Subscribe
Follow Us
Joe Flacco continues to be one of the more intriguing stories in the NFL. The 39-year-old quarterback has become something of a hot commodity recently, as even at his age, he's still performing at a high level and winning games.
Flacco made his first start of the season this past weekend in a 37-34 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars for the Indianapolis Colts. It was his second appearance of the year after filling in for Anthony Richardson during Week 4 when the second-year quarterback went down with a hip injury. Flacco helped lead the comeback, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24, which revived all the Joe Flacco starter talk from last season.
It came as a bit of a surprise that the Colts reportedly made the only offseason offer to Flacco. Last season, he became the talk of the NFL during his resurgent year with the Cleveland Browns, filling in for Deshaun Watson, who went down with a season-ending shoulder injury. The 17-year veteran went 4-1, ultimately helping the Browns—who had every excuse not to—make the playoffs.
Considering that Flacco’s career had been on the downside after leaving the Baltimore Ravens in 2019, the team that drafted him in 2008, his performances last season were nothing short of miraculous. They were so impressive, in fact, that he won the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award.
Flacco decided to give it another shot this season. But Colts' coach Shane Steichen has already stated that once Richardson gets healthy, he'll return as the starter, according to Ari Meirov. So, does this mean the Colts will decide to trade Flacco before the Nov. 5 deadline? If so, here are a couple of teams that would likely be interested in the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Cleveland Browns
The most obvious team that should be vying for Joe Flacco’s services is the Cleveland Browns—the team he helped lead to the playoffs last year. Deshaun Watson, returning from last year’s injury, has been downright abysmal through five games, with fans calling for his immediate benching. That would leave Jameis Winston as the next option, followed by Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who played some during Watson's absence last season.
Are these better options? Winston, a former first-round pick, has shown flashes of being productive in the past, but there's just as much uncertainty with him as there is with Watson. If Flacco were traded back to Cleveland, he’d be working under new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, unlike last season under Alex Van Pelt, who was fired during the offseason.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins notched just their second win of the season in Week 5, defeating a struggling New England Patriots team. Since losing Tua Tagovailoa in Week 2 to a concussion, the Dolphins’ offense has ground to a halt. Over the last three games, they’re averaging just 10 points per game, the second-worst in the league during that stretch.
Article Continues Below
Miami’s quarterback issues don’t stop with Tagovailoa. They also lost Skylar Thompson to a rib injury in Week 3 against the Seattle Seahawks. Now, they're down to Tyler Huntley, whom they recently signed off the Ravens’ practice squad on Sept. 17. Considering the situation with Tagovailoa's unfortunate injury, along with Thompson's, coach Mike McDaniel might not be on the hot seat, even if things do continue to spiral. However, adding a veteran like Joe Flacco could inject some life into the offense and give the Dolphins a much-needed boost.
Las Vegas Raiders
Antonio Pierce and the Raiders missed out on drafting a valuable first-round quarterback in this year's NFL draft, leaving them to settle for Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell for this season. Minshew began the season as the starter but has struggled out of the gate. He was eventually benched for O’Connell in last week's 34-18 loss to the Denver Broncos, where he threw a pick-six on a first-and-goal from the Denver 5-yard line. So far, Minshew has thrown four touchdowns to five interceptions this season.
O'Connell doesn’t appear to be the answer either. Filling in for Minshew, he completed just 50% of his passes and threw an interception of his own. Flacco could potentially revive this struggling Raiders offense and even help ease the tensions between star receiver Davante Adams and head coach Antonio Pierce.
Tennessee Titans
Will Levis struggled mightily leading up to Week 4’s Monday Night Football matchup against the Dolphins. The second-year quarterback had made several questionable decisions in the first four games that led to costly turnovers. During that game, Levis went down with a shoulder injury and was replaced by former Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.
Levis’ status for Week 6 against, ironically, the Colts, remains questionable, leaving Rudolph at the helm. In the win over the likewise quarterback-starved Dolphins, Rudolph went 9-for-17 for 85 yards to secure a 31-12 victory. However, if Levis is out for an extended period, it leaves the Titans with just one quarterback on the roster.
While Rudolph may manage for the short term, head coach Brian Callahan believes there’s more potential in this season in his first year. At 1-3, the AFC South—excluding the Texans—remains wide open. The only issue with this scenario is whether the Colts would be willing to trade within their division, especially with the stakes so high in a still-contested AFC South race.
