Joe Flacco recently became a very rich man, and much of the credit for his newfound wealth can be attributed to his agent, Joe Linta.
Linta spent a few months haggling out the details of Flacco’s new deal with the Baltimore Ravens earlier this offseason, but ran into some turmoil along the way. Now, looking back on how the deal went down, Linta isn’t holding back his thoughts about the defending Super Bowl champions, even referring to them as “dumb” during an interview on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore on Tuesday.
“And after a while you get sick of it because Joe is a consummate pro, he’s a phenomenal player, a great father, a great husband, and a great son,” Linta said. “And to be honest with you in sort of a parental mode I’d kind of gotten sick of the intimations that he was greedy and that type of thing. And I said, ‘Look, I have no sympathy for the Ravens. They chose this. They walked away from the deal in August.’”
The Ravens chose not to sign Flacco to a long-term extension last offseason, instead choosing to see how the quarterback would play during his contract year in 2012. That strategy backfired, and Flacco ended up leading Baltimore to a Super Bowl title and earning $120 million in the process — about $30 or $40 million more than Linta sought for his client in 2012.
“Look, they’re brilliant guys. They won a Super Bowl. But I thought it was dumb,” Linta said. “Look, if that’s the worst thing that they get called in their existence, then they got a pretty good situation. They know how I feel. Everything I was quoted [on], I told them that in August. This is not news to them. It’s how I feel. I’m allowed to have my opinion.”
As for any potential repercussions from his comment? Linta isn’t worried. The back and forth is just a natural part of the negotiating process.
“You don’t think they called me a lot worse that that over the last couple years?” Linta said. “It’s part of the business. You argue. You fight. You have disagreements. It’s nothing personal. [Ravens contract negotiator] Pat Moriarty is welcome in my house every day of the week. I love the guy. I absolutely adore that guy. He’s a pro, he’s a great guy. I think the world of him. But we’re allowed to disagree, correct?”
This won’t be the end of the disagreements, either. Linta represents four other Ravens players and will surely be squaring off at the negotiating table with Moriarty and general manager Ozzie Newsome again soon.
Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.
