The Facts: It’s hard to think of a better way to set yourself up for a contract negotiation than the way Joe Flacco’s set himself up in the playoffs. He finished an 11 touchdown, no interception run by being named the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday night in New Orleans to further guarantee that he’s going to be paid and paid well this offseason. The subject came up when Flacco visited with the NFL Network crew after the end of the game with Flacco saying that he never thought about his contract when the season was going on, but that the season’s over now so he can think about it.

Diehards Line:And as PFT's Josh Alper suggested, Flacco's got a pretty good handle on the situation. Deion Sanders asked Flacco if he’s going to ask for $100 million from the Ravens and Flacco laughed as he recounted a conversation he’d just had with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti. “I just said that. Steve Bisciotti told me that if this happens I can go pound on his desk and really stick it to him. And I said that’s exactly what I’m gonna do,” Flacco said. ... The Ravens took a calculated risk when they failed to extend Flacco this offseason. They put the onus on the QB to deliver and he did. And now the onus is on them. PFT's Mike Florio reported before the game the Ravens seemed to be heading toward using the franchise tag on Flacco all along -- even though his performance arguably didn’t merit a one-year deal worth $14.6 million. Now, it’s a no-brainer that the Ravens will apply the franchise tag to Flacco, if the two sides can’t work out a long-term deal soon. In fact, the team may opt to use the exclusive version of the franchise tag, which would prevent him from talking to other teams and which would pay Flacco the average of the five highest quarterback cap numbers for the 2013 league year. A source with access to that information tells Florio that would cost the team about $20.464 million this season. ... Whatever the case, Flacco made some serious money last night.