Stafford not right QB for rebuild
Two years ago, the Broncos mistakenly believed they were a veteran quarterback away from playoff contention and flipped a fourth-round pick to Baltimore for Joe Flacco.
Flacco lasted eight games (2-6 record) before landing on injured reserve (neck) before he would have landed on the bench.
The failed Broncos/Flacco Experiment was my first thought this past weekend when news broke that Detroit’s Matthew Stafford had requested a trade. Do you really want to go back down this road, Broncos fans? Flacco through 2018 (age
33) — 163 regular season starts (96-67 record). … Fifteen playoff starts (10-5 record, one Super Bowl). … In 2018, 4-5 record, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and an 84.2 rating for the Ravens before being injured and replaced by Lamar Jackson.
Stafford through 2020 season (age 32) — 165 regular season starts (74-90-1 record). … Three playoff starts (0-3 record). … Last year, 5-11 record, 26 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 96.3 rating for Lions.
Flacco had little market value and the Broncos took a low-risk flier.
Stafford will be a high-risk play in terms of draft capital and salary. He turns 33 next month and has salary cap hits of $33 million and $26 million in 202122, and he would likely want a new contract that will take him into retirement.
Taking a whatever-is-required-and-then-some approach toward Houston’s Deshaun Watson is one thing.
Giving up a second-round pick — and likely more — for Stafford isn’t sensible.
The Broncos, 5-11 in 2020, aren’t a Stafford away from catching Kansas City, which is one win from repeating as Super
Bowl champions.
The Broncos, old and expensive on defense, aren’t in a position to sacrifice draft picks for Stafford.
And the Broncos, with new general manager George Paton in place, shouldn’t conduct quarterback business like predecessor John Elway.
That’s the view from the club side. Now from Stafford’s angle.
Why would he want to play for the Broncos?
Stafford has spent his entire career chasing Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and a myriad of Minnesota quarterbacks (Brett Favre, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Bradford, Case Keenum and Kirk Cousins) in the NFC North. He basically started every year playing uphill.
If on the Broncos, Stafford would be in the same AFC West as two all-time players (the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce), star-in-the-making Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and a Las Vegas team that continues to rebuild but is 4-2 against the Broncos in the past three years.
Not a great way to finish out a career, right?
Indianapolis should be Stafford’s preferred destination — the Colts are built to win now. New England, Washington, San Francisco, New Orleans and Pittsburgh offer better situations than the Broncos.
That the Broncos are listed among the candidates to acquire Stafford is no surprise. It’s convenient.
The norm around these parts is a failure to draft-and-develop a long-term quarterback, forcing them to enter the veteran market. Jake Plummer (free agent, 2003 — 54 starts), Kyle Orton (trade, 2009 — 33 starts), Peyton Manning (free agent, 2012 — 57 starts), Keenum (free agent, 2018 — 16 starts) and Flacco (trade, 2019 — eight starts) all started their careers elsewhere.
Instead of repeating the past at quarterback, Paton should focus on finding competition for Drew Lock and rebuilding the defense.
About the title games
Five things about Sunday’s conference championship games won by Tampa Bay (over Green Bay) and Kansas City (over Buffalo):
1. Whew, a tough NFC title game for Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur. The Packers fell behind Tampa Bay 28-10 before waking up. But LaFleur’s decision to kick a field goal (cutting an eight-point deficit to five) with 2:05 remaining was an instant first-guess. Yes, he had the two-minute warning and three timeouts at his disposal, but the risk was not getting another possession. Green Bay didn’t. On fourth-and-goal from the 8, LaFleur needed to trust Rodgers. If the play failed, at least the Buccaneers would be backed up, which may have impacted their play-calling.
2. Buffalo coach Sean McDermott also didn’t distinguish himself in thinking field goals would help the Bills at Kansas City. The Bills kicked field goals from the Chiefs’ 2- and 8-yard lines, making the score 21-12 (instead of 21-16) and 24-15 (instead of 24-19). Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll surely had some good red zone stuff to call to finish those possessions with touchdowns.
3. From the Go Figure Dept.: Tom Brady is 0-9 all-time in the regular season when he throws at least three interceptions, but 3-1 in the playoffs. He had three touchdowns and interceptions in Sunday’s win.
4. Old friend Shaq Barrett, the former Colorado State and Broncos pass rusher, had three sacks against the Packers. He could have a huge Super Bowl, too. Kansas City left tackle Eric Fisher sustained a second-half Achilles injury against Buffalo and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is on injured reserve. Barrett played on the franchise tag this year and is scheduled to reenter free agency in March.
5. Bills quarterback Josh Allen was his team’s leading rusher Sunday with 88 yards and his running backs combined for 32 yards on nine carries. Buffalo’s depth chart is in such good shapethatgeneralmanager Brandon Beane can be choosy in the draft and he should add a physical running back who can run inside and take some of that responsibility off Allen’s body. Zack Moss (who was injured in the wild card round) is 5-foot-9 and Devin Singletary is 5-foot-7.