Denver Broncos: 3 Reasons Drew Lock deserves to start over Joe Flacco
By Dan Parzych
3. Flacco most likely a one-year rental anyway
Throughout his career, one of the biggest debates has been whether Flacco deserves to be in the conversation of being considered an elite quarterback in the NFL. Sadly, the argument to this day is still debatable since Flacco has always been one of those quarterbacks who goes back and forth with his level of play.
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Just take a look at that amazing 2012 season in which Flacco got hot at the right time to help on offense before the Ravens went on to win their second Super Bowl in franchise history, and it’s easy to see why this topic is so debatable.
The fact that Flacco has only topped the 4,000-yard passing mark once in his career too shows that he doesn’t stand out as much as other quarterbacks across the league. And even though his numbers were decent last year (12 touchdown passes with just six interceptions in nine games) before injuries came into play, this still shouldn’t guarantee a starting spot.
Denver knows bringing Flacco on board with his hefty contract was going to be quite expensive ($18.5 million in 2019 alone), and it’s only going to be more expensive if they keep him around beyond next season.
In other words, instead of having Flacco play this year with the possibility putting up decent enough numbers to earn consideration for a return in 2020 to cost the Broncos even more money, why not just use the veteran as a mentor in 2019, and allow Lock to play?