And yet they re-signed him for 3 of those years. So apparently middling passing isn’t as much of a deal killer as you’re making it out to be. And again, what does Fields do that Flacco never could?
And then drafted a QB to replace him, which he did when Flacco got injured, and then led the Ravens to the playoffs and was an MVP the next year. At that point they traded Flacco for a 4th round pick.
Do you think it's just a coincidence that literally the entire time between when he signed that huge deal and when they drafted his replacement they were mediocre? You're welcome to believe that, lord knows no amount of evidence could ever change your mind about anything ever, but it's probably not a coincidence that they signed a mediocre QB to a huge contract and went from a Super Bowl winning team to a .500 team over the next 5 years overnight.
There are lots of things Fields does that Flacco never did.
- rush for 100 yards
- fumble once a game for 3 seasons as a starter
- get sacked on 10+% of his dropbacks
There are some things Flacco could do that Fields has never shown he can too, obviously. Doesn't mean he wasn't a mediocre QB who got way overpaid, leading to a stretch of 5 pretty mediocre seasons.