Ebony Bird
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3 reasons Ravens will have hard time trading Joe Flacco

By Chris Schisler

PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens drops back to pass in the first half during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on September 30, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens drops back to pass in the first half during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on September 30, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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Baltimore Ravens
BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 9: Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball in the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills at M&T Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images) /

If this is Joe Flacco’s last season as the Baltimore Ravens quarterback, how he leaves Baltimore is very much up in the air.

If you look around the NFL, it’s hard to imagine there is a huge trade market for Joe Flacco. The Baltimore Ravens will have plenty motivation to trade their quarterback of the last 11 seasons but finding a trade partner is going to be difficult. If you go division by division you will see what I mean. First, you can rule out an AFC North trade. Each AFC North team has an established guy under center, even the Cleveland Browns with Baker Mayfield. In addition Flacco would never be dealt to a rival team. Let’s look at each division in the NFL to see where Baltimore can coax a team into a deal

Reason 1: Who is going to take him?

AFC East: 

  • New England Patriots: Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time is their quarterback for the foreseeable future.
  • Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen was just drafted to be the quarterback of the future.
  • New York Jets: It’s Sam Darnold’s team right now. Darnold is the first glimpse of optimism New York has had since Mark Sanchez.

    • Miami Dolphins:

    This may work. The Dolphins may be out of draft range for a top passer. Brock Osweiler was never going to be the answer and it may be time to give up on Ryan Tannehill. It’s still hard to see it happening.

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    AFC South: 

    • Indianapolis Colts: Why would they wait this long for Andrew Luck to come back to trade for Flacco? Move on to the next idea.
    • Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson is one of the most exciting quarterbacks in football, no trade partner here.
    • Jacksonville Jaguars: Blake Bortles to Joe Flacco sounds comical. This would be a tough sell and Jalen Ramsey has been very critical of Flacco.
    • Tennessee Titans: Marcus Mariota may not be a great quarterback, but he is good enough and is the Titans guy.

    AFC West: 

    • Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden has made some laughable decisions, but this one seems too far into crazy town even for him.
    • Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes for MVP, enough said.
    • Denver Broncos: They just invested into Case Keenum. Flacco may be better, but not enough to make this move.
    • San Diego: If Flacco was younger this may make a little sense. The Chargers are a competitive team that could make the playoffs and so their draft position won’t be ideal. Phillip Rivers isn’t going to last forever but Flacco is 33 and on the downside of his career. Plus Rivers is objectively better right now.

    NFC North: 

    • Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers is great and clearly we’re just going through each tesm here.
    • Minnesota Vikings: Mike Zimmer’s team found their quarterback and his name is Kirk Cousins.
    • Detroit Lions: The Lions gave big money to Matthew Stafford, the kind that makes the Flacco deal look great. This one isn’t happening.
    • Chicago Bears: It’s the Mitchell Trubisky era in the windy city.

    NFC East: 

    • Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott is not as good as he was initially hyped up to be, but this is not a trading partner for the Ravens.
    • Philadelphia Eagles: Isn’t it Carson Wentzlyvania?
    • Washington Redskins: They just went out and got Alex Smith and it is working. This would never happen.
    • New York Giants: The Giants are about to draft a quarterback of the future. They would not take on Baltimore’s version of Eli Manning.

    NFC West: 

    • San Francisco 49ers: They are committed to Jimmy Garappolo being the guy.
    • Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks have Russell Wilson and are in their own rebuild mode.
    • Arizona Cardinals: Josh Rosen is their chosen one.
    • Los Angeles Rams: Jared Goff is on fire and they are the best team in football.

    NFC South: 

    • Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This could actually happen. I doubt it severely but it would give the Buccaneers a legitimate out with Jameis Winston.
    • Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton is their star quarterback, this is not happening.
    • New Orleans Saints: The Saints may need a future after Drew Brees, but Flacco will not be their answer to that.
    • Atlanta Falcons: While Joe Flacco was a Super Bowl MVP instead of the Super Bowl era’s greatest choke artist, the Falcons would have no interest in this deal.

    The moral of the story is that the Ravens aren’t trading Flacco. There isn’t many landing spots that make any sense and there is no perfect situation for Flacco out there.

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