When the Ravens signed defensive lineman Haloti Ngata to a long-term contract extension in 2011, they beat the deadline to sign franchised players by a couple of hours. When they agreed to a deal with Ray Rice a year later, it was finalized just minutes before the running back would have been locked into playing the 2012 season under the franchise tag.
Heading into "deadline" day in both situations, there was some doubt by both sides that a long-term agreement would be reached.
The Ravens are seemingly headed for another beat-the-clock scenario if they are going to secure a contract extension with one of their more productive and popular players. They have until 4 p.m. EDT Friday to reach a deal with kicker Justin Tucker, who as of now, is in line to play the 2016 season under the $4.572 million franchise tag.
While there have been regular reported updates on the negotiations involving other franchised players, such the Denver Broncos' Von Miller, the Washington Redskins' Kirk Cousins and the Kansas City Chiefs' Eric Berry, both the Ravens and Tucker have been silent about their talks, which have been going on periodically for months.
Tucker's agent, Robert Roche, hasn't returned requests for comment in recent days and the Ravens have continued their tradition of not discussing negotiations with players.
Optimism that a deal can be reached before the deadline comes from the fact that they signed their past four franchise-tagged players to long term contracts, and that the kicker market was set at this time last season when the New England Patriots signed their "franchised" kicker, Stephen Gostkowski, to a four-year, $17.2 million deal that included $10.1 million in guaranteed money.
There's been no public declaration from Roche or Tucker that their sights are set on getting the most lucrative deal for a kicker in NFL history. However, it would be a reasonable ask, given that Tucker is still is only 26 years old _ Gostkowski was 31 when he signed his deal _ and he currently ranks second all-time with a 87.8-percent conversion rate.
Tucker also has kicked 10 game-winning field goals in four years, he's never missed an extra-point try, and he has been among the league leaders in touchbacks. The only blemishes on Tucker's resume are that he missed a career-high seven field-goal attempts last season and he's 8-for-19 from 50 yards and beyond over the past two years.
One of the team's most confident players, Tucker would hardly be spooked by playing the season under the franchise tag and trying to prove that his price tag is only getting higher going forward. He would be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season unless the Ravens franchised him for a second straight year.
But Tucker has said all along that his goal is a long-term agreement with the Ravens. He's extremely popular in the community and he loves the guys he works with every day, a group that includes punter Sam Koch, long snapper Morgan Cox, special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Jerry Rosburg and kicking consultant Randy Brown. Koch and Cox both got multi-year extensions in recent months.
The Ravens already have more than $12 million in salary cap space available, so the team doesn't feel it has to come to an agreement with Tucker. His cap number under the tag already fits comfortably under the team's cap.
However, the Ravens would like to reward Tucker and solidify the other member of their highly-productive kicking battery's future in Baltimore. Can the two sides find compromise?
If the Ravens' history is any indication, we probably won't know until Friday afternoon.
