The Denver Broncos are going to be looking into quarterbacks this season, but Joe Flacco is not someone John Elway should have high on his list.
The Denver Broncos are going to be in the market for quarterbacks this offseason, but the quarterbacks they look for must be younger and/or an upgrade over Case Keenum.
Joe Flacco, a rumored player of interest for Denver, represents neither of those things.
We took a detailed look at some of the numbers over the past four seasons for the Broncos at the quarterback position. Spoiler alert — they are horrendous.
Because the Broncos are so desperately starved for strong quarterback play, the thought of adding a former Super Bowl MVP in Flacco seems appealing (to some) on paper, but in reality, this is simply not a wise move for the Broncos at all.
Flacco’s base salary for 2019 is $18.5 million which is what a trading team would be acquiring. If the Ravens release him, the price point could obviously be negotiated as he still has $16 million in guarantees on his contract.
The Broncos have committed a $21 million cap number to Case Keenum this season. If they release Keenum, he will still count $10 million against the 2019 cap. If they are able to trade him (or convince some team to trade for him) he would only count $3 million against this year’s cap.
Because of the fact that Keenum would count $18 million against someone’s cap in 2019 if they were to trade for him, that scenario seems all but impossible.
If the Broncos were to release Keenum and trade for Flacco, the two would count $28.5 million against their 2019 cap.
I can’t think of a worse allocation of assets.
Even if the Broncos were to release Keenum and get Flacco to come in as a free agent, there’s no way he would take less than $10 million on an average annual salary, which means the Broncos would still be paying (a lowball estimate) $20 million for Flacco and Keenum, who in this hypothetical situation would not even be on the roster.
Even if you ignore the financial aspect of this possible catastrophe, Flacco has not been good since 2014. He excelled with Gary Kubiak as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator, but the Ravens kept him on the bench when he got healthy this past season and Lamar Jackson had provided the offense with a much-needed spark.
If Flacco was still good, the Ravens would have played him with the postseason and a chance at the Super Bowl on the line.
Since the Broncos’ quarterback woes started in 2015, Flacco has been almost just as bad as the Ravens’ starter.
He’s completed 63.9 percent of his passes over that timeframe (51 games) but is averaging 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions per 16 games. Those numbers are right there with what Denver has put out over the past four seasons.
Flacco is simply not an upgrade for the Broncos, and at the age of 34, he’s not providing the team with youth at the position either.
The Broncos signed Case Keenum to be their bridge guy. Regardless of Flacco’s previous accomplishments in the NFL, the NFL is all about what guys have done for you lately and Flacco has not played well at all.
If the Broncos are looking to add a veteran, they have another Super Bowl MVP option in Nick Foles who would actually seem to present an upgrade over Case Keenum, but there’s still risk factor there.
The point here is that Flacco should not be an option for the Broncos this offseason, and if the team does end up bringing him in it will drag down a pretty exciting start to the offseason with the new coaching staff.