Joe Flacco and the contract extension the Ravens wish he'd signed

Good things come to those who wait, unless you are the Baltimore Ravens, in which case waiting to sign Joe Flacco to a contract extension cost you roughly $17 million in guaranteed money.

To recap: Flacco and the Ravens couldn't agree to a deal before the season last year, and then won he went and won Super Bowl. So yeah, that tends to improve one's leverage at the bargaining table. We knew all this, but it's still pretty incredible to see how close they came to a deal last year. From Robert Klemko at USA Today:

Only $1 million separated the sides, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the team has not discussed the specifics of last year's talks.

That's $1 million in total value over the course of a six-year offer that would have paid Flacco in the neighborhood of $35 million in guarantees. Instead, he played out his contract, won the Super Bowl and last week signed a six-year deal with $52 million guaranteed and up to $120.6 million in total.

DAMN.

A pretty expensive mistake right there.

On the bright side? Every time Ravens management or Ravens fans look at Flacco's expensive contract, they won't even remember they could've signed him for much cheaper. They'll just think, "God he's overpaid, but I guess that's what happens when you WIN THE SUPER BOWL." All told, that's not such a bad problem to have.