AFC North: Projecting Joe Flacco’s Contract, & Could he be Traded?

The problem with giving Flacco a $20 million+ contract now will prevent the Ravens from resigning any of the primary free agents this offseason, and perhaps next year as well. Could the Ravens end up being forced to trade Flacco away? King went even further in his article as he suggested the Cleveland Browns of all teams should make a run at Flacco:

Cleveland was $48 million under the cap as of Friday. Signing Flacco would rob the Browns of the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft, plus their first-rounder next year. Because the Browns used their second-round pick on receiver Josh Gordon in the Supplemental Draft last year, they wouldn’t choose until 68th overall in April.

But think of the shot of adrenalin for the Browns, if they could rip away Flacco from a team they despise. What sweet irony for Cleveland, to steal the Super Bowl-winning quarterback from the team that stole their franchise. With new owner Jimmy Haslam and uber-aggressive president Joe Banner dying to make a splash to show their fans this won’t be the same old Browns, imagine Cleveland signing Flacco for five years and $110 million, making him the highest-paid player in history. And say Cleveland makes the 2013 salary $35 million. That way it’d be almost impossible for Baltimore to match; if the Ravens balked at $20 million per, you think they’d accede to $35 million in Year 1?