Joe Flacco is returning to Cleveland. The veteran NFL quarterback signed a one-year contract with the Browns on Friday, with a base salary of $4 million, plus additional earnings through incentives. Flacco won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award in 2023, leading the Browns on a remarkable late-season run that helped them reach the playoffs for only the second time since their return in 1999.
The 40-year-old quarterback played last season in Indianapolis, throwing for 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight games, including a 2-4 record as a starter.
The Browns’ quarterback situation is uncertain, with Deshaun Watson potentially sidelined for the entire 2024 season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in January, just months after initially injuring the tendon against Cincinnati. To help fill the void, Cleveland traded for former Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Kenny Pickett, who started one game for the Eagles last season while backing up Jalen Hurts. Pickett also had a 14-10 record as a starter in two years with the Steelers.
Flacco, whose career began with success in Baltimore in the 2010s—including leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory—has since played for several teams, including Denver, the New York Jets, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. Despite his strong performance in 2023 with the Browns, where he went 4-1 as a starter and averaged over 300 passing yards per game, Cleveland chose not to re-sign him. Instead, they committed to Watson, a decision that has been criticized, given Watson’s struggles and the massive contract Cleveland gave him after trading multiple first-round picks to Houston.
Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam recently admitted that the team’s gamble on Watson hasn’t paid off. “We’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole,” Haslam said in March.
The Browns currently hold the second overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft, following a disappointing 3-14 season. While there may be some notable quarterbacks available, it’s likely Cleveland will focus on other roster improvements and see what they have in Pickett for now. Haslam emphasized that if the right quarterback is available, the team will take him, but if not, they’ll address the situation in the coming years while adding talent to other areas.
