Flacco’s Play into PayDay

A while back ago I wrote a post titled, Kudos, Joe Linta. It pointed out how beneficial it is to get your client signed and into training camp on time, especially for a quarterback fighting for a starting spot. As the Baltimore Ravens try to earn their first postseason berth since 2006, rookie quarterback Joe Flacco has already received a hefty Christmas bonus.

Flacco recently earned an additional $3 million in bonuses based on his first-year performance. Flacco eclipsed a huge playing-time escalator in his contract of participating in 80 percent of Baltimore’s snaps as a rookie. $750,000 will be added to his base salary for the remaining four years of his contract. Additionally, he will receive another $200,000 for every playoff game he wins. Hence, as of Sunday, he is $200,000 richer.

Flacco signed an incentive-laden, five-year deal worth up to $30 million in July, but this was one clause few anticipated him earning. Preseason ailments to Kyle Boller and Troy Smith gave Flacco the starting quarterback job by attrition at the beginning of the year. Flacco has started all 15 games and thrown for 2,674 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

It goes to show that sometimes the best course of action is to get your guy in camp and give him the opportunity to earn his money. If Flacco did not make it into camp on time, who knows how things would have turned out. I believe this showed a lot of confidence in both Linta and Flacco that he could win the job and in turn, earn the bonuses that were put into the contract.