Joe Flacco was not the hero anyone knew the Cleveland Browns needed in 2023, but the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year certainly earned his place at the NFL Awards this season. Flacco came to the Cleveland Browns seemingly ice-cold. He didn't spend the offseason with any NFL teams, and although he was undoubtedly working out and staying ready, Flacco's ability to come in and run Kevin Stefanski's offense, passing for 320-plus yards per game?
It was impressive, to say the least. And it has brought about questions as to whether or not some teams are going to covet Flacco in 2024 NFL Free Agency.
It's not likely that Flacco is going to have teams throwing themselves at him to be their new starter, but teams looking to draft quarterbacks, teams in need of bridge starters, or teams that simply want to raise the floor of their QB2 position will all be interested in Flacco this offseason. Let's take a look at a trio that could come calling.
1. New England Patriots
I think the New England Patriots are one obvious team to watch out for when it comes to someone else signing Joe Flacco away from the Cleveland Browns this offseason. First of all, Flacco is from the Northeast, so a return to that part of the country may be something that interests him.
Second, New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo (still weird to type this) has hired former Cleveland Browns OC Alex Van Pelt as his offensive coordinator this year. That connection for Flacco could be super helpful when it comes to his free agency pursuits, but with the Patriots likely looking at QBs in the NFL Draft, Flacco could be a veteran voice in the room and a fail-safe in case of an injury like we saw last year with Anthony Richardson, Gardner Minshew, and the Colts.
2. New Orleans Saints
When Joe Flacco played for the Baltimore Ravens, they had a number of different folks running the offensive side of the ball, but the best Flacco played in Baltimore came in the 2014 regular season under Gary Kubiak.
Kubiak is no longer coaching in the NFL, but one of his sons -- Klint Kubiak -- just took the OC position with the New Orleans Saints where they have veteran Derek Carr lined up under center as their QB1. Not only does Klint Kubiak run an offense that is favorable to someone like Joe Flacco (as we saw this past season with Flacco in Cleveland) but he's also got some additional familiarity for Flacco on that staff.
Kubiak has hired Rick Dennison to his staff as an assistant and Dennison was the quarterbacks coach in Baltimore during Flacco's 2014 season with the team.
With Jameis Winston hitting free agency, the Saints could be in the market for a new QB2 and the way Flacco played in 2023 might just give him an opportunity to spend a year in New Orleans with some familiar faces.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
I mentioned it before, but one thing that might be attractive to Joe Flacco in NFL free agency is a return to the Northeastern part of the country, where he is from. Proximity to home is not always "everything" when it comes to NFL free agency. We could just as easily see Flacco go out and play for Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers this coming season.
With that being said, the Pittsburgh Steelers could make a lot of sense for him.
Flacco's college career started off with the Pittsburgh program before he transferred to Delaware, where he ultimately became a first-round NFL Draft prospect.
The Pittsburgh Steelers play just under five hours from where Flacco grew up and played his high school ball. We've already seen multiple times in his later years that Flacco is being drawn back to this part of the country with his decisions to sign with both the Jets and Eagles in consecutive years.
i think with the Steelers cutting Mitchell Trubisky, Mason Rudolph hitting free agency, and Kenny Pickett obviously not playing great in his first two NFL seasons, this is a situation where Flacco could legitimately come in and see some substantial playing time in 2024 depending on what else the Steelers do at the position this offseason.