Baltimore Ravens Free Agency: 3 QBs To Target

The Baltimore Ravens are blessed to have a winner in Joe Flacco in control of their team. He has displayed terrific ability to adapt to his coordinators and this season will be no different than years past.

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This season will be Flacco’s fourth different offensive coordinator in as many years as former Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman will take over for the departed Gary Kubiak. Flacco had the best statistical season of his career under the now Denver Broncos coach, but the team is confident Trestman and Flacco will work well together.

Trestman has said he will not change the core concepts within the offense. He will keep the zone blocking schemes that performed well for the Ravens a season ago. What he will change is how the offense operates. Trestman likes an air-it-out, up-tempo attack and Flacco has expressed his desire to execute an offense like so.

Trestman recently spoke to baltimoreravens.com about how he envisions the offense to look:

"“I don’t think [putting on] my spin would be a good way of approaching it,” Trestman said.“We’ve gone into it collectively. We’ve spent a lot of time watching tape, getting an understanding of the terminology and how Gary went about doing things.”“I think we’re a long way off from personalizing anything,” Trestman said. “I don’t think it ever really gets to that point. We’re going to do things together as a staff and build it with our players, and certainly with Joe.”"

The reason why the Ravens would be in the market for a quarterback is Tyrod Taylor is expected to be a free agent. There have been no reports of a return to the team and that would leave Keith Wenning, last year’s sixth-round pick, as the only other quarterback on the roster.

Flacco will also need to restructure his deal in 2016. He is currently projected to count for $28.55 million against the cap, a number the Ravens can’t afford to enter the season with. Fans shouldn’t worry, however, as there is no way the Ravens will let their franchise quarterback go.

The Ravens should find a veteran quarterback that knows how the West Coast offense works. Flacco has stayed injury-free throughout his NFL career, but the Ravens must be prepared should the worst-case scenario arrive. It would be invaluable to have a backup capable of the running the show in the event something were to happen to Flacco.

Each of the quarterbacks listed should be acquired for a lower salary while adding some experience to the position. Here are a few choices the Ravens could choose to make:

Matt Flynn

Flynn is memorable for his performances in relief of Aaron Rodgers which earned him a three-year, $20.5 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012. While was never able to win the starting gig in stops to Seattle and Oakland, he can be counted on to be a reliable backup.

He has doesn’t wow you with his play, but he does have a full understanding of the system having played in the West Coast offense throughout his career.

Flynn is a candidate to remain in Green Bay and the Packers might be the only team who value his services highly. However, if he becomes available, he should be someone the Ravens keep in mind based on his knowledge of the system.

Jimmy Clausen

This speculation is based solely on the fact that Clausen played for Trestman a year ago while in Chicago.

Clausen was given the opportunity to start under Trestman in Week 16 of the 2014 season after the Bears decided to bench Jay Cutler. Clausen was enjoying a decent game until being forced to leave with a concussion following a Ziggy Ansah helmet-to-helmet hit.

Clausen is still fairly young (27) and has some starting experience under his belt. If the Ravens want to go with an experienced backup that knows Trestman’s system, Clausen would be a logical choice.

Matt Moore

Moore is a solid veteran option who also has performed moderately well when called upon. He’s been a part of multiple offensive schemes and a transition to Trestman’s offense shouldn’t be that difficult for the 30 year-old.

He has spent the past three seasons as the backup to Ryan Tannehill in Miami and the possibility of a return to the Dolphins is certainly possible. He also could decide to go to a team with an unproven starter at quarterback rather than be a bonafide backup to Flacco.

However, if he wants a chance to be a part of a winning team, Baltimore might be able to get Moore on board. Moore has primarily played for teams with losing records and a move to a winning team late in his career might be appealing.

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