Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Browns Officially Sign Joe Flacco To Active Roster
Joe Flacco has officially shed his label as a practice squad quarterback.
The Browns signed Flacco to their 53-man roster Thursday, according to his agency, nearly one month after he initially joined their practice squad.
The deal, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, includes $4.05 million of incentives based on winning — he'll make $75,000 for each of the remaining four regular-season games he wins. He'll also receive $250,000 for a wild-card win, $500,000 for a divisional-playoff win, $1 million for an AFC Championship game win and $2 million for a Super Bowl win.
Flacco had been a practice squad elevation the last two weeks in his first two starts with Cleveland, and he was officially named the Browns’ starter the rest of the season Sunday after becoming the first Browns QB this year to throw for over 300 yards and record three touchdowns in their win over the Jaguars.
Flacco was reverted to the practice squad, per NFL rules, after each game and had one more gameday elevation left if he remained on the practice squad, but Browns general manager Andrew Berry decided now was the time to bring him to the active roster.
Dec 10, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco (15) throws a pass during the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Flacco’s journey this year might be the top story in the league in December. He spent all offseason and the first 11 weeks of the regular season as a free agent for the first time in his 16-year career, and he even considered a gig as a TV analyst as he endured the uncertainty of whether he’d receive another NFL opportunity.
After Deshaun Watson went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 10, the Browns gave Flacco a ring, and he officially joined the practice squad after Week 11. In just two weeks of practice — which included the full week the Browns spent in Los Angeles for team-bonding and travel purposes before playing the Rams in Week 13 — Flacco was ready to start.
And the pass game has never been better for the Browns this season.
In two starts against the Rams and Jaguars, the 38-year-old Flacco has completed 55 percent of his passes for 565 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s just 551 yards and two touchdowns away from catching the season totals from Watson, who started six games, and has the Browns in excellent position to clinch the playoffs if they can win two of their next four games.
Flacco, who won Super Bowl XLVII MVP with the Ravens, threw for 311 yards and amassed a passer rating of 92 last Sunday, and his performance was so good that it led to usually tight-lipped head coach Kevin Stefanski to immediately name him the starter the rest of the season, but it was an obvious choice after watching the pedestrian — and at times dreadful — performances from rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker.
A transaction to place Flacco on the active roster was only a matter of when, not if.
And the Browns finally made it official Thursday as they prepare to close out a rollercoaster season with a playoff run.
