To this point, Justin Tucker has said only positive things about his negotiations with the Ravens on a long-term deal, telling The Baltimore Sun just over a month ago that it was more a matter of "when" than if.
However, as both sides approach Friday's 4 p.m. deadline to sign franchise-tagged players to long-term deals, Tucker has apparently run out of patience.
His agent, Rob Roche, told ESPN Thursday evening that his client is so "disillusioned" with the negotiations that he won't entertain a long-term deal with the team if an agreement isn't reached by Friday.
Roche hasn't returned calls or text messages from The Baltimore Sun in recent days. However, his comments represent an interesting twist to the negotiations, which, at least publicly, have been cordial to this point.
The Ravens don't comment on negotiations with players, and it will be interesting to see how the franchise reacts to Roche's ultimatum.
According to ESPN, the Ravens actually lowered their offer to Tucker during Thursday's talks, proposing a deal lower than the four-year, $16.1 million pact that Mason Crosby signed with the Green Bay Packers in March. It was expected that a new deal for Tucker would either challenge or surpass the four-year, $17.2 million contract ($10.1 million guaranteed) that Stephen Gostkowski received from the New England Patriots last July.
If the Ravens don't sign Tucker by Friday's deadline, he'll be locked into playing the season under the $4.572 million franchise tag. He then would be eligible to hit unrestricted free agency next year, although the Ravens could keep him off the market by franchising him for a second straight offseason.
That a new deal for Tucker hasn't been reached by now despite periodic negotiations for months isn't totally surprising. The Ravens placed the tag on Tucker on one of the first days they could, indicating that the two sides were far apart in talks. The Ravens also have a history of agreeing to deals with their franchise players right up to the 4 p.m. deadline.
When the Ravens signed defensive lineman Haloti Ngata to a long-term contract extension in 2011, they beat the deadline by a couple of hours. When they agreed to a deal with Ray Rice a year later, it was finalized just minutes before the running back would have been locked into playing the 2012 season under the franchise tag.
Heading into "deadline" day in both situations, there was some doubt by both sides that a long-term agreement would be reached. The Ravens are seemingly headed for another beat-the-clock scenario Friday if they are going to secure a contract extension with Tucker.
Before today, there was optimism that a deal could be reached. But that came mostly from the Ravens' history with signing long term their past four franchise-tagged players, and the fact that the kicker market was set last season with the Stephen Gostkowski deal.
There's been no public declaration from Roche or Tucker that their sights are set on getting the most lucrative deal for a kicker in NFL history. However, it certainly wouldn't been an unreasonable ask given that Tucker is still is only 26 years old – Gostkowski was 31 when he signed his deal – and he currently ranks second all-time with an 87.8 percent conversion rate.
Tucker also has kicked 10 game-winning field goals in four years, he's never missed an extra-point try, and he has been among the league leaders in touchbacks. The only blemishes on Tucker's resume are that he missed a career-high seven field-goal attempts last season and he's 8-for-19 from 50 yards and beyond over the past two years.
One of the team's most confident players, Tucker would hardly be spooked by playing the season under the franchise tag and trying to prove that his price tag is only getting higher going forward.
But Tucker has said all along that his goal is a long-term agreement with the Ravens. He's extremely popular in the community and he loves the guys he works with every day, a group that includes punter Sam Koch, long snapper Morgan Cox, special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Jerry Rosburg and kicking consultant Randy Brown. Koch and Cox both got multi-year extensions in recent months.
The Ravens already have more than $12 million in salary cap space available, so the team doesn't feel it has to come to an agreement with Tucker. His cap number under the tag already fits comfortably under the team's cap.
However, the Ravens would like to reward Tucker and solidify the other member of their highly-productive kicking battery's future in Baltimore. Can the two sides find compromise?
If the Ravens' history is any indication, we probably won't know until tomorrow afternoon.