Joe Flacco is among 5 Super Bowl MVPs who were traded

The New York Jets are looking for help at quarterback, which means they did what any NFL team would do and trade for Joe Flacco.

Even if Flacco finished the year with the Philadelphia Eagles, he already had the distinction of being the fifth Super Bowl MVP that was traded. Here is a look at the others.

Honorable mention — Joe Namath was inevitably going to revitalize his career in Southern California. However, the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Jets couldn’t agree on an appropriate trade package. The Jets waived Namath, and he signed with Los Angeles in 1977. If not for that, Namath would have been the first Super Bowl MVP to be traded.

1. S Jake Scott — Super Bowl VII

Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports

Scott, a part of the perfect season in 1972, wasn’t seeing it Don Shula’s way, which meant he had to leave town. The Miami Dolphins dealt Scott to Washington in 1976, where he played another three seasons.

2. Joe Montana — Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIV

(AP Photo/Cliff Schiappa)

The San Francisco 49ers had a conundrum at quarterback and decided to go with the future in Steve Young. Montana, a three-time Super Bowl MVP — kind of the Tom Brady of his era — was dealt to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs appeared in the AFC Championship Game that season, and in the wild-card playoffs the year after before Joe Cool decided to call it quits.

3. WR Deion Branch — Super Bowl XXXIX

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Whenever Bill Belichick feels a player is getting too big for his britches, then it’s time to leave, and that was the impetus for the New England Patriots trading Branch to the Seattle Seahawks. Branch, who had never had 1,000 yards receiving or a Pro Bowl selection, netted the Pats a 2007 first-round pick. Branch played midway through the 2010 season before Seattle traded him back to the Patriots. Branch was waived near the end of the 2012 campaign.

4. WR Santonio Holmes — Super Bowl XLIII

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

There seems to be a theme with Super Bowl MVP receivers getting traded. Anyway, the Pittsburgh Steelers sent Holmes to the New York Jets for a 2010 fifth-round pick in the 2010 offseason. Holmes never tallied 1,000 yards for New York and quarterback Mark Sanchez wasn’t the answer under center anyway. Holmes spent 2014, his last season, playing with the Chicago Bears.

5. QB Joe Flacco

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos had luck with a former Super Bowl MVP from 2012-15 and figured Flacco was as good as Peyton Manning. The Ravens sent Flacco to Denver for a 2019 fourth-round pick. Flacco went 2-6 before being knocked out with a neck injury, which led to the Drew Lock era and also the Broncos releasing Flacco that offseason.

Flacco caught on with the New York Jets in 2020, the last year of the Adam Gase era. Although Flacco signed with the Eagles, quarterback issues compelled the Jets to trade for Flacco, tying him with Deion Branch as the most-traded Super Bowl MVP with two transactions.

1

1