With Lamar Jackson putting his stamp on the starting job in Baltimore and Joe Flacco moving toward the door, the only thing left to figure out is the manner of his departure.
Will he be cut, or could he be traded?
The knee-jerk reaction will be that no one will want to inherit a contract that Flacco hasn’t fully earned. But the remaining terms of the deal — non-guaranteed salaries of $18.5 million in 2019, $20.25 million in 2020, and $24.25 million in 2021 — compare well to the current veteran market, which tops out at $33.5 million per year.
It’s basically a two-year, $38.75 million deal. That’s Keenum/Bortles territory for a guy who won a Super Bowl MVP award and who looked good in the early part of the season. With far fewer options in free agency than a year ago (Bortles, Tyrod Taylor, and Ryan Fitzpatrick headline the class), someone may choose to throw a conditional pick in Baltimore’s direction for a chance to get something out of a guy who has nothing left with the team that drafted him nearly 11 years ago.