We're stuck with that contract for one more year at the least, possibly more.
I keep saying it. Flacco deserves a significant portion of the blame, but I still believe in him. I've seen quarterbacks come back from worse slumps and let's be completely honest for a second. Let's not act like the supporting cast is amazing: it's not. We've been getting piss poor returns on some of the offensive investments. Whether it be from injury, suspensions, or just plain suckage.
Over the past few years on the offensive side of the ball we've acquired
Jeremy Maclin(who's good, but always hurt. Has been that way for years. I'd keep him around still, but we haven't gotten the greatest return on this investment. Flacco's not doing him any favors, but it's ultimately not Flacco's fault that he's missed a few games this year)
Benjamin Watson(bargain signing, but is nothing more than a slightly above average TE. We can only depend on him so much).
Danny Woodhead(good player, hurt most of the season. I think once he gets going the offense has a legit chance to improve. His injury might have impacted us more than anticipated. Also heavily rotated guy).
Alex Collins(currently injured. Again, a bargain, but I still see him as more of a compliment piece)
Kenneth Dixon(injured for portion of last season, hurt again, then suspended. Poor return on investment and it's not Flacco's fault).
Maxx Williams(makes plays when he's on the field, but is hurt all the time.. Poor return on investment.. Most of this is not on Joe)
Breshad Perriman(sure, Flacco puts him in bad situations a lot, but he's injury prone, doesn't have the best hands, is a poor route runner still... Flacco holds some blame here, but again. Poor return on investment. Mostly Perriman)
Buck Allen(decent return on investment but a very limited player. Rotational guy at best)
Ronnie Stanley(stud. Phenomenal return on investment. Even though he gets hurt a decent amount)
Terrence West(solid running back. Probably more of a #2. Hurt at the moment, mediocre return on investment)
Steve Smith Sr(somehow got amazing return on investment here. But was hurt a fair amount himself)
Mike Wallace(good first year. Has been lousy this year. Not entirely his fault(flacco doesn't play to his strengths all the time), but like Perriman he puts himself into bad situations drop wise. You at least get a return on your investment, but it's mixed at)
Mike Campanaro(*tore his ACL as I wrote this comment. NO return on investment*)
Crockett Gillmore( *tore his ACL as I wrote this comment. Minimal return on investment*)
John Urschel(*used his genius IQ to realize that football will give him hardcore CTE and smartly retired to get out of the shit show*. Was a good backup but nothing more).
Chris Moore(*blocks punt* has little use for offense though sadly)
Austin Howard(started off strong this season. Was a better alternative to James Fucking Hurst at RT which was only reason fanbase got excited. Play has tailed off)
Ryan Jensen(inconsistent as all hell for some reason.. That said for a sixth round pick to be a starting center is a phenomenal return on investment. Especially since investment is cheap).
Let's be clear.. It may be time to move on from Joe in a few years, but we're stuck with him and have a shitty skeleton around him. I don't want us to draft a rookie QB early: He'd get killed. Our offensive line is currently injured beyond repair, the WR corps has massively underperformed and yes they shoulder significant amount of play, and our players have dropped like flies. We made investments, they're not paying off right now.. Especially Flacco.
That's why I keep saying. Build the rest of the offense this offseason. Unless Rosen magically falls to you, there's no QB in the draft that I would honestly take right now with the first rounder. The offense has so many other needs at the moment.
Which is probably what we're going to do. We're stuck with Flacco's contract. It's why I keep saying we need to go for Kubiak. He's gotten the best out of Flacco before and if he fails his scheme is a good scheme to develop a younger QB in. We need to make investments along the line, acquire skill position players. Might as well try to maximize this contract for the remaining two years he's here.
Besides, if we invest on offense this offseason and build a good skeleton then we can honestly trade up for a QB in the 2019 draft with minimal consequences.
That should be the game plan. I still believe that the offense as a whole will improve if we acquire more talent and get a fresh face. It may never be top flight, but this defense is super talented and will only get better as the younger guys start to develop. Build the damn skeleton. If you want to draft a "developmental" QB in the mid rounds.. Fine. But this offense needs so much more than a new QB and I'd rather us go into us having a rookie QB with an ideal situation(which it would be btw. We could have a really good oline, solid WR corps, good RBs, decent TE, and a great defense by the end of next offseason if we play our cards right), which is a luxury most teams don't get.