Denver Broncos president John Elway has drawn a lot of criticism for his inability to find a quarterback since Peyton Manning retired following a Super Bowl win during the 2015-16 campaign, and he didn't do much to assuage his critics when he traded for Joe Flacco last month.
At 34 years old, Flacco is clearly in decline and is coming off of a 2018 campaign with the Baltimore Ravens in which he lost his starting job to rookie signal-caller Lamar Jackson.
However, Elway believes the fact that Flacco got benched this past season could serve him well going forward, as it may provide some extra motivation for the aging quarterback:
“I do like guys with chips on their shoulders,” said Elway, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “Guys who've been through it, had success, want to be successful with the Denver Broncos. I want those guys with those chips.”
But the question is, even if Flacco comes in with this “chip” on his shoulder, can he produce?
Article Continues BelowDuring the nine games he was on the field this past year, Flacco threw for 2,465 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 61.2 percent of his passes and registering a passer rating of 84.2.
Ever since leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl championship during the 2012-13 season, Flacco has been in steady decline, and over the last four years, he has thrown 20 touchdown passes just once.
The Broncos won just six games in 2018, marking the first time since 1972 that the franchise posted back-to-back losing seasons.
They went just 7-9 in 2017.