What is the price of desperation heaved into the frigid air of a Denver evening? What's the worth of a mistimed leap?

On Friday, the Baltimore Ravens bestowed upon their quarterback, Joe Flacco, what appears to be the most lucrative contract in NFL history, handing him a reported $120 million over six years. It is most likely a contrived title, the padding of extra non-guaranteed money to make the overall deal look bigger than it is.

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But regardless of the contract's standing in history, $120 million is an absurdly large sum for a quarterback who has never been to the Pro Bowl or even seen as among the very best at his position.

Yet as good as Flacco was in Super Bowl XLVII, winning the MVP with 287 passing yards and three touchdowns, the money was probably already his. The fact he brought the Ravens to New Orleans at the same time his previous contract was about to expire forced Baltimore's management to give Flacco his $120 million. Even if the 49ers had come back to win the game and there was no parade through the city's streets, Flacco was likely going to get the same deal. By simply getting the Ravens there he had proved his point.

No, the real difference in money – the separation between a great payday and a phenomenal one – came because of luck. It came weeks before in the AFC divisional round against the Broncos with less than a minute remaining and the Ravens all but done. That's when receiver Jacoby Jones got behind Denver's secondary and Flacco heaved that futile 70-yard pass to tie the score and save the season.

[Related: Teammates react to Joe Flacco's contract | Gallery of QB]

If Broncos safety Rahim Moore, who had been beaten on the play but was still in position to defend the pass, had properly timed his leap at the ball, he'd have at least knocked down Flacco's pass. Maybe he would have intercepted it with a better approach. Either way, the Ravens would have been walking slump-shouldered off the field and the talk in February would be about the inconsistency Flacco showed during the year and the uncertainty of how much the team should pay to keep him around.

Perhaps he would have gotten something closer to the $16 million a season the Giants are paying Eli Manning or the $17 million a season Matt Schaub makes in Houston. Maybe he'd have signed for three or four years, but not six years and $120 million.

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