Flacco will get a chance to earn “up to” $13 million this year with incentives. Entering his age-40 season, Flacco probably is more of a fallback than an actual plan for the Browns at this point. He started six games for the Colts last year and finished with 1761 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while completing 65.3 percent of his passes. Flacco might have enough in the tank — especially back in Kevin Stefanski’s offense — to beat out Kenny Pickett in training camp if the Browns exit the draft without adding another veteran or highly-drafted rookie.

Flacco joins Russell Wilson in scheduling a visit with the G-Men. Wilson is expected to be in town Friday. Fellow free agent Aaron Rodgers looms over the conversation. Either Flacco or Wilson would likely end up being paired with a rookie. It seems unlikely they would be signed as a Rodgers backup plan, though maybe beggars can’t be choosers at this point.

The 2023 Comeback Player of the Year signed a one-year deal to play a similar role in Indy as he did with the Browns. Just like in Cleveland, Flacco was called upon when the starter, this time Anthony Richardson, went down with an injury. Flacco threw for 716 yards and seven scores with just one interception in his first two starts plus a mid-game takeover. The Colts went back to Richardson once healthy, but it didn’t last long. Flacco was reinstalled as the starter after just two more Richardson games. The gunslinger’s second stint under center didn’t go nearly as well. His propensity for turnovers was on full display as he coughed up four interceptions and lost two fumbles across two starts. Back to Richardson. In a final twist of fate, Richardson’s back tightened up on him late in the season and he missed the final two games. Flacco snuck in another three turnovers while scoring three times. There is no debate that Flacco still has the arm to play professional football. The bigger issue is his inability to keep the ball out of the defense’s hands. If the soon-to-be 40-year-old wants to keep playing football, there will be plenty of backup openings for him to do so in 2025.