Examining the Fallout From the Browns’ Signing of Joe Flacco

The veteran quarterback’s return to Cleveland opens up questions about Kirk Cousins’s future and shines a light on the team’s path forward.

Joe Flacco is set to return to the Browns on a one-year deal. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

There’s nothing like a 40-year-old quarterback signing on as a possible bridge starter weeks before the NFL draft and incidentally spiderwebs the glass surface that is the NFL, forcing us to take another hard look at what we imagined would happen and what is actually taking place. And his name isn’t Aaron Rodgers. 

Joe Flacco is a Cleveland Brown again, signing for a deal that is commensurate with a backup quarterback but could end up yielding more if he beats out Kenny Pickett (and whichever rookie the Browns select in a couple weeks) and brings Cleveland to the postseason. The Browns now have three quarterbacks on the roster they must pay (Deshaun Watson being the third), which would seemingly take them out of the running for another veteran passer. 

As we examine the fallout, let’s begin there: 

• Kirk Cousins will not be teaming up with former head coach Kevin Stefanski. Why? Certainly, Flacco also having familiarity with Stefanski helped, but I would also consider the price tag in two different ways. Flacco’s contract falls into a structure the Browns are open to paying, given that they already have a top-end starter’s salary on the books and Pickett, who is still in the final year of a cost-controlled rookie contract. 

I also think this should shift some of the focus toward the Atlanta Falcons. From the outside, we can all sit here and wonder why Cousins wasn’t the first call for Cleveland or, for that matter, a similarly desperate New York Giants team. The same could be said about why Cousins isn’t mentioned in similar breath with Rodgers in Pittsburgh, given his continued need for time and space as he decides the next chapter of his professional life. 

That begs the question: Are the Falcons being reasonable when teams are calling and asking about what it would take to get Cousins? And, have they overplayed their hand? A few weeks ago, with Cousins theoretically being a primary option for three or four teams, his value was at its height. Now, it would seem that Cousins, if he is indeed going to be a starter somewhere next year, is only the backup plan for Pittsburgh if Rodgers spurns the Steelers and either retires or ends up signing with the Minnesota Vikings. Certainly, the Falcons could be waiting to see if they could turn the screws and capitalize on true panic but how likely is that scenario? 

Of course, Cousins’s desire to wait out the results of the draft forced teams to make a move in lieu of being left out at the position altogether, though many of these deals can be negotiated in theory behind the scenes and consummated after the conclusion of the draft with Cousins’s tacit permission to wave his no-trade clause being secured. I’m curious as to why Atlanta would prefer having Cousins locked on the bench to back up Michael Penix Jr. instead of signing another less threatening—to Penix—veteran and attaining a handful of draft picks to spend leading up to an absolutely critical draft. If Cousins has to start because Penix is failing on the field, or because Penix, a quarterback with a lengthy injury history, has been injured again, that will likely be a damning enough indictment on GM Terry Fontenot that a “good enough” fringe playoff season isn’t going to save him entirely. 

Also, just personally, it feels like a bit of bad business by the Falcons. Atlanta had previously blindsided Cousins with the drafting of Penix, and if they’re keeping his asking price high after multiple suitors have dropped out, it looks from the outside like a bit of a ransom situation. 

The Browns’ signing of Flacco raises more questions about Kirk Cousins’s future in Atlanta. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

• Having Flacco back now that Browns ownership has taken the blame for the Deshaun Watson trade is interesting optically. Cleveland decided to give Watson a third season of starter’s snaps in 2024 amid a desperate attempt to legitimize the worst trade and contract in modern NFL history—and allowed Flacco to walk after a Comeback Player of the Year season (and playoff appearance) likely in fear that Flacco’s surging popularity would in some way dismantle Watson’s already brittle confidence. 

However, ignoring the moral implications of continuing to stand by Watson in a desperate attempt to avoid looking wholly silly, did the Browns actually come out all that bad in terms of the roster we’re going to see on the field on Day 1 of the 2025 season? For years we’ve associated this team with a brand of 3D chess that I’m not sure any club is actually capable of playing. But it’s fair to ask what the ceiling of the 2024 Browns was with 17 games of Flacco under center, versus a ’25 Browns team with Flacco and the No. 2 pick in a draft where the No. 1 team has basically been headlocked into taking a quarterback (who may not even be close to the best prospect in this class). Again, there’s no way a team could have planned for this scenario—certainly no team green lights a plot that basically involves an owner apologizing for a horrendous personnel move—but Flacco’s Cleveland gap year and the subsequent bottoming out of the Browns does put the team in a slightly better position to maximize the very last bit of toothpaste from a roster that reached the playoffs twice since ’20 (I say remaining toothpaste referring both to Myles Garrett entering his age-30 season and a starting offensive line that, save for left tackle, are ages 33, 29, 30 and 30). 

It also provides Cleveland with what it needs the most. An affable bridge quarterback to take centerstage while the less painful but gruelingly administrative process of moving on from Watson starts to commence. Many of us believed that person to be Cousins … until the moment Flacco signed.  

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

•

George Kittle’s Viral Moment at WrestleMania 41 Had Fans Sounding Off

•

Howie Roseman Credits Eagles Team Security Man 'Big Dom' for Unique NFL Draft Skill

•

Report: Seahawks Open to Trading Backup QB After Sam Darnold and Drew Lock Signings

•

Browns GM Andrew Berry Suggests Quarterback Prospect May Be Faster Than Lamar Jackson

•

Shannon Sharpe's Upcoming Podcast Deal Could Be Worth Quadruple His NFL Career Earnings