After placing a franchise tag on Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice back in March, there was a lot of doubt shed on whether or not the Baltimore Ravens were ready to pay the star back the money that he truly deserves for being arguably one of the best players.

Fortunately for Rice, the Ravens were finally able to get a deal done with the up-and-coming running back just before the deadline on Monday. Reportedly, Rice has agreed to sign a five-year deal worth about $40 million.

The first year of the deal will be one of the most lucrative with Rice set to make $17 million next season. This season will be followed up by a year making $8 million. Even though this deal is nowhere near the contract signed by Ravens tackle Haloti Nagata, $61 million over five years, the star back has to be happy with the fact that Baltimore was willing to pay up rather than have him earn almost $8 million next season or elect to sit out the entire year.

Last season, Rice had the best year of his career with a franchise-high 15 touchdowns to go along with a career-high 1,364 rushing yards. There’s no question that Rice proved his worth as the leader out of the backfield last season and cemented himself as arguably a top five running back in the NFL.

It remains to be seen if Rice is ultimately worth the $40 million the Ravens have invested in him, but chances are he’ll continue to provide solid play in the ground game for Baltimore moving forward.

Now that Rice is locked up, the Ravens can focus on the season ahead with aspirations to become Super Bowl champions for the first time in over decade.

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