The Joe Flacco Era in Denver Was Short and Ugly

The Denver Broncos have a quarterback controversy in the saddest way possible. Joe Flacco has been ruled out with a neck injury the day after the Broncos dropped to 2-6 and Flacco threw for less than 200 yards for the third time in October.

Replacing Flacco will be Brandon Allen. Backing up Allen will be either Brett Rypien or Drew Lock. Fun fact:

That's rough. They might as well be suiting up Mark Rypien and Drew Bledsoe. Are any of those guys any good? All we know for sure is that Flacco's days in Denver should be numbered. The only question is how much money will this cost the franchise.

After acquiring Flacco in the offseason, the team restructured his contract and converted most of his 2019 salary into a signing bonus. He is now due $23,650,000 against the 2020 cap and $27,650,000 against the 2021 cap. If they cut him, he will be worth $13,600,000 in dead cap next season.

The good news is that the Broncos took that extra cap space this season and built the best last-place AFC West team that money could buy. The bad news is that Flacco is unhappy and the team stinks. Even if he was healthy, would there be an reason to stick with him as the Broncos enter November?

The season is over. The Broncos have the 13th-best record in the AFC. There would need to be mid-season contraction for the Broncos to the make the playoffs and Flacco has had a season fitting of that record. He hasn't thrown a touchdown pass since October 6th. He's had one or fewer touchdown passes in seven of eight games this season and the Broncos have topped 20 points just ONCE this season. It's hard to imagine John Elway and the Broncos' front office doing worse, but we'll have to see who they have under center next year first.