't suffer for it. Regardless, it was a move we should have made. It's a fact.

edited to fix phone errors. Ugh.

[ghost1986]

Can we just let this go? Agents are greedy and we're still Super Bowl Champions. this is what I don't like about the off-season. Just want the season to start so I can see how our new guys tear it up.

[ravensfan160]

If a new contract for Flacco would have prevented us salary cap wise from bringing in Jacoby Jones then Linta's argument is invalid. Granted they could have made it cap friendly in the first year or two like the one he just signed but you never know. Even a few million dollar increase in cap number for Flacco last year still would have been a bargain at around $10 million and we would have been priced out of the Jacoby Jones sweepstakes.