Joe Flacco replaced Anthony Richardson following his minor hip injury on Sunday, stabilizing Indianapolis’ passing attack—a move that no doubt delighted a number of fantasy general managers associated with Colts wide outs. The quarterback who is currently the second oldest in the NFL, after Aaron Rodgers, shown that he is still a reliable backup.
Last season in Cleveland, Flacco carried out this pattern for a considerable amount of time, saving a Browns club that had lost Deshaun Watson to a shoulder injury. Flacco received Comeback Player of the Year after leading the Browns to an 11-6 season and a wild-card berth, despite not making his debut until December. The organization took a different approach by signing Jameis Winston, even though the veteran Ravens starter had indicated that he would be interested in playing for the Browns again. Flacco was subsequently signed by the Colts to a $4.5MM, one-year contract.
The Colts have since realized that the 17-year veteran is still talented, but the Browns did not want to bring the most costly contract to Flacco since his Ravens term ended following a season in Denver. Flacco said that he never had an offer to stay in Cleveland, according quarterback Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Although there was a market, the former Super Bowl MVP had earlier expressed astonishment that the Browns had not re-signed him. Before deciding to join Shane Steichen’s squad, Flacco was extended an invitation to rejoin the Eagles. Although the Colts would not rule out signing Gardner Minshew again, his contract was far too expensive for them to accept. Hours into the game, the Raiders and Minshew agreed to terms on a two-year, $25MM contract.The Colts switched to Flacco as Richardson insurance during the egal tampering period.
The hip pointer Richardson had against the Steelers may not cause him to miss any time, but Flacco showed to be a more accurate thrower than the explosive second-year starter. The AFC South club needed to capitalize on that early. Richardson had an NFL-low 49% completion percentage going into Week 4; against Pittsburgh, Flacco completed 61.5% of his throws (16-for-26, 168 yards) and threw two touchdown passes.
Cleveland is trapped with Watson since they approved a fully guaranteed $230MM contract in 2022, while Indianapolis does not intend to sit Richardson to let him improve. Watson’s lacklustre performance has cost the Browns, an otherwise strong squad. After playing with the Saints for four seasons, Winston moved to Ohio. The Browns had targeted the former No. 1 overall selection over Flacco, but he lost quarterback job to Andy Dalton in 2022 and supported Derek Carr the previous season.
Watson was in favour of signing Winston in March. He signed a $4MM, one-year contract with the Browns. Although Cleveland had thought about getting back together with Jacoby Brissett, they declined the Patriots’ $8MM offer. Because of the consequences from this QB2 chapter, the organization was said to have seen Flacco as a fallback option in case Winston and Brissett ended up somewhere else. This put an end to an incredibly fruitful alliance.
