Okay, so here’s the thing. Joe Flacco… yeah, the guy we all kinda thought might just quietly step away from the NFL? Surprise, surprise! He’s back with the Cleveland Browns for another round. I mean, who saw that coming? They inked him for a year, a cool $4 million, but he could snag up to $13 million if he hits all the right notes. His agent, Joe Linta—by the way, ever notice how all these agents just love buzzing Schefter?—spilled the beans last Friday.
Flacco’s jaunt to Cleveland isn’t his first rodeo there. Nope, he had quite the comeback (literal award-winning and all) with them back in 2023. It’s like a weird boomerang situation, but hey, whatever works.
Now, here’s where it gets juicy. Steelers and the Vikings? Yeah, they were kinda in the picture too. But somehow the Browns lured him back. Maybe it was the nostalgia? Or perhaps he remembered some killer barbecue spot over there. Jimmy Haslam (one of the bosses) practically whispered to local journos during some NFL meet-up that Flacco could still be on their radar. Guess it wasn’t just hot air, huh?
So—onto the quarterback gossip scene—Flacco’s walking into a bit of a soap opera room, with Deshaun Watson sidelined (re-Achilles tendon woes) and Kenny Pickett, who’s now in Cleveland and vying for his time to shine.
The Browns, by the way, have been a bit frantic about their QB lineup ever since they zoomed through four different guys last season. They kind of ghosted Jameis Winston, the former second-stringer, and did some dexterous dealing to nab Pickett. A fifth-rounder and Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the trade-off to Philly, in case you missed that little nugget.
Speaking of drafts, Cleveland’s sitting on the second spot for 2025 and is busy eyeing the new kids. Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, a few others… a parade of potential future stars, maybe? Haslam swore they wouldn’t kneejerk into nabbing a QB first thing. But we’ll see about that.
Looping back, a lot of minds thought Flacco was doing his victory lap in 2023, especially after he got pretty ghosted by team calls. But when Watson got KO’d with that shoulder situation, Flacco slipped into the Browns’ playbook and, BAM, gave a hell of a performance, maybe one of the best since their ’99 return. I mean, four games straight over 300 yards? Showoff.
Sure, it fell apart against Houston in the wild card, but it enough made him a hot backup prospect for 2024. The Colts snatched him up for $4.5 million to kind of hover behind Richardson on deck. That got complicated as Richardson struggled and Flacco marched in by Week 9, but not without some hiccups when those interceptions started piling up. Yep, the Vikings and Bills were a bit of a train wreck for him.
Yet, in 17 seasons, Flacco’s lined out an impressive stat line: 45,697 yards, 257 touchdowns, and 162 interceptions. He’s got a Super Bowl MVP feather in his cap too, back from his Ravens glory days. Oh, and along with some dude named Brian Hoyer and Case Keenum, he’s one of just three QBs with a winning record in Cleveland since they pulled their Phoenix act.
Tossing a nod to ESPN’s Stephen Holder for filling in some gaps here. Sports are madness, folks—just the way we like it.
