The NFL world was sent into a frenzy on Wednesday morning as the Denver Broncos reportedly acquired quarterback Joe Flacco from the Baltimore Ravens, in exchange for a midround draft pick. The trade cannot be processed until the new league year kicks off on March 13.
Throughout the offseason, Flacco along with Nick Foles was mentioned as the top two quarterbacks that would be looking for new homes this upcoming season. Not many people expected Flacco to land in Denver, especially since they signed Case Keenum to a two-year, $36 million deal last offseason.
Mike Klis of 9News mentioned last month that the Broncos “may consider” signing the 34-year-old Flacco or acquiring Foles. However, what swayed Denver to go Flacco over Foles is that he plays under center Klis said on Wednesday.
Speaking of Foles, one does wonder how the Broncos trading Flacco affects his value. Last week, the 30-year-old Foles reportedly voided his 2019 option year and paid $2 million to the Eagles for his “freedom”.
As it has been widely reported this offseason, Philly still intends on placing the franchise tag on Foles, which is worth $25 million this upcoming season and trying to trade him.
Unfortunately, the Eagles may better off letting Foles become a free agent and trying to recoup a compensatory pick. Despite what the Broncos gave up for Flacco, it is hard to imagine a team such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants or Washington Redskins giving up a draft pick for a quarterback at that price tag.
While his $25 million price tag might be a turn off for some teams, Keenum could shake up the quarterback market too. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Broncos are shopping the 32-year-old quarterback, who is guaranteed to make $7 million next season.
But if the Broncos cannot find any suitors, they could either give Keenum a tremendous pay cut or outright release him. Therefore, the next question at hand is which teams could be looking at Keenum but also at Foles? The first team that potentially fits this description is the Jaguars.
Many mock drafts have the Jaguars selecting a quarterback in the first round, but they could use a stable veteran quarterback. However, the only hang-up with this idea is Jacksonville will have to find a way to get rid of Blake Bortles’ contract. Last offseason, the Jags signed Bortles to a three-year, $54 million contract extension.
Not to mention, he also has a cap hit of $21 million next season. That is a hefty price for any team to take on for a quarterback, who has been average at best.
Finally, another team who should be interested in both quarterbacks is the Miami Dolphins. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald mentioned late last month that the Dolphins are expected to release starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill is another one of those average veteran quarterbacks, who is owed a ridiculous amount of money over the next couple of seasons. While this is a smart idea by Miami to get rid of Tannehill, they will not be pursuing Foles or pending free-agent Teddy Bridgewater in free agency.
Instead, the Dolphins will instead “tank” with their eyes toward a star-studded 2020 NFL draft quarterback class. This is a dangerous strategy because no one knows how next year’s class will fare even with names such as Justin Hebert and Tu’a Tagovailoa headlining it.
With all that being said, it should be interesting to see what is the next domino to fall with this offseason’s crop of quarterbacks. Will the Eagles decide to let Foles become a free agent? Or will the Broncos move Keenum before the new league year, shifting the market again?
