Joe Flacco could be back for a third season with the New York Jets
Let the games begin.
With five days to go until the NFL’s legal tampering period opens at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, March 14, we have our first substantiated piece of New York Jets gossip.
According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, the Jets are “in talks” with quarterback Joe Flacco, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
Not on the level of Wilson/Rodgers QB news, but the #Jets are in talks with Joe Flacco, who will be a free agent. There’s mutual interest. Saleh wants to run it back with Wilson-Flacco-White (must receive RFA tender).
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) March 9, 2022
“There’s mutual interest,” Cimini reports. “[Robert] Saleh wants to run it back with Wilson-Flacco-White.” Cimini notes that Mike White, a restricted free agent, must be tendered by the Jets to be retained.
Flacco signed with the Jets on a one-year, $1.5 million deal in May 2020 to back up Sam Darnold. He ended up appearing in five games and performed decently, completing 74 of 134 passes for 864 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions (80.6 passer rating).
The respectable campaign earned Flacco a pay raise in 2021, as he headed down I-95 to sign a one-year, $3.5 million with the Eagles to become Jalen Hurts’ backup.
Flacco never appeared in a regular season game for the Eagles. Following Zach Wilson’s injury, Jets general manager Joe Douglas sent a conditional sixth-round pick* to the Eagles on October 25 to get Flacco back.
*The sixth-round pick would upgrade to a fifth-round pick if Flacco played more than 50% of the Jets’ offensive snaps in four games. Conditions were not met.
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Over his first three games back in New York, Flacco served as a backup. He returned to the starting lineup in Week 11 for a battle with the Miami Dolphins following an injury to second-string quarterback Mike White. Flacco again held up admirably as he completed 24 of 39 passes for 291 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions (101.5 passer rating).
Altogether, Flacco’s performance as a Jet has been about as good as you could hope for from a backup quarterback. He’s completed 101 of 176 passes in green for 1,202 yards, nine touchdowns, and three interceptions (88.3 passer rating).
Bringing Flacco back into the fold would ensure the Jets head into 2022 with one of the most reliable backup quarterbacks in the league. If they also retain Mike White, they’ll have one of the league’s deepest quarterback rooms.