Should Marquise Brown wear No. 5 for the Ravens?

With the NFL owners voting to ease jersey number restrictions starting in 2021, plenty of players have already made it known that they’re interested in wearing something new. Some of those players have been from the Baltimore Ravens, including DeShon Elliott and Patrick Queen. However, one Baltimore player who could opt to switch to a new number has sparked plenty of spirited conversation.

Wide receiver Marquise Brown established himself at the University of Oklahoma in a No. 5 jersey, catching 132 passes for 2,413 yards and 17 touchdowns in his two years with the Sooners. However, due to the rules that were in place when he got to the NFL, Brown had to switch numbers and settled on No. 15.

With wide receivers now being allowed to wear single digit numbers, Brown could look into wearing his old number, and seems to be in favor of the idea based off of the fact that he retweeted the tweet below.

Normally, a player switching numbers isn’t a very big deal. Every athlete has the right to choose what number they want to wear as long as it isn’t made off-limits by the team they play for or by the league due to positional restrictions. However, there’s a former Ravens great who wore No. 5 that many are defending in the matter, and with it a topic of discussion formed.

Joe Flacco is currently the best quarterback in Baltimore franchise history. He threw for 38,245 yards and 212 touchdowns during his 11 years with the Ravens, and never finished with a record below 8-8 from his rookie year in 2008 all the way until the 2015 season, where he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Flacco also went on one of the best playoff runs in NFL history, compiling 11 touchdowns compared to zero interceptions and lead the Ravens organization to their second Super Bowl championship. While he slowed down during the end of his Baltimore tenure, he accomplished so much for the franchise, all while wearing the No. 5.

The debate as to whether Brown should switch to No. 5 is one that has reasonable arguments for both sides. On one hand, Flacco doesn’t quite reach the status of other Ravens greats such as Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, plus he wasn’t overly spectacular during the last few years of his time with Baltimore.

On the other hand, Flacco provided stability at the quarterback position for more than a decade, and gave so much to the organization both on and off of the field. While not every Super Bowl winning quarterback deserves to have his jersey made off-limits, Flacco was rather dominant for his first seven years in a Ravens uniform and for a while was one of the faces of the franchise.

If Brown reaches out to Flacco and the quarterback gives the go-ahead, then there should be no issue. However, Flacco isn’t obligated to be a part of Brown’s decision. If the organization is set on retiring No. 5 for Flacco, if Brown inquires about switching they’ll tell him it’s not available. However, if they decide not to hold the number, then Brown has every right to change to his old college number.

At the end of the day, regardless of what jersey Brown is wearing, he will still be the same football player. It wouldn’t be a big deal if the organization doesn’t want to hold the number and Brown switches to No. 5. However, there should be some level of respect for Flacco, especially considering everything he did for Baltimore. Someone who meant so much to a team and has the stats to show for it should have their jersey retired.

This situation will be one to keep an eye on, and will reveal many things about how the organization and others feel about Flacco.