It's hard to argue that anyone had a better Saturday than Joe Flacco. The Ravens quarterback led his team to another road playoff win, stunning the Broncos 38-35 in double overtime thanks largely to a 70-yard bomb to Jacoby Jones near the end of regulation.
But Flacco's day was particularly sweet given his contract status: He'll be a free agent at the end of the season. And you can bet that his agent, Joe Linta, will be reminding everyone that he believes Flacco is a "top-five" quarterback.
"If you don't think that’s an elite guy, then you’re crazy," Linta told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network after the Ravens' win. "He’s a top-five guy, if not better."
Siiiiigh. All due respect to Linta and Flacco, but the Ravens' quarterback is not any of those things. (I can still be crazy; those things aren't mutually exclusive.)
Flacco has previously said he believes he's the "best" quarterback in the NFL, but, again, that's not the case. It's more about Flacco refusing to believe he's like the eighth-best quarterback in the league, which is more about confidence than being realistic.
Flacco's job is to be the best quarterback that he can be. If he doesn't believe he's the best, he probably shouldn't be playing quarterback in the first place.
Linta's job is to parlay Flacco's play into as much money as he can possibly get for his client. (Linta also said the Ravens and Flacco haven't talked contract in months.) Even if Flacco isn't actually "top-five" or "elite" or whatever abstract qualification that we want to put on him, it might not matter much.
Flacco just keeps putting up big stats in the postseason -- road or home, he doesn't seem to care. And if he gets the Ravens past either the Texans or Patriots next week and into the Super Bowl, he's going to hit a monster payday.
For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS Feed watch Pro Football 360 daily at 3 p.m. ET and NFL newsletter. You can follow Will Brinson on Twitter here: @willbrinson.
