A Writer’s Fantasy
S.I.’s Peter King ignites an internet furor over Joe Flacco’s future with the Ravens
In his Sports Illustrated.com column Monday morning, senior NFL writer Peter King ignited a fire storm of speculation concerning whether the Ravens will or will not pay, will or will not or franchise, Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. It quickly made cannon fodder for many NFL analysts, web sites, and cable shows.
After listening to the Ravens State of the Team press conference, King decided that Ozzie Newsome, while declaring the Ravens were not going to mortgage the future by extending or restructuring a lot of veterans contracts, really meant that he wasn’t going to apply the exclusive rights tag on Flacco, thus exposing him to potential capture by cap-friendly, quarterback-deficient teams such as Cleveland and Miami.
King is getting a lot of fantasy mileage out of what I consider to be a gross misunderstanding (deliberate or otherwise) of what Ozzie said.
Let me get this straight: does the King of Trolls really think Steve Bisciotti and Newsome are going to chance losing their franchise quarterback, who has taken the Ravens to the playoffs every year since he was drafted, and who just won a Super Bowl, in order to save cap money and veterans in exchange for 2 first round draft choices?
Really?
I have 8 reasons why Flacco is not going anywhere.
- Kyle Boller
- Steve McNair
- Troy Smith
- Jeff Blake
- Chris Redman
- Anthony Wright
- Elvis Grbac
- Randall Cunningham
These are the names of the Ravens quarterbacks who have started for the team since they won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. How many times did this bunch get the Ravens to the playoffs?
3 times, in 2001, 2003, and 2006.
How many playoff games did they win?
One, Uno, in 2001.
Since being drafted in 2008 Flacco has won 9 playoff games, has taken the Ravens to the AFC Championship game 3 times, won a Super Bowl, was named SB MVP, and King thinks Ravens are going to let him walk?
For argument’s sake, who do we replace him with? The next strong-armed college quarterback who can throw a ball 60 yards through the uprights from his knees? Alex Smith? Come on.
You can restock the team with wide receivers, linebackers and linemen through the draft a helluva lot easier than you can replace a quarterback. If the Ravens are going to lose personnel, it will be UFAs such as Dannell Ellerbe, Paul Kruger, Cary Williams, and Ed Reed who might be snapped up by other, cap-space friendly teams like the Bengals or the Colts.
King’s column is idiot talk, meant to fire up the blogosphere and give the Tony Grossi’s of the world something to write about on their 4 letter web sites.
Now could it happen? Of course. Will it happen?
I say no way.
Ignore the websites; the speculation, the stupid talk, and let Ozzie and Pat Moriarty do their job.
Joe Flacco is a Raven and will remain one for the rest of his career.
