3 Most Likely Joe Flacco Free Agency Destinations
After a solid 2023 performance, the Cleveland Browns' attention is fully on the NFL offseason for the time being. Spotrac lists the Browns as having 23 unrestricted free agents on the roster, leaving time to tell who will and won't be returning for the 2024 campaign — including veteran quarterback Joe Flacco.
Flacco was one of the main reasons why the Browns made the playoffs last season. After P.J. Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson failed to produce results following Deshaun Watson's season-ending injury, Flacco led Cleveland on a 4-1 to close out the regular season while throwing for 1,616 passing yards with 13 touchdowns to eight interceptions.
After proving that he still has some juice left in the tank, Flacco could see a fair amount of attention throughout the coming weeks. With that in mind, here are the three most likely free-agent destinations for the 39-year-old gunslinger.
1. New England Patriots
With the Mac Jones experiment clearly being a bust, the New England Patriots are in the market for a new quarterback this offseason.
The franchise currently holds the third overall pick at the 2024 NFL Draft, opening the door to potentially drafting the likes of Caleb Williams and Drake Maye. At the same time, some quarterbacks take a bit longer to develop, hence why the Patriots might consider signing Flacco this spring.
At the end of February,Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot reported that the Patriots are open to signing Flacco to mentor their future QB. While things can change between now and February, there's some form of interest there.
Even if he's only a stop-gap until the QB of the future is ready, Flacco would provide the Patriots' offense with a boost. After all, the former Super Bowl MVP averaged a career-high 323.2 passing yards per game in 2023 whereas New England averaged 180.5 (28th) while finishing all but one outing with 268 or fewer. In other words, it isn't hard to see how Flacco would have a positive impact on players like Demario Douglas and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
On top of that, Alex Van Pelt is the Patriots' new offensive coordinator after occupying the same role for the Browns over the last four seasons. He already has a proven track record working with Flacco, so it makes sense that the duo would want things to continue in New England.