Rob Long: No Decision To Make
Lately, with the National Football League's season being over, it seems that all the talk in the Charm City has turned to the contracts of players like Ray Rice and Joe Flacco. Recently, one of the recurring questions is if you had to choice, would you take Rice or Flacco?
This question is misguided. The Ravens will not have to make that decision. Rice's contract is up now and Flacco has another year. Why would they have to choose between the two? The choice is whether you'd take Rice over Ben Grubbs. Both of those guys are free agents now, not Flacco.
It seems that the fanbase is of the opinion that the Baltimore Ravens cannot go into the 2012 season without Joe Flacco under a new contract. This has happened to franchise quarterbacks. Most recently, the New Orleans Saints allowed Drew Brees to go into the his final year unsigned. Why can't you allow Flacco to do the same?
You cannot allow your organization to become cash strapped in order to avoid your quarterback going into his final year when he can wait a year or sign him after the other players who need to be signed get taken care of.
There's no decision to be made here. The frachise has to take care of their most valuable commodity in Ray Rice now. They can wait to take care of Joe Flacco and if he wants to win, he'll understand.
Rob Long
