John Elway and the Denver Broncos Will Trade for Joe Flacco, Finally Find First Elite QB Since Peyton Manning

The years since Peyton Manning retired in Denver have been a disappointment. The team has bounced from drafting Paxton Lynch to having to go to unheralded Trevor Siemian to paying big money for Case Keenum. Oh, and there was that brief period where Chad Kelly was the potential future before he got cut after another off-field incident.

Well, it looks like John Elway has found his man, as the Denver Broncos are trading for Joe Flacco, per Adam Schefter, to add the next elite quarterback and former Super Bowl champion. The deal cannot become official until the start of the new league year on March 13. No doubt this is the move that will put them over the top.

And yes, that is tongue in cheek. While Joe Flacco, yes, did win a Super Bowl with the most well-timed and magical playoff performance we’ve seen in awhile back in 2013, he has spent much of the last five years showing that he is closer to done than elite.

I ranked the quarterbacks who could be changing teams and I had Flacco all the way down at sixth. He’s now 34 years old. He has the lowest yards per attempt of any quarterback who has thrown 1,000 or more passes in the last four years, by a full half-yard behind Blake Bortles and Ryan Tannehill.

Because they are trading for him, rather than signing him after a release, the Broncos will have his contract. Joe Flacco’s base salary is $18.5 million next year. Now, that’s not guaranteed, but it’s still a big chunk for an aging guy who has had trouble staying healthy and hasn’t been good when he is on the field. The base salaries are even higher in 2020 and 2021, so we will see how much Denver gave up for this contract. My guess is not much.

It’s still a lot to pay for a guy who is going to be Case Keenum’s backup.