Let's
look at Joe Flacco by the numbers. The statistics show an efficient
quarterback, and one that had the ability to lead the talented team
that surrounded him to the playoffs every season. What took Flacco
above and beyond this year was his playoff performance. He took the
criticism that he had been receiving from the media and fans, stared
it down, and defeated it with an impressive 11 touchdowns and 0
interceptions and the type of intangible leadership that creates a
championship quarterback.
But,
beyond his playoff performance, there's nothing in five years of
being at the helm of the Ravens offense that indicates that Flacco
should be the highest paid quarterback in the league. Simply put, if
the Ravens don't win the Super Bowl, are we even having this
discussion about Joe Flacco?
It's
strange, but I think of two moments when I associate the best and the
worst of Joe Flacco this season, and both connect to the Denver Broncos. In Week 15, the Ravens (in their first game with new offensive coordinator
Jim Caldwell) faced off against the hot Broncos. Already down 10-0 in
the first half, the Ravens were poised to score a touchdown when
Flacco threw an out route that was picked off for a 98-yard touchdown
return. A dejected Flacco buried his head into the grass following
his missed tackle on the return. It was a momentum changer that
cemented the Broncos as the presumed AFC favorite and led the Ravens
to feel like the wheels were falling off. This was the Joe Flacco
that fans were used to. He was a quarterback that had potential, but
never seemed like he would take it to the next level to be the cream
of the crop in the NFL.
Fast
forward to the fourth quarter of the divisional round game against
the Broncos and the Ravens are likely on their way out of the
playoffs until Flacco
heaves a bomb to Jacoby Jones for a game-tying touchdown. So now, we
have to wonder if safety Rahim Moore does not completely fall asleep
on this play, are we even having this discussion about Joe Flacco?
This is f***in' awesome!
In his
column, King is correct in that Flacco is at his peak earning
potential. But, it doesn't mean that his peak earning potential
should be the highest salary in the league nor that the market needs
to cater to that potential. Particularly, if the Ravens do see a
desperate team handing the type of money that King mentions in his
column to Flacco, they should let him go. It is an amount of money
that can paralyze a team's salary cap for a quarterback that has not
shown that he could impact a game on his own. The Ravens owe it to
Flacco to sit down and have a discussion, and of course want to keep
their quarterback, but not at the sacrifice of their organization.
General manager Ozzie Newsome is smart enough to realize that.
Where
smart goes out the window is with desperate teams like the ones
mentioned by King, but these are teams that do have to be smart if
they want to see any future success. For personal reasons, I'll
address the Browns first and the ideas brought up by King. King
states that the signing of Flacco would lead to “a shot of
adrenalin” for the team. This is the type of emotional effect that
should have no bearing on how a team runs their business. The “free
agent splash” is an overrated and ineffective approach to bettering
a team. If there are signs that the free agent in question would not
be a particular fit for the organization, the move is only being done
to cater to a fan base or to make some type of emotional move, which
based off King's evaluation, are the only reasons behind why the
Browns would sign Flacco. It would be “sweet irony” to steal the
Super Bowl-winning quarterback from the city that stole the Browns.
Perhaps that's true, but what's the point if Flacco doesn't pan out
or improve the team? Now, Ravens fans continue to laugh at
Cleveland's misery while the team's salary cap is shot and future
affected as two first-round draft picks are given up. Sure, the
Browns need a quarterback as they always have. But, it's better to
take the components already in place and work with them while
continuing to build through the draft than to sell it all away on a
player whose riding his market value high and statistically not
enough backs him up as being deserving of that price.
Buffalo
or Arizona could get crazy as well. The idea of a legitimate
quarterback throwing to Larry Fitzgerald again is appealing, and if
there's any team that I could see as being reasonable in throwing out
that much money to Flacco, it's Arizona. It's clear the quarterback
position entirely hindered their ability to be a playoff team. But,
for any other organization in the league interested in upgrading at
quarterback, it's out of line. It's a roll of the dice unless you
have a strong enough supporting cast to hop aboard with Flacco's arm
and leadership ability that did show in the playoffs.
When
it comes down to it, Joe Flacco is like the player who comes out of
nowhere to lead his team to the Final Four and ultimately shoots
himself up the board on NBA Draft night as a result. Flacco had a
great playoffs. He entirely changed the way fans look at him as a
quarterback and determine his ability as a leader and performer. But, can you really say he's
worth five years, $110 million based off four weeks of seeing a
completely different quarterback than one we've seen for five
seasons?
It's a
hard sell, and it's why the only reasonable destination for Flacco is
Baltimore. He obviously wants to stay. He obviously wants to earn as
much money as possible. Baltimore wants to keep him, and will be
ready to pay him to whatever extent is possible. Flacco could depart
to another city, but it would be a huge sacrifice to that team's
future and salary cap. Can Flacco do what Peyton Manning did this
past year for another team? Does he have that type of impact?
The
numbers and the games show it's not likely unless a team has as talented a supporting cast as Baltimore created for the past five seasons. Once again, Joe Flacco
has something to prove, but at least he may be the highest paid
player in the league while he's doing it.
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