Peter King MMQB: Could Ravens let Flacco go?

zoogs

zoogs

Assistant Coach
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130211/monday-morning-quarterback-peter-king-offseason-week-1/?sct=hp_wr_a2&eref=sihp

Wow. That's a hell of a decision for a very cash-strapped Ravens team. I love the management calls that teams have to make in the NFL. Even Super Bowl winning teams. Do you part ways with a Super Bowl-winning 28-year old quarterback, or take on the risk of hamstringing the ability to field a team around him?

One more thing about what Bisciotti and Newsome implied the other day. Committing a cap number of $20 million to Flacco this year would cut off the ability to franchise any other players in the next two years -- like much-needed linebacker Dannell Ellerbe or pass-rusher Paul Kruger this year -- and it hamstrings the ability of the team to make smart football decisions over the next two years. Exclusive-tagging Flacco would likely, but not certainly, mean the losses of Ellerbe and Kruger and the iconic Ed Reed, and maybe even Anquan Boldin if he won't lower his $7.5 million salary for 2013. Reed's understandable. Losing two of the others, or all three, would be major blows.

Bisciotti and Newsome have to know the answer to the test before they sit down to take it. They have to accept the fact that they'd be willing, under the worst-case scenario, to lose Flacco before tagging him with the lesser designation March 4. It's a big gamble. If you're a Ravens' fans, you have to hope it doesn't come to that -- and that Linta and Moriarty can get a long-term deal in the next three weeks.
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What would you guys do? I'd play hardball and take the latter option. Especially if I can milk two round 1's out of Cleveland, with one of them coming at 1.06. I'd try to trade down from the 1.06, though - those are high-risk investments at the top and it is devastating when one doesn't pan out.

Plus, there are very few quarterbacks you hamstring yourself for. Manning in his prime. Brady in his prime. Long-term success is so important (look at how the Patriots have struggled over the years in fielding a secondary), you'd really need a generational type player to risk it.

Lastly, Alex Smith, Matt Flynn, Kirk Cousins. There are options out there. Still, how do you explain to your fanbase that you just kicked your star QB in his prime, out the door?

 
This is the new problem for many teams in every professional sport. The question is, do risk your franchise for one player, or do sacrifice for the future. I say let him go. Flacco is a good QB, but not worth 20 mil a year.

 
MLB 51 said:
This is the new problem for many teams in every professional sport. The question is, do risk your franchise for one player, or do sacrifice for the future. I say let him go. Flacco is a good QB, but not worth 20 mil a year.
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He's an "elite" QB. Just ask him.

 
QMany said:
accountability said:
If he goes, the chiefs will probably pay big bucks for him. As a Chiefs fan, I wouldnt mind it. Be better than Alex Smith.
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My first thought. That would be a big pick-up for them. How much is left on Cassel's deal?
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who cares, right?

Of course I guess trading him does affect cap space and all that numbo jumbo I know nothing about. Just get the damn players it takes to win.

I think Flacco would flourish there under Reid's toutaledge.

 
Who are they going to replace him with? Flynn? Smith? There is no one in the draft ready to start. The NFL is a QB league. Sign Flacco, they are not going to find another guy as good, and work with the rest. Sure $20mil might be a slight over payment, but its the most important position on a NFL team, and replacements are not easy to come by. 32 teams, there are not 32 quality QBs out there. I think if they let him go the Chiefs fans are going to be jumping for joy. Ravens fans....not so much.

 
Minnesota_husker said:
Do you have someone to replace him?

Cant they just franchise him?
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They can both get a long-term deal in now, or if they don't by a certain deadline, they can exercise one of 2 franchise options.

  • exclusive tag: costs something north of $20 million; they keep him for the year
  • non-exclusive tag: costs a fair amount less, but he's free to negotiate with other teams. If another team makes an offer, the Ravens either match it, or decline and get the other team's next two 1st-rounders.

The issue is the Ravens are $5 million over the salary cap currently, and Flacco is counting $0 against the cap currently.

The NFL is a QB league.
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I think so to an extent, but QBs also tend to get more credit than necessary, and more blame than due. There are a handful of guys who can really just carry a team on their own. Maybe I'm wrong on Flacco, but he seems more like a guy who has come into a tremendous leverage, but he wasn't really the centerpiece of it, the one guy that made everything click.

I think Smith is a good, veteran option. They'd keep the rest of their team, add Smith, and hopefully add two round 1's in the process.

 
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Say what you will the guy played lights out in the playoffs.

But the question is this. Is it easier to get a quality QB (argue all you want about 'elite' but he is certainly in the top half) or the other pieces?

I think it's much easier to get the other pieces. There are franchises that flounder around for years, and decades even, without a guy who can win with the pressure on. LB's, pass rushers or WR's are all much easier to come by than even a competent QB.

 
I think it's easier to get other pieces. A good QB is very rare. And it's quit easy to have a disastrous situation at QB.

That said, the Ravens needing to pony up possibly $20 million, but maybe at least in the $10-15, closer to 15 range, while already being $5mil over the cap without Flacco...that's between a rock and a hard place. I'd go with the QB you've developed in most cases, but this sounds tough to do. Maybe they can finagle something out. I think ideally you offer Joe a competitive salary to stay with the team but if the demands are too high...then it is what it is.

Also, impact pass rushers aren't necessarily easier to come by. Pats went for years needing one and failing to get one before finally nabbing Chandler Jones in the 1st this year.

 
To answer the thread title: Apparently not.

Signed a deal expected to make him the highest paid QB in NFL history.

 
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