The busy weekend during my time in New Orleans included the Denver Broncos trading for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco as I sat at the airport. General manager John Elway has struggled to find a quarterback since Peyton Manning’s retirement, and his hope is that Flacco has a little something left in the tank. The deal happened rather abruptly and will be official when the new league year opens on March 13th.
The Broncos might have felt pressured to get a deal done because of a lurking competitor. A sports reporter in Denver and a DC sports reporter both reported Washington was in the mix for Flacco. Washington acquired Alex Smith a year ago, but his devastating leg injury is requiring an extensive rehab, and his odds of playing in 2019 seem fairly slim. Following Smith’s injury, their quarterback depth chart included Colt McCoy, Josh Johnson, and Mark Sanchez.
It’s safe to say Washington needs another quarterback. The free agency pickings are slim. If the Philadelphia Eagles let Nick Foles walk unrestricted, he is probably the best option at this point. They could choose to franchise him and force a trade, which would further slim the market. Teddy Bridgewater and Tyrod Taylor could be worth a try, and of course there is always Colin Kaepernick.
Realistically, Washington is going to be looking at the quarterback position in the 2019 NFL Draft. It does not mean they’ll walk away with a quarterback in the early rounds, but all this suggests they could be at least a moderately serious player in the market. I don’t see them moving up in the first round to get their guy, but other teams might feel compelled to grab a QB before them just in case. It adds another wrinkle to this year’s draft.