The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player is not under contract for next season. Newsome said the sides were “very close” to a deal before the season began, but it was a mutual agreement to stop negotiations until the end of the season.

“I’m coming away today thinking that we can get a deal done,” Newsome said at the “State of the Ravens” season-ending news conference. “We’ve got deals done with Haloti [Ngata], JO [Jonathan Ogden], Ray [Lewis], Ray Rice, Ed Reed, [Terrell] Suggs. I’ve got a very good owner who understands the business and understands the importance of certain positions. So, I’m optimistic.”

If the Ravens can’t get a deal completed before the start of free agency, the team will put the franchise tag on Flacco. The exclusive tag, which would take Flacco off the free-agent market, would take $20 million of cap space this season.

“We’re looking to get a fair deal done with Joe,” Newsome said. “If we’re able to get a deal done, it will allow us to be able to participate more in the market if we so choose. But we understand what the priority is.”
Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta, was asked in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday whether Flacco should be the highest-paid at his position, to which he simply responded, “Yes.”

Flacco, 28, is younger than Peyton Manning (who’s earning $18 million per year) and Drew Brees ($20 million), and now has as many Super Bowl titles as each of them. Linta said those are the numbers that matter.

“When you do a contract of this magnitude, you look at what is the player’s body of work presently,” Linta told CNBC. “And what are the expectations going forward over the next four, five or six years.

“Joe wins on both accounts.”

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Harbaugh’s message to the team was simple: This is the way we got to the Super Bowl, and this is the way we win the Super Bowl.

The San Francisco 49ers’ final meeting Saturday night, meanwhile, featured speeches from coach Jim Harbaugh and wide receiver Randy Moss, who knows the emotional pain of losing the Super Bowl, as he did with the Patriots in failing to complete a perfect season in 2007.

Jim Harbaugh also introduced the 49ers to Col. Jim Minnick, a friend he’s had since the eighth grade. Minnick encouraged the players to leave it all on the field for their teammates, play together and be prepared to overcome adversity because nothing ever goes as planned, offering examples from his military career.

Visitors for the Ravens included New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and newly-inducted Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden, who played for the Ravens from 1996 to 2007.

Christie met with quarterback Joe Flacco in the team hotel. Both are New Jersey natives and graduates of the University of Delaware. Ogden’s visit generated a lot of excitement in the lobby from fans and players alike.

One 49ers player told ESPN that everybody is well prepared and ready for the game.

“There is nothing but pure excitement,” the player said.

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