NFL Rumors: Baltimore Ravens And Ray Rice Not Making Progress On Deal?

Monday will be the deciding day for players that have been franchised, but are seeking new deals. Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has until Monday at 4:00 PM ET to sign a long-term deal with the Ravens. Otherwise, he will have to play under the franchise tag, valued at $7.7 million.

As of now, it looks more and more like that will, indeed, be the case. The Ravens and Rice have made little progress on an extension, sources told www.RantSports.com. While it is always difficult to please both sides, Rice has been extremely productive for the Ravens over the past couple of years.

There is, of course, still time to negotiate an extension, and the two parties can definitely get it done. If Rice signs an extension, it is likely to mirror the deals signed by Arian Foster and LeSean McCoy. Foster signed a five-year deal, worth around $44 million, while McCoy signed a five-year deal valued at around $46 million. Rice’s potential deal would likely be for five years and fall somewhere in between Foster’s and McCoy’s contracts, probably valued very close to $45 million.

So far, Rice has skipped organized team activities, but hasn’t indicated whether he plans to report to training camp on time or not. Technically, Rice is unsigned, so the team won’t be able to fine him for not attending team workouts. But missing regular season games would be a different story. Usually, unsigned, franchised players report about a week before the team’s first regular season game. It is unlikely that Rice will actually miss regular season games.

The two sides still have until Monday to get a deal done, and that is a very real possibility.

You can follow Max Luckan on Twitter @MaxLuckan