Flacco, the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII, is set to become an unrestricted free agent. His new deal is expected to rival those of Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, whose contracts are among the most lucrative in NFL history for quarterbacks.

Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta, said in an interview with CNBC that Flacco should be the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback.

“I think everybody is going to see what Joe [Flacco] ends up signing for,” Rodgers said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on 540 ESPN. “I’m sure they want to lock him up. He’s a great player — had an incredible run in the playoffs — and I’m sure they want to keep him around. A guy like that, with the postseason success he’s had, you want to keep a guy like that around for a while.”

Also a former Super Bowl MVP, Rodgers is under contract through 2014, having signed a six-year, $65 million contract in October 2008. Rodgers’ base salary next season is $9.25 million, while his 2014 deal is worth $10.5 million. Manning ($18 million base salary) and Brees ($20 million base) also are former Super Bowl MVPs.

Rodgers, who didn’t discuss whether he would give the Packers a hometown discount, understands that the market will dictate his next contract.

“It kind of is what it is, as far as that goes. The team, when they’re ready to talk contract, we’ll get there when we get there,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers also is confident that things will work out with the Packers, saying, “When that time comes, we’ll get a deal done. I’m not worried about that. I think the Packers want to keep me around for a little while longer, and I’d love to be a Packer for life.”

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Following the San Francisco 49ers’ 34-31 loss to the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII, Gore claimed that Baltimore “got away with one.”

“It’s tough,” the Niners star running back said. “I just feel like we [were] the better team. They got away with one today. We showed we were the better team. It was just a couple plays here, a couple plays there.”

Gore, who rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown, was instrumental in San Francisco’s second-half rally. The Niners nearly overcame a 22-point deficit, which would have been the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

But the Ravens ultimately held on thanks to a defensive stand deep within their own territory.

“I think we’re the better team,” Gore said. “[I’m] just happy the way we kept fighting. Any other team probably would’ve just laid down, and we let people know what type of guys we’ve got in the locker room, type of warriors we are. It just didn’t happen for us today.”

The Niners gained 468 yards of total offense, including 182 rushing yards on 29 carries — an average of 6.3 yards per attempt. Gore, who averaged 5.8 yards per carry, did not complain about getting just 19 touches in the contest.

“We could’ve ran on them all day,” he said. “We called plays that we thought [were] good, and things didn’t happen.”

Gore also did not second-guess the 49ers’ play calling on their final offensive series.

The four-time Pro Bowler did not receive one carry on the decisive goal-to-go series as the Niners handed off to rookie backup LaMichael James on first down before passing the ball on the final three plays, including Colin Kaepernick’s incompletion to Michael Crabtree on fourth down.

“That’s why we’ve got coaches,” Gore said. “Every player wanted the ball at that time, but coach [Jim Harbaugh] made a decision, and we tried our best to make it happen.

“You can’t say [anything] about it. Our coach did a great job of calling plays all game. Those were the plays he called and it just didn’t happen.”

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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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