Joe Flacco Trade: 3 Gut reactions for Broncos and Ravens

Here are three reactions to the news surrounding the Baltimore Ravens agreeing to send Joe Flacco to the Denver Broncos in a trade when the new league year begins.

During the final months of the 2018 season along with the playoffs, it seemed clear that it was only a matter of time before the Baltimore Ravens moved on from Joe Flacco at quarterback, mainly due to the emergence of Lamar Jackson as a rookie.

Last spring, the Ravens traded back up to the end of the first round in order to land the former Louisville star with the intention he would one day be Flacco’s replacement, which as Ravens fans know ended up happening much quicker than expected.

After looking at the spark Jackson provided to Baltimore’s offense when Flacco was dealing with an injury, John Harbaugh made the tough decision to stick with the rookie even when the veteran was healthy enough to play again. And after watching the Ravens win the AFC North the way they did, it seems like this risk going with Jackson over Flacco paid off for Harbaugh, although it would have been great to see Baltimore advance further than the Wild Card Round.

With that being said, since the Jackson era in Baltimore started earlier than originally expected, it seemed like only a matter of time before the Ravens officially moved on from Flacco since the veteran seemed to make it clear he would prefer to remain a starter instead of a backup.

Turns out, it only took the Ravens until the middle of February to find a new home for the former Super Bowl MVP after it was announced on Wednesday that Baltimore had agreed to a deal with the Denver Broncos to acquire Flacco once the new NFL year officially got underway in March.

In a way, this really shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise since the Broncos were one of a few teams expected to at least consider the possibility of acquiring Flacco to give them a better chance of competing in 2019.

Now that Flacco officially knows his new home for next season, here are some reactions to the news after the deal was announced on Wednesday, even if it won’t become official for another month.