[News] Eisenberg: Uncertainty At Quarterback Looms Large This Offseason

[BR News]

The Ravens have to address Joe Flacco’s contract, monitor his recovery and find a substantial Plan B.

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[drillem]

The team is between a rock and a hard place. Without Flacco being healthy there are no guarantees and the Ravens could find themselves in similar territory as other teams without a valid qb. Not a good place to be.

[OnlyRavensFanInFlorida]

. This season has been a real disappointment, and I hope all the players on IR will be able to play next year. Until then Matt Schaub can finish the season, he knows the offense and has experience in the league. I hope they don't waist any cap space on someone else. GO RAVENS!

[Bob21043]

Was a little surprised when Renner was let go; he looked good in preseason. Bring him back (at least on PS).

[Mad Scientist Too]

. This season has been a real disappointment, and I hope all the players on IR will be able to play next year. Until then Matt Schaub can finish the season, he knows the offense and has experience in the league. I hope they don't waist any cap space on someone else. GO RAVENS!

The Ravens have to bring in someone as a backup. But I agree that they shouldn't break the bank.

[Mad Scientist Too]

I don't say this as a knock on Matt Schaub, however I think in the next 6 weeks all the Flacco haters and even those of us who spport him are going to find out exactly what Joe brings to the team because it isn't going to be there.

[johnmike72]

Joe will be back on the field in a couple of days.- John Harbaugh. Oh wait, that was his Perriman conclusion.

[thieverycorporation]

The situation will remain fluid up until the draft. Possibly thru the cuts during cut downs. Renner seems to be the best option now. Practice Squad and previous team reps can only benefit us. He's cheap, familiar, and showed flashes. What else would we get with another signing that we wouldn't get from him. These are practice games going forward. Let the youth development/movement continue unabated. The little resources we have left need not be strained further. I would hope they are really committing to the offseason process by dedicating the utmost attention to whom is available, fits what we're attempting to accomplish, needs to be jettisoned, makes us better, depth of roster w/quality, big board rankings, cap casualty evaluations, off season conditioning, rehab of players, second chance candidates from our team and others. etc.

[surfdude]

OK nationally and locally the Ravens front office has been touted as one of the top front offices in all of sports. SO this off season will be a great test to really truly see how a team with Super Bowl aspirations before this season to possibly having a top 3 pick in the 2016 draft. The Ravens are truly at a fork in the road. Could go either way IMO.

[January J]

Clausen will be picked off waivers in a few hours. However joe, justin, Steve and Terrell will all be back and ready next year week one and they will pull together to make s strong push for the Lombardi. The IR squad.

[The Greek]

my idea would be to let schaub start the next 3 or 4 and renner the final 2 or 3. if schaub is god awful after 2 starts let renner start the rest and see what he can do in real game settings.

[ellicottraven]

At this point, it is what it is with Joe's contract. Linta will make sure Joe is the the highest paid QB in the league again. But, there is nothing we can do about it as long as Joe comes back healthy and ready to put together a great season for us as QB. The Ravens much like other teams have zero leverage when negotiating with their franchise QB period. They'll have to sign him to the contract Linta asks them to sign because there is no alternative period.

[ravens4life86]

Nothing changes big scary article of FEAR! About Nothing. Carson Palmer 2 knee injuries came back on time and playing at MVP levels, Brady same knee injury from pollard hit came back fine. So will get his surgery next week and be back July/August..around that 8/9month time frame.

As for his contract...give him guaranteed money upfront, and cap hits avg around 15mil like he has now... Something thatsboth player and team friendly

[birdseye]

Joe Flacco aint Mike Vick... this injury shouldn't be an issue going forward, as a pocket passing QB maybe some of the 2016 season is in jeopardy but long term outlook will not be affected by this injury. As an athlete who has come back from 2 blown out knees, a player who is immobile for most of the game doesn't need explosive cutting ability to return to his old self. Running backs and receivers who suffer the same fate sometimes never make a full recovery because they loose some of that explosion, which Joe has never had anyways. Additionally, the knee brace shouldn't be an issue either, as doctors that I had conversations with said the brace is just as much a psychological boost as it is a injury preventative method. Ironically though, the way Flacco tore his ACL looked like it happened in the exact way that the brace is meant to protect (direct impact to the side of the knee) but with artificial turf, no ACL is safe... Which I will now use this platform to suggest going grass surface over the artificial turf, somebody smarter than me do a comprehensive study comparing the two and injury impact please!!!!!!

[Crusader]

I wish this was a ploy to just have Joe sit out the rest of this crummy year.

[Crusader]

This is bad. Ravens will have all new receivers by the time Joe is back and he will have to get in a sink with them all over again also the running back will have steel plates in his arm. This is why I say 2017 before the next chance at playoffs... maybe.

[Nexttime]

The bottom line is if we have two picks in the top 40, one in the top 8, both of them need to hit productivity from the get go, LT with the early pick and CB with the second round pick or vice versa. But really get after this, can't afford Oher and Elam level production, need better.

[reed20fence]

Much ado about nothing in my mind. Joe will be fine. Contract talks will proceed as scheduled. Worst thing we can do is overreact to fabricated problems by investing valuable picks or dollars on a non issue.

[sivled]

who would you pick to fill the back up quater back spot now that Schaub is the starter for the rest of the season. There seems to be all kinds of choices out there and they would need one with expierence not a rooke that would have to learn from scratch. Who would you pick?

[KidNme]

my idea would be to let schaub start the next 3 or 4 and renner the final 2 or 3. if schaub is god awful after 2 starts let renner start the rest and see what he can do in real game settings.

That would be my guess as well. Probably won't need a #1 backup because Joe will be fine and seeing Shaub in action for a few games and then kicking the tires on Renner for a couple would make sense but it appears that they're not too sold on Renner right now.

[NCMan]

This is bad. Ravens will have all new receivers by the time Joe is back and he will have to get in a sink with them all over again also the running back will have steel plates in his arm. This is why I say 2017 before the next chance at playoffs... maybe.

That's gonna be one mighty big sink. 

[MarioDrama]

Out of all the players that could possibly get injured Ironman Joe gets hit with the bug. This team was out of the playoffs since week 2, but this would have given Joe some time to get a good rapport with the young receivers, but now he will miss all of offseason and maybe even a couple of games, very bad timing for an injury.

[heffneil]

We should point out that a injured player isn't obligated to renegotiate their contract. We needed to renegotiate this contract before the injury since Flacco's cap space is bankrupting the team and its ability to get any other players. With that said Flacco's injury is likely to cost the Ravens far more than anyone has fully realized.

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Flacco is going to be fine. He will be back by the beginning of next season. The guy has a good attitude and will work hard at getting back on the field.

[purpledown]

the Ravens have to add a good quarterback during the offseason through the draft or free agency. Matt Schaub is not that guy, i think he will prove that fact in the up coming games.

[bmoraven]

Joe's contract would have been re done even if he didn't get injured. Since the big payday, we've been in the playoffs 1 out of 3 seasons. He will be fine when he returns and should be able to play at the same high level. The main concern now will be the long term question. If that knee takes another hit, the ravens need to have a back up QB who is being groomed to be a starter ala Favre/Rogers.

[Wisdom]

I don't say this as a knock on Matt Schaub, however I think in the next 6 weeks all the Flacco haters and even those of us who spport him are going to find out exactly what Joe brings to the team because it isn't going to be there.

Like what? 

[Purple Dawg 96]

Joe doesn't run because he doesn't want to get hurt and now he banged up from standing in the pocket so now he definitely isn't running anymore and the O Line can't hold players back forever QBs gotta run or move the pocket or I can hear the complaints now about blocking and it will not be the O Line fault big ben banged up from the floor up but he still throwing darts to Antonio Brown but Joe will just fall and say "I need more time" no you need to buck up and play ball or get another job! He doesn't do what he did to get the job and everyone can't keep blaming the WRs the rams game showed bad pass after bad pass but wait it was his leg fault! Smh

[DrinkmoreBeer]

The obvious solution is to trade Joe in the off-season and pick up Johnny Manziel. He's fun, he's mobile, and he can also drop one back. Or two. Or a case.

[catgirl54]

Iron Man will be fine. Not worried. But they need a good, viable back-up. I keep watching Tyrod Taylor -- happy for him, but man, we could use him right now!!