It's not hard to figure out what Brad Bigg at the Chicago Tribune is getting at here:
“Is Joe Flacco’s performance this season a cautionary tale about signing quarterbacks to mega contracts or is he just going through a difficult year without a secondary wide receiver as Anquan Boldin was traded and tight end Dennis Pitta suffered a broken hip?”
The Ravens cause a lot of trouble in the league as they overpay players like Flacco, Ray Lewis and Ray Rice while everyone else tries to hold the line on salaries. They raise the expectations of players like Brian Urlacher and Matt Forte who are bitter when they find out that most everyone else isn't willing to shell out the same kind of money. Now the Ravens will affect the negotiations for Jay Cutler, who will undoubtedly be looking at the Flacco contract if and when he begins negotiations with the Bears in the offseason. Unfortunately for Cutler, the Bears will be looking closely at that contract as well.