Joe Flacco and where he ranks as a quarterback

Recently, Joe Flacco’s agent said the her client was deserving of “top five” pay because of the number of wins the Ravens have had with him at quarterback. Well that certainly stirred up debate among the national pundits, mostly against the notion of Flacco being worth that kind of money. While I certainly don’t think Flacco is a top five quarterback, he most certainly needs to be considered in the top ten.


The majority of the arguments I’ve heard against Joe Flacco have to do with the statistics he puts up and the fact that they aren’t eye-popping. While that certainly plays a part into it, I think that most people severely over-rate the statistics and fail to look at them within the context of the game itself. Did Joe Flacco have his best year this year? No. But even then, he was far from bad. He’s probably never going to be a guy like Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers who is a dynamic passing force who can make up for all the other deficiencies of their team. However, there are very few who have ever been able to be that kind of quarterback and even those that are (Brees, Rodgers and Peyton Manning) have combined for three Super Bowl rings in recent history. Guys who are more like Flacco and took longer to develop into dynamic passers (Big Ben, Eli Manning and yes, Tom Brady)) have combined for seven rings in recent history. I’m not saying Flacco will ever become that kind of guy, but of the quarterbacks who have yet to win a ring, he is among the most likely to do it.

 So what’s Joe Flacco worth? Well that’s a matter of opinion. If, like most of the pundits, you think he’s merely a middle of the road quarterback with a strong supporting cast, the he probably deserves a similar contract to Matt Cassel and Ryan Fitzpatrick. If you think he’s elite, then he should get a reflective contract. I believe him to be on the cusp of being and elite quarterback. He’s good enough to win a Super Bowl, not just with the Ravens but with any team. I he doesn’t develop the way some people think he should, I think it’s a reflection of the Ravens not asking him to become that kind of player. I think he’s worth (roughly) a seven-year contract that pays 12-13 million a year. It’s a little below the top five number his agent is asking for, but not low enough to be misrepresentative of his standing in the NFL.

Since we’re talking about top five quarterbacks, I figured this would be a good time to rank my top 15 quarterbacks in the NFL. Why top 15 instead of top 10? So the people who have problems with my ranking for not including one person or another will know exactly where everyone stands. Also note, that Peyton Manning will be absent from this list due to his health questions. If he were fully healthy, he would be number one and adjust the list accordingly. So without further ado…..

1.       Tom Brady – He just carried his team to the Super Bowl on the strength of his passing alone, something Peyton had been doing for years. The three rings don’t hurt.

2.       Drew Brees – Brees is like a little Peyon clone, though his team is a lot less balanced so they rely on him a little more. Breaking the regular season mark for passing yards helps him.

3.       Aaron Rodgers – I’m reluctant to keep Rodgers this high, but he’s played very well since replacing Brett Favre (and no he’s not a better all-time quarterback than Favre, yet.)

4.       Ben Roethlisberger – Big Ben is dynamic when he’s healthy. As good as any of those on beore him on this list, but he doesn’t need to drag his team along like the first three do, hence the two rings.

5.       Eli Manning – See above and Eli’s been doing it as long as Big Ben. He just never got recognition because of the market and his last name.

6.       Joe Flacco – Yep, you read right. I think Flacco’s in the same boat as Eli and Ben, he can be dynamic, but he’s not asked to be. Winning does matter, and even if it is a team sport, no one argues that quarterback is most important position in football, hence a lot of wins does is some way speak to the quality of the quarterback.

7.       Matt Ryan – Honestly, going to the playoffs three of his four years in the NFL and never having a losing season but losing all three of his playoff games. I think there are a lot of teams that would love that problem. Right, Cleveland, Buffalo, Miami?

8.       Matt Schuab – Great passer when he’s healthy. His problem now is staying healthy long enough.

9.       Tony Romo – His playoff exits and slumps sometime overwhelm his otherwise solid play. I could easily see him making a run this year, but we’ll see.

10.   Jay Cutler – Just ask Denver and Chicago about how good he is, his general attitude aside.

11.   Philip Rivers – Great producer of numbers, great leader of men, poor sport. I doubt he’ll ever win a title unless he stops whining whenever the ball doesn’t bounce his way.

12.   Michael Vick – Cam Newton long before the name was ever popular. No if only he could stay healthy.

13.   Matthews Stafford – See Matt Schaub’s entry.

14.   Matt Hasselbeck – Hasselbeck isn’t what he used to be, but is still a solid quarterback. He may be losing some of his arm strength, but is such a good decision maker I don’t really think it will hurt him that much.

15.   Ryan Fitzpatrick – This is kind of the opposite of Hasselbeck. Fitzpatrick makes questionable decisions on occasion but electrifies that offense.