Evidence suggests adding Joe Flacco won't block the Broncos from drafting a quarterback

DENVER — The Denver Broncos have found a quarterback.

Instead of the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Case Keenum under center for the Broncos in the fall, it will be the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco.

The Broncos couldn’t wait to make the deal to acquire their new quarterback. Literally. Denver and Baltimore agreed in principle to the trade exactly one month before the deal could officially become official.

Despite all of that, one thing remains to be seen.

Is Flacco the quarterback of the future that earlier in the offseason John Elway said the team still needed to find? Or is he merely another Keenum-esque stopgap quarterback?

It’s easy to be caught up in the excitement — or dread — of the deal right away.

Just because Denver is ready to pony up $18.5 million and ship a fourth-round draft pick to Baltimore for Flacco’s services by no means rules out the possibility of Denver drafting a quarterback in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Heck, the Broncos didn’t even make a significant investment in the former Super Bowl MVP. Flacco’s $18.5 million cap hit for 2019 puts him as the 21st highest-paid quarterback in the league, putting him just outside the bottom third in the entire NFL.

And in terms of the draft compensation, Denver already had two fourth-round draft picks, thanks to the Demaryius Thomas trade, so they are still left with a fourth-round pick even after shipping one to Baltimore.

So any argument saying the Broncos can’t draft a quarterback early in the draft by pointing to the significant investment Denver’s made to Flacco is pure hogwash.

Additionally, recent history wouldn’t just say that Denver drafting a quarterback is not an option anymore, recent history would actually say it’s likely John Elway does just that.

In 2016, the Philadelphia Eagles made an $18 million per year investment — sound familiar? — in Sam Bradford, signing him to a two-year, $36 million contract. Eight days later, the Eagles made another significant investment in their quarterback room, locking up Chase Daniel to be their backup for the sweet tune of $7 million per year.

There was no way Philadelphia was going to draft a quarterback… right?

Despite a $25 million per year investment in their quarterbacks — which is equivalent to over $30 million in today’s NFL — the Eagles not only drafted Carson Wentz in the first round, they traded two first-round picks, a second-round pick, a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick, a starting linebacker and a starting cornerback in order to go from the No. 13 overall pick to No. 2 to select their franchise man.

That didn’t work out too shabby in Philadelphia, either, as two years later they won their first-ever Super Bowl, with Wentz playing a huge role.

One year after that, the Chicago Bears gave a mind-boggling $15 million per season to Mike Glennon — a career backup. Despite that, the Bears not only drafted Mitchell Trubisky in the first round in the same year, they traded the No. 3 overall pick, two third-round picks and a fourth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers to move up one spot to grab him.

In 2018, with Vic Fangio as their defensive coordinator and Trubisky under center, the Bears (12-4) finished with their best record since 2006.

This trend continued the next year, too.

Last offseason there were three perfect examples of why quarterback shouldn’t completely be off the board for Denver in the first round.

On Mar. 9, exactly one year after the Bears signed Glennon, the Cleveland Browns acquired Tyrod Taylor from the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a third-round pick — one round higher than the Broncos gave Baltimore for Flacco.

Additionally, Taylor brought a $16 million 2018 cap hit with him to Cleveland — not too far off from Flacco’s 2019 cap hit of $18.5 million.

Yet, just over two months later, the Browns used the No. 1 overall pick to draft quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Out in New York, exactly 13 months before the Broncos traded for Flacco, the Jets signed Josh McCown to a one-year, $10 million contract. Additionally, within the same week, New York signed Teddy Bridgewater to a one-year contract with a $5 million base salary with the potential to make up to $15 million.

Yet, despite a potential $25 million tied up between two quarterbacks, the Jets went all-in on a quarterback in the draft. Not only did New York draft Sam Darnold in the first round, they traded three second-round picks and the No. 6 overall pick to move up three spots to No. 3 to grab him.

Out in the desert last year, the Arizona Cardinals followed the same trend.

On the same day, Mar. 16, Arizona signed Sam Bradford to what turned out to be essentially a one-year, $15 million deal and they signed Mike Glennon to a two-year, $8 million contract.

Roughly $19 million tied up between two quarterbacks just for the 2018 season alone didn’t hold the Cardinals back from making a splash in the first round with a quarterback.

Not only did Arizona draft Josh Rosen in the first round, they traded up from No. 15 overall to No. 10 to get their man.

Oh, don’t forget the Ravens had Flacco on their roster last year and still drafted a quarterback, Lamar Jackson, in the first round.

Bringing this back to the 2019 Denver Broncos, of course, it’s not a certainty that they will follow a similar path as many teams have in the past three years.

But the truth is, Flacco isn’t making a lot of money, the Broncos didn’t give up a lot to get him, and he has zero guaranteed dollars on the remaining three years of his contract.

If the contract doesn’t guarantee Flacco’s their man of the future — as it doesn’t — then it’s foolish to believe there’s no chance Elway goes out in late April to find that man. Especially in the first round.

A quick history lesson would actually say it’s quite possible.