Joe Flacco is getting set to hit the free-agent market next week, but he and the Cleveland Browns may be getting close to settling on an agreement.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, a league source says that Flacco prefers a reunion with the Browns, even though he would have to accept a backup role.
Florio adds that Flacco loves everything about playing in Cleveland and that his representatives met with Browns brass at the NFL Scouting Combine last week.
Previously, it had been reported that Flacco was in search of a starting job, so it’s entirely possible that his reps gauged the market and told him that it may be tough for him to find such a position this offseason.
After all, Flacco is 39 years old, and regardless of how well he played during his five-game run with Cleveland this past regular season, he showed his warts in the playoffs, throwing a couple of pick-sixes in what ended up being a blowout loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round.
Flacco signed on to the Browns’ practice squad in late November and was pressed into starting duty in December as a result of injuries and underwhelming quarterback play overall.
He ended up going 4-1 in five regular-season starts, throwing for 1,616 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 60.3 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 90.2. That was enough for Flacco to earn Comeback Player of the Year honors.
Flacco has not been a regular starter since the first half of 2018, when he was under center for the Baltimore Ravens before losing his job to Lamar Jackson midway through the season.
He then spent one year with the Denver Broncos and three seasons with the New York Jets before finding himself out of the league entirely for the majority of 2023. That was when he landed with the Browns and revitalized his career.
Perhaps remaining in Cleveland as a backup to Deshaun Watson would be the best course of action for Joe Flacco, especially if things between the Browns and Watson go south.
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