Joey Flacco needed a job and the New York Jets offered the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback a one-year deal to play backup behind franchise QB, Sam Darnold.
Flacco, 35, will earn $1.5 million as the new backup QB for the Jets. His total contract can be worth up to $3 million with incentives and bonuses.
Flacco will serve as a veteran presence in the locker room, and act as a big brother-type for Darnold. A near-flawless Flacco (11 touchdowns, 0 picks) led the Baltimore Ravens to four playoff victories to win the 2013 Super Bowl.
Flacco logged 12 seasons in the NFL. He’s 98-73 in his career as a starter. He tallied 40,067 passing yards, 218 touchdowns, and 141 interceptions. He’s a career 62% passer. Flacco tossed 20-plus touchdowns in a season at least six times.
The Jets drafted QB James Morgan (FIU) with a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Morgan is expected to compete for the third-string QB job.
The Ravens selected Flacco with the #18 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played his college ball with the Delaware Blue Hens, which is how he flew under the radar of many scouts. Flacco went on to win the NFL Rookie of the Year in 2008.
A slumping Flacco went down with a hip injury in 2018. His backup, a rookie named Lamar Jackson, stepped up for the Ravens. Jackson became an instant success going 6-1 as a starter. With Jackson as the Ravens’ obvious future, the team traded Flacco to the Denver Broncos during the last offseason for a fourth-round pick.
Bumpy Mountain High
Flacco went 2-6 in 2019 as the Broncos starting QB. He tossed five touchdowns and six interceptions in the first half of the season. He played with various injuries before suffering a season-ending neck injury.
The Broncos inserted rookie QB Drew Lock into in the lineup when Flacco went down. Lock showed flashes of greatness in his five starts so John Elway and the Broncos opted to stick with him and to cut Flacco.
Flacco had successful neck surgery last month to repair a herniated disk. Doctors should clear him for practice around late August, but he might not be ready to roll by Week 1.
Flacco appeared in 15 playoff games with the Ravens, including a Super Bowl win. He has plenty of experience, but his durability is an obvious question mark.
Joe Douglas, the Jets general manager, initially scouted Flacco when he was with the Baltimore Ravens. Douglas tipped off the Ravens’ front office about the tall skinny kid from Delaware with a cannon for an arm. Douglas, already familiar with Flacco, added the ex-Raven fill a vacant spot. The Jets were shopping for a low-cost veteran QB and found one with Flacco.
According to William Hill, the New York Jets are one of the long shots on the futures board at 80/1 odds to win the 2021 Super Bowl.