Ranking the 5 trades Eric DeCosta has made as Ravens GM
3. Trading Joe Flacco to the Denver Broncos:
Seeing Joe Flacco in a Broncos uniform will never look right, but this trade was a big deal for DeCosta. It was the Ravens chance to leap head first into the Lamar Jackson era. It was the Ravens finally getting out of the Flacco contract, a contract that stopped working for the Ravens around 2015. The Ravens had no choice but to move on from Flacco. That’s what makes the fourth round pick from Denver such a special get by DeCosta. The Broncos gave the Ravens more than they probably thought they would get for a quarterback past his prime, that they were done with. A fourth round pick was a steal.
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The Broncos are now 2-4 and look like one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Ravens are now 4-2 and Lamar Jackson is a borderline MVP candidate. The only thing the Broncos got by trading for Flacco was an excuse not to play Drew Lock right away as a rookie quarterback. The Broncos have gotten what has become the same old story for Flacco. Flacco hasn’t been bad and he hasn’t be all that great either. He’s an average quarterback for what a team that is fairly average all together.
This trade allowed the Ravens to get a clean break from the Flacco era. With the Ravens penchant for finding value in the third day of the NFL Draft, they may find a starter with the pick from the Broncos. John Elway really gifted the Ravens a fourth round pick here. The Ravens had to move on and DeCosta should get credit for making the Flacco departure a positive one.