Joe Flacco is entering free agency after this season concludes, and it appears his agent is trying to get his client as much money as possible, even if it includes a bit of hyperbole.
Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta, called the Raven a top-five, elite quarterback. Linta praised Flacco on his seven playoff wins in five seasons with the Ravens.
“I’ve been the one putting him on a pedestal saying Joe’s a top-five, elite quarterback, and he’s proving it,” Linta told The Baltimore Sun. “He’s in the rarified air of having already won seven playoff games in his short career. He’s really demonstrating that he’s one of the top guys out there.”
Obviously Linta is just doing his job as Flacco’s representative in negotiations with Baltimore, but it does seem a bit over the top to be calling Flacco a top-five quarterback. With players like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Matt Ryan in the league, it would be tough to place Flacco over any of them. Brady, both Mannings, Brees, Rodgers and Roethlisberger all have at least one Super Bowl ring, and Ryan’s statistics have been much more impressive and his play has been more consistent since both players were drafted in 2008.
Flacco threw for a 57.6 and 59.7 percent completion percentage in his last two seasons with 6.7 and 7.2 yards per attempt. Ryan threw for a 61.3 and 68.6 percent completion percentage during that same period while throwing for 7.4 and 7.7 yards per attempt.
This isn’t the first time that Flacco has been mentioned as an elite quarterback, and it makes sense that it’s coming from Flacco’s agent. The Ravens will have to pick between giving him a large contract this offseason, slapping the franchise tag on him or letting him walk. With two more playoff wins under his belt, it would be tough to pick the latter.
