Quarterback Joe Flacco signed a three-year contract extension worth $66.4 million with the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday. Of the so-called new money, $44 million is guaranteed, including a $40 million signing bonus.
“This gives us the best chance over the next five, six years to win another Super Bowl,” Flacco said Wednesday at a press conference announcing the deal.
Flacco was scheduled to enter the 2016 season with the NFL’s second-highest cap figure at $28.6 million — and a base salary of $18 million — as part of the contract he signed in March 2013 on the heels of the Ravens’ Super Bowl XLVII victory. The move reportedly will save the Ravens nearly $9 million against the 2016 salary cap.
—For the past few weeks, the Atlanta Falcons deferred on the question of whether or not wide receiver Roddy White would remain with the team. The answer was made clear when the Falcons announced the release of the franchise’s career receiving leader after 11 seasons.
White, a first-round draft pick in 2005, has 808 catches for 10,863 yards and 63 touchdowns during his career. He also has compiled the most 100-yard receiving games (39) and six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
Last season, White totaled 43 receptions for 506 yards and one touchdown. He was under contract for two more seasons.
—Cleveland Browns center Alex Mack has voided the three years remaining on his contract and is set to become an unrestricted free agent, according to multiple reports.
The 30-year-old Mack had $24 million remaining on the deal, including $8 million guaranteed. Mack’s return to the Browns is still possible, his agent, Tim Younger, told Cleveland.com. A source also told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that a return to Cleveland is still “very probable.”
Mack, a first-round pick by Cleveland in 2009, likely will become the highest paid center in the NFL again at $10 million a year or more. He had to make a decision on the opt-out by March 4 with unrestricted free agency beginning March 9. It is in his contract that he cannot be tagged, according to ESPN. Other teams can enter into negotiations with Mack on March 7 and complete a deal with him on March 9 when the new league season begins.
—The Green Bay Packers re-signed kicker Mason Crosby to a four-year contract, just a week before he would have become a free agent.
No terms were announced, but multiple media outlets reported that Crosby’s deal is worth $16.1 million, including a $5 million signing bonus.
Crosby, 31, is now the third-highest paid kicker in the league based on average per year ($4.025 million), according to ESPN.com. He trails only Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker (who received the franchise tag of $4.572 million) and New England Patriots’ Stephen Gostkowski ($4.186 million).
Crosby just completed his ninth season with Green Bay, connecting on 24 of 28 field goals (85.7 percent) and all 36 extra-point tries. He was one of five kickers in the league to convert all of his extra-point attempts, with his 36 being the second most among those players behind only Gostkowski (52).
—The San Francisco 49ers re-signed running back Shaun Draughn to a one-year contract.
Draughn, 28, was scheduled to become a free agent on March 9. He was signed last season by the 49ers after Carlos Hyde suffered a stress fracture in his left foot. He started six games for the team and registered career highs in rushes (76), rushing yards (263), receptions (25) and receiving yards (175), prior to being placed on the injured reserve list with a knee injury.
—The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms on a multi-year contract with cornerback Brice McCain, who was cut by the Miami Dolphins last month.
The two-year deal has a base value of $4.4 million and a maximum worth of $5 million, The Tennessean reported.
The 29-year-old McCain signed a free-agent contract with the Dolphins before the 2015 season. He played in 14 games (11 starts), recording a career-best 39 tackles, with one interception and 10 passes defensed.
—Forbes has named 19 NFL owners as billionaires in the magazine’s annual richest list released this week.
Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen tops the NFL list at $17.5 billion. Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is second on the NFL list at $12 billion, followed by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke ($7.7 billion). Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan ($5.9 billion) and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ($5 billion) round out the top five.
There are now 63 billionaires who own a franchise in a major sports league around the world, Forbes announced. Steve Ballmer is the world’s richest sports team owner with a net worth of $23.5 billion. The former CEO of Microsoft, who left the company in 2014, paid $2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 when the NBA forced the sale of the team after racist statements made by then-owner Donald Sterling.
—Former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, who stepped down in January after 12 seasons and two Super Bowl wins, still has “hard feelings” about his exit.
The 69-year-old Coughlin had one year left on his contract but he “resigned” after the team’s second straight 6-10 season and third straight losing season. Offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo was hired to replace him.
“Don’t think that there aren’t some hard feelings there. There are,” Coughlin said on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN Radio in New York on Tuesday. “That’s just natural. I just try to control them when the moment is right.”
—The New England Patriots released tight end Scott Chandler and wide receiver Brandon LaFell in moves that will result in salary cap savings of about $4 million.
Chandler signed last March with the Patriots as a free agent and played in 15 games, starting four, during the regular season. He had 23 receptions for 259 yards and four touchdowns, mainly as the team’s No. 3 tight end.
LaFell joined the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent in 2014. He started seven games and played in only 11 in 2015 because of a foot injury. He had 37 receptions for 515 yards during the regular season and three catches for 6 yards in the playoffs.