The Denver Broncos reportedly struck up a trade with the Baltimore Ravens for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco. Here are the details of the trade.
If this whole Joe Flacco thing doesn’t work out for the Denver Broncos, well…we told you so.
On the list of options available to the Broncos in the 2019 offseason, Flacco was just about at the very bottom in my estimation. But alas, the Broncos have made a trade which can’t be official until March 13th, when the new league year begins for the NFL.
Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder what the Broncos gave up for the next month. They had extra selections in the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft, and used a fourth-round pick (their own) to get Flacco from the Ravens.
This one is honestly going to take some getting used to. Flacco has been extremely average in his NFL career aside from one season in which he was the quarterback on the NFL’s team of destiny, the 2012 Baltimore Ravens.
The 2012 Ravens won the Super Bowl, and Flacco was named the MVP of that particular Super Bowl.
He was not the only former Super Bowl MVP quarterback available this offseason, but he was the oldest by four years over Nick Foles.
By trading for Flacco, the Broncos will absorb the remainder of his base salary. It’s important for people to know that because many have been looking at this deal as one in which the Broncos are absorbing the entirety of Flacco’s nearly $27 million cap hit in 2019.
They are not.
The Broncos will get Flacco’s base salary of $18.5 million in 2019, $20.25 million in 2020, and $24.25 million in 2021.
None of it is guaranteed, either.
Essentially, the Broncos have Flacco under control for three years at (mercifully) significantly less than current market value for starting quarterbacks. The dead money hit for the Ravens is fairly significant, but they get a fourth-round pick in return and I’m sure they’re thrilled about that.
Flacco was not in the team’s future plans with Lamar Jackson coming on last season, and this move solidifies it.