Joe Flacco earned the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award after his flawless five-game run with the Cleveland Browns last season. He was 4-1 for the Browns and eventually led them to the playoffs, at an age when most athletes retire. However, when the Browns should’ve been scrambling to retain him, and other teams should’ve been coveting his sign on their contracts, the reality wasn’t such.
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After an explosive stint with the Browns, many expected the 39-year-old QB to get extended with Cleveland. Surprisingly, the Browns didn’t extend Flacco, leading the veteran QB back into the market. However, The market didn’t seem receptive to the prospect of signing him. In his latest appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, the host asked Flacco what was going through his mind when his name wasn’t being linked with any teams.
Flacco admitted that he wasn’t getting calls from any team while his peers were getting signed left and right. This made him worried and he started questioning his wife and himself of his capabilities.
“I’m sitting around and watching everybody get signed, I’m looking at my wife and going, ‘What the hell is going on? Like, I can’t sign anywhere?’”
But he didn’t lose hope. Flacco kept calm and internally knew a few scenarios that could still be possible in time. The 39-year-old then admitted that it was pure hope rather than clarity in his mind when he said he had a grip on what would happen.
“I was ready to see what was gonna happen and probably had a few ideas on what may happen. But when you try to think where you may end up, you always have no idea. At least for me, it’s the case with me.”
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The Browns signed Flacco in November as a backup to rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson after Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending surgery. Much to everyone’s surprise, the 38-year-old Flacco then stitched up impressive performances by throwing for 1,616 yards, 13 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. But it seems his age and previous records still seemed to override his latest achievements.
Luckily for Flacco, this uncertain period passed. He soon received offers from three NFL teams before choosing the Indianapolis Colts among them.
Joe Flacco Signs With The Colts For a Lucrative One-Year Deal
Earlier today, The Associated Press [via Fox Sports] broke the news that Flacco and the Colts have agreed to a one-year deal. The source told The Associated Press that the commercials of the deal go up to $8.7 million with incentives with $4.5 million guaranteed. The other two teams rumored to be interested in Flacco were the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles. Interestingly, Saints’ backup QB Jameis Winston signed for the Browns as Flacco’s replacement which was reportedly Joe’s first choice of team.
However, the Colts deal has come as a blessing in disguise in monetary terms. His $8.7 million contract is much more than what he earned with the Browns [$2.5 million] last season [h/t Mirror]. His Colts deal also rivals the contracts he had signed with the New York Jets [$3.5 million + $1.5 million]. The Baltimore Ravens MVP and Super Bowl winner joins the Colts as backup to Anthony Richardson after Gardner Minshew left for Vegas.
With Richardson fresh off a season-ending shoulder injury, Flacco has a good chance of being a starter at the beginning of the season!
