Flacco agrees with Ravens on contract
A source told The Associated Press on Friday that Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco has agreed on a new contract with the Baltimore Ravens.
Flacco played out his rookie contract last season for $6.76 million and led Baltimore to the NFL championship. Terms of his new deal were not available.
The 28-year-old Flacco is the only quarterback to win a postseason game in each of his first five pro seasons. He had a spectacular playoff run and Super Bowl this year, throwing for 11 touchdowns with no interceptions.
He also holds the record for playoff road wins with six.
DEVELOPMENTS
Falcons cut Abraham: Former Pro Bowl players John Abraham and Michael Turner were released by Atlanta, with cornerback Dunta Robinson.
Abraham has a history of nagging injuries and he’ll most likely be a situational pass rusher at age 35 next season. He had 10 sacks as a part-timer when the Falcons went 13-3 last year.
In five seasons with the Falcons, Turner rushed for 6,081 yards and 60 touchdowns.
Turner’s release saves the team $6.4 million under the salary cap. Abraham saves $5.75 million and Robinson saves $3.75 million. In all, the team got $15.9 million under the salary cap by releasing the three veterans. Also Friday:
The Carolina Panthers released starting defensive tackle Ron Edwards in a move that frees $2.5 million in salary cap space. Edwards started 11 games in 2012 and had 16 tackles and one sack before an elbow injury ended his season.
Despite restructuring the contracts of center Ryan Kalil, safety Haruki Nakamura, tight end Greg Olsen and tailback Jonathan Stewart, the Panthers are still about $6.5 million over the projected NFL salary cap.
The Arizona Cardinals released reserve linebacker Stewart Bradley and starting cornerback William Gay.
Franchise numbers set: Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd ($ 6.916 million), Indianapolis punter Pat McAfee ($2.977 million) and Cincinnati defensive end Michael Johnson ($11.175 million) were given the franchise tag Friday by their teams.
The Denver Broncos placed their franchise tag on All-Pro left tackle Ryan Clady, ensuring the three-time Pro Bowler a salary of $9.828 million in 2013. That’s almost triple the $ 3.5 million Clady made last season when he allowed just one sack in more than 1,100 snaps during quarterback Peyton Manning’s bounce-back season in Denver.
The Chicago Bears placed a franchise tag on Pro Bowl defensive tackle Henry Melton. The 26-year-old Melton was a fourth-round draft pick out of Texas in 2009.
Under the franchise tag in 2013, a player is paid according to a formula based on salaries for the past five years at the position and their percentage of the total salary cap.