Getty Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson reacting in the middle of an NFL game.
A former New York Jets starting quarterback might be getting another shot in the big leagues.
Veteran passer Joe Flacco is one of several quarterbacks who’ll be working out for the Cleveland Browns on Friday, November 17, per NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
Adam Schefter of ESPN shared on X (previously Twitter) on Wednesday, November 15 that, “Browns’ QB Deshaun Watson will undergo season-ending surgery on a broken bone in his throwing shoulder.”
Browns’ QB Deshaun Watson will undergo season-ending surgery on a broken bone in his throwing shoulder.
Flacco Has Been Waiting for the Right Opportunity to Make a Football Comeback
Flacco is 38 years of age and last played in the NFL for the Jets. He was with Gang Green in two separate stints in 2020 and from 2021-22.
In his three seasons in New York, Flacco didn’t win many games sporting a 1-8 record as a starting quarterback. However, he did put up some solid statistics.
Flacco had a 14 touchdown to 6 interception ratio and threw for 2,253 passing yards. This offseason the former Delaware product became an unrestricted free agent, but the Jets didn’t re-sign him.
Flacco’s agent reached out to several NFL teams to gauge interest this offseason in a deal and according to Flacco via ESPN, “there didn’t really seem to be too much that was biting.”
Although Flacco saw the silver lining in remaining a free agent heading into the season.
“When people are really pressed to win some games, if they have to call on somebody, then they’d be more willing to get somebody like me who can hopefully come in and learn an offense pretty quickly and at least give you a fighting chance,” Flacco told ESPN reporter Jamison Hensley back in September.
Jets-Browns Game Could Have Some More Spice
The Jets and Browns are scheduled to play in Week 17 on Thursday Night Football on December 28.
If the playoffs started today, Cleveland would be in as the No. 6 seed in the AFC postseason bracket with a 6-3 record. While the green and white would be on the outside looking in with a 4-5 record as the No. 13 seed.
Both teams are in the conversation and that future scheduled contest looms large with potential massive playoff implications.
Watson has already been ruled out for the season, so he won’t be playing in that contest. Whether or not Aaron Rodgers will be available is still very much up in the air.
On “The Pat McAfee Show” he said he would be back in a couple of “fortnights” which was a mid-December timeline. During the Week 10 Sunday Night Football broadcast, Melissa Stark shared that same timeline based on a pre-game conversation with Rodgers.
Head coach Robert Saleh said earlier this week that, “If Aaron says he wants to play, he’s going to play.”
Robert Saleh on if it’s a complicated decision letting Aaron Rodgers come back even if doctors clear him: “Aaron’s a grown man. No one is going to know Aaron’s body like Aaron knows his body. If he feels after the doctors clear him, if Aaron says he wants to play, he’s going to…
If that is accurate then there is a chance Rodgers could be the starting quarterback for the Jets in that critical contest. If Flacco impresses the Browns during his work out he could get signed to the team’s practice squad.
That could potentially set up an unlikely matchup between two former Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks in a playoff atmosphere.