The Denver Broncos will reportedly waive quarterback Joe Flacco by the end up the week, citing a failed physical by Flacco.
Flacco, who won Super Bowl MVP for the Baltimore Ravens in 2012, singed a three-year, $66.4 million contract extension with the Ravens in March of 2016. After disappointing following the Super Bowl championship and dealing with injuries, the Ravens traded Flacco to the Broncos in February of 2019.
Broncos just informed former Super-Bowl MVP Joe Flacco that he is being waived with a failed physical designation, per source.
Flacco now joins a group of free-agent QBs looking for work.
Three Super Bowl MVPs in headlines this week: Flacco waived, Foles traded, TB to TB.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 19, 2020
Though this news makes it a certainty that Flacco won’t play out the entirety of his extension, his contract would have paid him in excess of $20 million this season and over $24 million next year.
The three-year deal was an add on to the six-year, $120 million contract the QB signed in 2013.
At this point, Flacco’s future in the NFL feels murky, at best.
Now 35, Flacco was remarkably durable in his time with the Ravens as he only missed six games (all in 2015) over his first ten seasons in Baltimore. But in 2018 – his final year in Baltimore – Flacco missed seven games and then with the Broncos, he played in half on the team’s 2019 regular-season games.
In terms of the future going forward, Flacco will have to prove he’s relatively healthy, first and foremost. He’ll also likely have to take a significant pay cut in signing with another team, assuming other teams will be interested in his services. He’ll also likely have to settle for a back-up role on his next team if he decides to keep playing.
For his career, Flacco has thrown for 40,067 yards on a 61.9 percent completion percentage. He also has 218 passing touchdowns against 141 interceptions.
Unless Denver signs another veteran quarterback (which seems) unlikely, the team is poised to hand the QB reigns over to second-year man Drew Lock, who was drafted in the second round out of Missouri in 2019.
The Broncos, assumingly, were anticipating this move and are waiting for the new league year to start for monetary reasons. Denver recently signed veteran QB Jeff Driskel as well.
