ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos have informed former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Joe Flacco that he is being released with a failed physical designation, the team announced Thursday.
Flacco, who was placed on injured reserve halfway through last season with a herniated disk in his neck, becomes an unrestricted free agent.
He was 2-6 as a starter in 2019, throwing for 1,822 yards with 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He completed 63.5% of his passes last season.
Flacco had two years remaining on the deal -- the Broncos renegotiated it last August to give themselves additional salary cap room -- with salary cap charges of $23.650 million in 2020 and $27.650 million in 2021.
By releasing Flacco, the Broncos save just more than $10 million against the salary cap.
His release has been expected for weeks, especially after the Broncos had agreed to terms earlier this week with Jeff Driskel to be the team's backup quarterback behind Drew Lock.
It is still a long way from a year ago, when Flacco's arrival in Denver was greeted with team president of football operations/general manager John Elway's declaration that the former Super Bowl MVP "has a lot of football left in him'' and that Flacco was "just really coming into his prime.''
The Broncos struggled mightily on offense overall this past season, but especially in Flacco's starts as the team scored more than 16 points in just two of those eight games. Flacco took a pounding, getting sacked 26 times.
Flacco, who turned 35 in January, said during the season he had felt discomfort in his neck "for a couple of weeks'' before his last start Oct. 27 in Indianapolis. He took several big hits in the loss to the Colts, including one of the biggest hits he took all season on the game's final play.
He went to injured reserve five days later.
Flacco has received two medical opinions on his neck since season's end, including an MRI in February. Because of nationwide travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 virus, Flacco has not been examined by the Broncos' medical staff since his exit physical Dec. 30, but the belief is Flacco will be medically ready to play in the upcoming season if he is signed.
At season's end, Flacco said he hoped to continue playing once he was medically cleared.
"I'm probably a little bit more worried about other things at this point, but if [being a backup is] what it has to be, I want to play football," Flacco said then. "If that's what it has to be, whether it's here or wherever, if that's what it has to be for me to get back in and start playing again, then yeah, I'll go that route.''
Lock, a second-round pick last April, started the Broncos' last five games as the team went 4-1 down the stretch. Elway said at season's end and at the scouting combine last month, it was "unrealistic'' to say Lock would not be the starter moving forward.
In 12 NFL seasons, Flacco is 98-73 as a starter with 40,067 passing yards, 218 touchdowns and 141 interceptions.
In 2013, Flacco threw 11 touchdown passes without an interception in four postseason games as the Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII. Flacco was the game's MVP.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiVWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmVzcG4uY29tL25mbC9zdG9yeS9fL2lkLzI4OTI2ODAxL2Jyb25jb3MtcmVsZWFzZS1xYi1qb2UtZmxhY2NvLW9uZS1zZWFzb27SAWJodHRwczovL3d3dy5lc3BuLmNvbS9uZmwvc3RvcnkvXy9pZC8yODkyNjgwMS9icm9uY29zLXJlbGVhc2UtcWItam9lLWZsYWNjby1vbmUtc2Vhc29uP3BsYXRmb3JtPWFtcA?oc=5
2020-03-19 17:35:29Z
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