The OP mentioned how these elite quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning bring their teams to the superbowls and win it for them.

Well Flacco was the Ravens quarterback and they beat both those quarterbacks teams. You can argue all you want about the reason for why the team won or lost, but irregardless Flaco was the quarterback and the ravens beat both teams and won the superbowl.

Flacco may or may not have won either game for his team, but he did not "lose" either game for his team.

I named 8 to 10 qbs I would rather have than Flacco.  How many would you rather have?

As probably the only (long-time) actual Baltimore Ravens fan on this board, I can say that the answer to the OP's question is: Yes and no.

Joe Flacco is not the "best QB in the league" (that would be Drew Brees, hands down). And no, he's never been voted to a Pro Bowl, though to be fair, he has also largely played in a run-first offense (you know, Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, Ricky Williams, those guys). But while he's been very up and down (something that AS a Ravens fan over the years has brought me a LOT of frustration, trust me), he also delivered when he needed to this post-season. The fact that he outplayed (yes, outplayed) the likes of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady on his way to a Super Bowl, coupled with the fact that he matched Joe Montana's record of 11 TDs 0 INTs in a post-season. That's pretty damn impressive. And it isn't as if he was playing against shitty defenses, Denver and SF especially were two of the top ranked. And he still did a pretty good job of tearing them up. That Super Bowl was a complete blowout in all three phases of the game until the convenient "lights out" nonsense occured.

So again back to the question, NO, he's "not worth" 120 million, because quite frankly who is? What sports player honestly NEEDS to make that much money? But on the other hand, considering that's what the market IS for top QBs, and Flacco IS the only QB in NFL history to make the playoffs and win at least one game each postseason his first 5 years, AND considering he had such a great postseason THIS year, and the fact that he has just as many Super Bowl rings as Drew Brees and Aaron Rogers, (and Peyton Manning), that yes, in that light, he is "worth the money".

When the Ravens drafted him, my first thought was "WHO"? And I have not been his biggest fan at times over the years, as I said he's been erratic, great at times terrible at others. But now we have to find out just how much of that had to do with our former OC Cam Cameron, and how much of that had to do with Joe himself. Cameron was shit, that much is certain. His playcalling was atrocious, and quite frankly when the offense succeeded it was in spite of him, not because of him. So now Caldwell is calling the plays, and honestly he obviously called some pretty good games, starting with the drubbing we laid on the NY Giants late in the season. That SB run and win was improbable considering all the injuries the team had, and the three game losing streak late in the year, but they got healthy enough and pulled together, Flacco included, at the right time. It's worth pointing out that if we had gone with the O-lineup we played in the playoffs (and with the exception of the RG all of 2011 as well), we would have done better all along in 2012.

My biggest issue is does this deal work for the Ravens as far as cap space goes? That's what's most important. Even though I think he doesn't need to play anymore now that he's got his ring, if Ed Reed still wants to play, than he needs to be a Raven, period. Reed should play his entire career as a Raven just the same as Ray Lewis did. It would also be really nice to re-sign Paul Kruger, as he came on very strong this year, and it would also be nice to restructure Anquan Boldin's deal so we can afford to keep him around. Things like that, to keep the team as a whole competitive. The Ravens in general have a lot of talent, even with Lewis now retired. We need to make sure our young center steps in adequately for Birk, and we need to address the Left Tackle position (and by address it I mean someone OTHER than Michael Oher, who is a RT, NOT a LT). But really, the Ravens have the nucleus to stay competitive and get back to another SB in the next few years.

So in closing.....yes and no. No player is worth $120 million in my mind, and Flacco is no Brees. BUT, given that, Flacco is still good, and deserved to get paid, and if that's what the market says top QBs are worth, then there you go. He just needs to be more consistent in the regular season now, and hope that with a better offensive system, he can continue to play at a high level.

Good to hear from a Raven fan.  I agree that no athlete should be paid $120 million but its the relative pay that I'm focusing on.  The ammount of cap space this uses will hurt the Ravens long term.  I do believe he should be compensated for his playoff performance but think its crazy not to look at his career stats and understand that he's not (likely) going to continue to produce like he did.

Brady, Rodgers, Peyton, Eli, Ben and Drew - these guys can single handedly carry their team. When the Ravens are in a rut, Flacco just heaves the ball. You never see him throw a sharp ball into triple coverage. You never see him throw many slants, passes to slot receivers, barely catchable side-line drives. Ask Flacco to make the pass to Holmes in the Steelers vs Cardinals Super Bowl. He wouldn't be able to.

What he can do? Barely make passes. He has one of the worst completion percentages in the league, not an "average" one. He consistently fumbles when under pressure. He consistently makes bad throws under pressure. In the playoffs alone this season, he threw the ball badly 7 or 8 times right at the opposing player, but for some reason CBs and safeties can no longer catch. If Torey Smith and Boldin weren't there to bail out Flacco's heave-and-pray attempts, the Ravens would have been done in Denver.

Give credit to the guys working around him. There are QBs who have to carry most of their offense, and they do it well. The Ravens's offense has to carry Flacco, and you can tell any time Smith and Boldin are adequetely covered. Those are the games Flacco has some of the worst ratings in history in.

I wondered if I was the only one.  During the playoffs the announcers constantly praised Flaccos long ball as being the best in the league, but all I saw him do was heave the balls deep.  He just doesn't have the power some of the others have.

The announcers during the Superbowl were laughably bad, they kept saying that Kaepernick had an elite arm.  Seriously, I was like get off this guys d**k.

Exactly.

A good example: 

In the SB, a few 49ers were rushing Flacco out of bounds late in the game. Flacco just heaved the ball up, and Boldin (I think) ran all the way across the field to catch it. All the announcers could say was what a great pass it was, meanwhile he didn't even throw it to anyone. He just threw it up and his receiver bailed him out. That's not a good QB. That's an outstanding receiver.

But does he not feel selfish demanding twice the money (on average) as the next best paid player?

And surely, with an average quaterback, but a good line, good receivers and a good running game you can succeed?

Best. Contract Year Performance. Ever.

No. Question. About. It.