Thanks for educating me on the trade part! Really, good to know that.
With your second point, however, I do not agree at all. "What other teams in the league are doing and what other QBs in the league get paid" can spin both ways. Since I'm not into bashing and trash talking on these boards and looking for real discussions, let me explain my opinion shortly.
We all know Flacco can be elite, IF he has solid pass protection. I think that's even not an argument. However, when the O-line starts to leak, Flacco completely freezes, starts making poor decisions or just flops and tosses the ball away. Even this is understandable, most QBs would probably be doing the same in similar situations. But when we start considering what he is getting paid, this is where my issue with Flacco starts.
Flacco is the 4th highest paid QB in the league, but he is playing like garbage. Yes, he's O-line sucks bllz, but he's not the only QB who has bad O-line. In fact, he's only tied to 15th most sacked QB thus far. Luck has hands down the worst pass protection in the league and he's been sacked TWO TIMES more than Flacco, but Lucks QBR is 96,2 compared to Flaccos 75,4. But yeah-yeah, I know, Luck is also the highest paid QB. But to throw in couple more QBs who get their butt handed to them every Sunday: Rivers, Dalton and Ryan are all having it worse than Flacco, they all are getting paid less than Flacco, yet their QBRs are 20-40 points higher than Flacco's. Sure, Bengals have AJ and Falcons have Jones who save their QB from time to time, but Rivers has arguably worse weapons than Flacco, still he's getting it done most Sundays.
The bottom line for me is, for the money Flacco gets, he should be able to carry this team, with or without top notch pass protection. Most QBs who get paid the way Flacco does, are able to do it. Now sure, if Flacco is not the type of QB, it should be up to the organization to protect their investment and put him in position where he can play on top level. But this is where we land in a fork - they can't afford best O-linemen like KO, inter alia because of Flacco's cap hit.
I just wish that Flacco would understand, that he is not capable of playing at a adequate level without killer O-line and to afford such line, take a reasonable pay cut. Sure, he's earned the money by bringing us a Lombardi trophy, but if he would be willing to take a few mil less, he would be a better player and most likely play for a longer time, cause he wouldn't be beat up all the time, thus making more in the long run. Win-win for everybody.