Ravens Training Camp: All Rookies Signed
3:39 p.m: All Rookies Signed
It's finally official: Joe Flacco is a Baltimore Raven.
After agreeing to a five-year contract Wednesday night, Flacco finally signed the deal just over an hour ago, and apparently he's something of a trend setter.
General Manager Ozzie Newsome announced that all rookies have agreed to contracts, and those who haven't already signed will be doing so between now and John Harbaugh's team meeting tonight.
Details of most of these contracts have yet to be released.
Newsome praised Flacco and his agent Joe Linta for being proactive in getting the deal done, and referenced the importance of having rookies, especially quarterbacks, in camp on time.
"He wanted to be here," Newsome said. "We've seen what holdouts can do to quarterbacks."
"I've looked at myself as being signed since the day I got here...but now that I am, I'm ready to get out there," Flacco said.
Now that he's here, Flacco, who has been called "the quarterback of the future" by Ravens management, has some pretty high expectations to live up to. The mild-mannered rookie doesn't view that as a negative, however.
"It doesn't bother you when people expect you to do something," he said. "I expect to go out and just play football the way I've always done."
Flacco will spend training camp competing for the top QB spot along with second-year signal caller Troy Smith and veteran Kyle Boller. Newsome and head coach John Harbaugh declined to name a current favorite, and Harbaugh dodged a question asking who would get the first snap under center tomorrow.
To Flacco, the matter is simple. "If I play the way I want to play, things are going to go well."
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