Nine days before the 2019 NFL Draft, new Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco weighed in on what he hoped would happen for his team.



“I don’t really care about whether they take a quarterback or not,” he said after a veteran minicamp practice in mid-April. “Whether it’s 10 or whatnot, the only thing I care about is, like I said, I want this team to be as good as they can with me at quarterback. If we feel like as a team and an organization that we can add value to our team at the 10th pick, then I’m all for getting a guy that can add value to the team with me as the understood quarterback. At the end of the day, it is what it is.”



Flacco is the understood quarterback, for now, but his surroundings changed significantly through the draft. The Broncos traded up to select Drew Lock in the second round, then signed Brett Rypien as an undrafted free agent.



Although general manager John Elway and coach Vic Fangio made it clear...