Joe Flacco’s time in Baltimore looks to be coming to an end. Flacco was injured during the Baltimore Ravens’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers back in Week 9, and the Ravens were forced to turn to rookie Lamar Jackson as a result. At that time, the Ravens were 4-5 and most considered them to be out of the playoff picture, so the thought was this would give Jackson some seasoning. However, Jackson proved to be a big difference maker as a starter, and the Ravens responded by winning six of their next seven games to win the AFC North and make the postseason. Flacco was healthy enough to play in mid-December, but John Harbaugh made the decision to stick with Jackson, and the rookie has appeared to wrestle the job away from the Super Bowl winning quarterback. Now, BetDSI is asking the question: Where will Joe Flacco end up in 2019?
Joe Flacco team in Week 1 of 2019 regular season:
Denver Broncos +150
Jacksonville Jaguars +200
Washington Redskins +250
Miami Dolphins +400
New York Giants +750
Oakland Raiders +1000
Carolina Panthers +1500
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +1500
Baltimore Ravens +2000
Let’s start with the obvious. Flacco is going to be cut in the offseason. He’s 33 years old, and is going to make $18.5 million next year. Given his performance the past few seasons, he is not worth that kind of price tag, and the Ravens would save $10 million as long as he is cut by March.
There are a number of teams that could use a veteran quarterback, whether as a starter or as a back-up. The oddsmakers have instilled the Broncos as the favorite to land Flacco, and that makes sense considering what we’ve seen from Denver’s quarterbacks. Although John Elway was a great quarterback, he has not proven to be a good judge of talent since Peyton Manning retired, and we have seen Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian, and Paxton Lynch come and go. Case Keenum started every game last season, but he threw 15 interceptions and Elway has called Keenum a “short-term fix”.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are certainly in play too. Jaguars fans are dying to move on from Blake Bortles, and that situation has become so toxic, that Bortles is almost certain to be released. Jacksonville can cut him without too much financial repercussion this offseason, and that is looking like a situation where both sides would be better off parting ways. Flacco isn’t too much of an improvement, but he would be something different.
However, my pick to sign Flacco is the Washington Redskins. Washington has to be familiar with Flacco considering the proximity of DC and Baltimore, and the Redskins need at least a stop-gap solution at quarterback considering Alex Smith might not play football again. Washington doesn’t pick high enough in the draft to take either Kyler Murray or Dwayne Haskins, and there isn’t a good option in this draft other than those two. Taking a flyer on Flacco for one year, seems like a very prudent move.
